Corporate Investigations · Empire Investigation
Corporate Investigations
Discreet, fact-driven investigations for businesses, executives, legal teams, and decision-makers facing fraud, misconduct, internal risk, and high-stakes uncertainty.
Empire Investigation provides corporate investigation services in Pittsburgh and across the United States, including internal fraud investigations, executive vetting, due diligence, trade secret matters, insider threat investigations, workplace violence assessments, and litigation support.
Request a Confidential ConsultationWhat You Feel Before You Can Prove It
By the time it shows up in your books, it has been happening for months.
Internal fraud, a trade-secret leak, an executive who isn't who they claimed to be — the damage happens quietly, then all at once. The question is never whether something feels wrong. It's whether you can prove it.
How Empire turns suspicion into documented, court-ready evidence is laid out below — along with the 1993 exposé that named our founder one of the country's top counter-espionage investigators.
From the Field
“The books were clean. Every audit passed. But he kept losing bids to the same competitor — always by a margin just under his own.”
“He didn't have a leak. He had a listener. By the third week we had it documented — the device, the courier, and a name on his own payroll.”
Composite of multiple corporate engagements · details altered for confidentiality
When something is wrong inside your organization, you feel it before you can prove it. Revenue that doesn't match your books. A competitor who knows your proposals before you submit them. An executive whose expense reports don't hold up. A key employee who's been acting strangely since you announced the acquisition. Empire Investigation LLC has been helping Pittsburgh businesses, law firms, medical practices, and institutions answer these questions with documented, legally admissible evidence since 1982.
Corporate investigation is not the same as HR inquiry. HR relies on witness accounts, document review, and internal interviews — tools that are valuable but limited, and tools that sophisticated bad actors know how to defeat. A professional corporate investigator brings surveillance capability, financial document analysis, covert operational expertise, background intelligence resources, and the institutional knowledge of having worked hundreds of similar cases. We know where people hide things. We know what they do when they think no one is watching. We know how to document it in a way that holds up in court, before an arbitrator, or in a regulatory proceeding.
Empire Investigation LLC works with Pittsburgh-area corporations, small businesses, law firms, and HR departments on a fully confidential basis. We sign NDAs before any engagement. We work within all applicable Pennsylvania and federal law. And we produce reports that your attorneys, your board, or law enforcement can use.
Whether you're facing suspected embezzlement, a trade secret theft, a harassment complaint that needs independent investigation, or a business partner you're not sure you can trust, Empire Investigation is the firm Pittsburgh businesses call when the stakes are too high for guesswork.
Services
Corporate Investigation Services
Internal Fraud Investigations
Employee theft, embezzlement, vendor fraud, and expense abuse — documented for legal action.
Workplace Misconduct Investigations
Harassment, policy violations, whistleblower complaints, and executive misconduct.
Due Diligence & Executive Vetting
Background intelligence before significant hires, partnerships, or transactions.
Corporate Red Team Assessments
Physical and cyber-physical penetration testing for buildings, executive spaces, private aviation, campus environments, vendor paths, and event security.
Trade Secret & Information Leak Investigations
Trade secret theft, non-compete violations, and competitive intelligence breaches.
Insider Threat Investigations
Escalating behavioral risk, workplace violence, and internal threat assessment.
Litigation Support Investigations
Asset searches, witness development, and pre-litigation intelligence for attorneys.
Questions
Corporate Investigation FAQs
How do I hire a private investigator for a corporate matter in Pittsburgh?
Call Empire Investigation LLC at (800) 860-6068 for a confidential consultation. We'll discuss the situation, the scope of investigation needed, and provide a proposal. All consultations are confidential and covered by a non-disclosure agreement before any case details are shared.
Can a private investigator help with a business dispute in Pennsylvania?
Yes. Empire Investigation provides litigation support, witness location, surveillance, asset investigation, and fact-gathering services for businesses engaged in commercial disputes. We work directly with your legal counsel or independently as directed.
