Case Studies
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx property-based money-laundering scheme uncovered by Tactical Rabbit
Problem
A major bank sought Tactical Rabbit’s assistance in locating assets from xxxxxxxxxxxx, a business operating in the medical and property sectors.
Action
When Tactical Rabbit looked into the company, they found a complex criminal enterprise including a money-laundering scheme involving real estate purchases that go back to the 1980s.
Solution
Tactical Rabbit located the bank’s assets and helped return $8 million to them. They also notified federal prosecutors, who halted xxxxxxxxxxxxxx money-laundering operation.
Florida-based white supremacist xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx seeks to overthrow the U.S. government
Problem
The Florida-based nonprofit xxxxxxxxxxxxxx seeks to overthrow the U.S. government with armed militias, in order to fulfill their dreams of white, Euro-Christian supremacy. They espouse a misogynist, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-immigrant philosophy that valorizes colonization and conquest. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx uses similar intelligence tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) to established terror groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS, to conceal their agenda from the general public. This involves camouflaging and switching IP addresses when conducting online activities.
Action
Through Tactical Rabbit’s intelligence operation we found out that xxxxxxxxxxxxxx appears to have penetrated the U.S. military establishment, with an active member an assistant missile, fleet scheduling and logistics officer in the U.S. Navy, and another associate linked to an important Air Force research laboratory. From other operations, we know that groups like xxxxxxxxxxxxxx are of interest to Russian intelligence services, and it’s likely that xxxxxxxxxxxxxx could become a Russian asset to sow hate, distrust, and disinformation inside the U.S.
Solution
The individuals involved were all identified and referred to federal authorities. A story in the Orlando Sentinel about the group appeared in January of 2021.
Students for Justice in Palestine Fraud
Problem
In 2014, a client approached Tactical Rabbit with an intriguing project, trying to better understand a group called “Students for Justice in Palestine.”
Action
Tactical Rabbit got to work, conducting deep research on the organization and its leaders. Through open-source research, HUMINT intelligence gathering (target engagement) and other CIA-based intelligence methodologies, Tactical Rabbit prepared a report showing that the Hamas terrorist organization had been using the young members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) as its pawns. The report concluded, “Tactical Rabbit has