What is the difference between a corporate investigation and an HR investigation?
HR investigations are internal processes conducted by employees or HR consultants. They rely on interviews and document review, and are often visible to the subject of the investigation. Corporate investigations by a licensed PI firm involve covert surveillance, independent intelligence gathering, financial analysis, and field operations that produce evidence an HR investigation cannot.
Is it legal to hire a private investigator to investigate an employee?
Yes, within legal parameters. Surveillance in public or semi-public areas, background research, document analysis, and related activities are lawful. Investigations must comply with Pennsylvania wiretapping law, employment law, and other applicable statutes. Empire Investigation operates fully within applicable law and advises clients on legal boundaries before and during every engagement.
How much does a corporate investigation cost in Pittsburgh?
Cost depends on scope, duration, and resources required. Call (800) 860-6068 for a confidential quote. Empire Investigation provides fixed-scope and hourly engagements depending on the nature of the case.
Case Insight
Internal Theft
A business experienced ongoing inventory loss without a clear source. Internal systems showed no irregularities.
Through controlled surveillance and investigative strategy, internal activity was identified and documented, revealing consistent theft that had gone undetected over time.
Situations like this often persist because traditional safeguards are not designed to detect deliberate internal behavior.
How We Work
Our Investigation Process
Confidential Intake
Direct conversation with a licensed investigator — no forms, no delays.
Scope & Strategy
Define exactly what needs to be established and what evidence is required.
Field Investigation
Surveillance, digital intelligence, interviews, and document analysis as needed.
Documentation & Reporting
Findings documented in formats suitable for HR action, legal, or executive decision-making.
Counsel Coordination
Direct coordination with your legal team when required.
Confidential Inquiry
Speak Directly with an Investigator
All corporate inquiries are handled with complete discretion. We work directly with executives, counsel, and HR leadership to scope engagements appropriately.
All inquiries handled with complete discretion.
Why Choose Us
Why Empire Investigation
Over 40 years of investigative experience. Established in 1982.
A+ BBB rated. Licensed, bonded, and professionally recognized.
Featured in national and regional media. USA Today, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh Business Journal, Executive Report, WTAE-TV, WPXI, KDKA-TV, FOX 53, and The Jenny Jones Show.
City's Best Award winner. 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Press Feature · The Saudi Gazette · 1993
Featured in The Saudi Gazette
Competition creates a dramatic increase in corporate espionage
By Tim Kennedy · The Saudi Gazette — Saudi Arabia's National Daily · September 13, 1993
A full decade before the Vision feature, this national daily named Empire Investigation's Robert M. Kresson one of the country's top counter-espionage investigators — tracing how competition was fueling a surge in industrial spying, and how corporations were turning to undercover operatives, electronic surveillance, and professional sweeps to protect their boardrooms and executive homes.
“When an accounting firm notices that one of their consistently stable business clients is experiencing increased sales and a decline in profits, they'll suspect that it's time for them to give me a call.”
Robert M. Kresson, The Saudi Gazette
Three decades on, the same pressures fill our TSCM caseload — and Empire still sweeps the boardrooms, phone lines, and private offices where corporate secrets leak. Flip through the original front page.
Page 1 of 2 — Front Page
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Press & Recognition
Documented Case Work
Case Study
Internal Theft Investigation
A documented corporate engagement in which Empire identified and documented internal theft, providing the client with evidence and a clear investigative timeline.
Read Case Study
Case Study
The Art of Corporate Espionage
Recognized by Wealth & Finance International as Leading Fraud Investigator 2015 — a profile of how Empire confronts corporate espionage with TSCM, surveillance, and electronic forensics.
Read Feature
Case Study
Cosmopolitan Surveillance
A high-profile infidelity investigation in an affluent Florida community — deployed within 24 hours after three prior firms were exposed by local police. Discreet, cutting-edge, fully documented.
Read Case Study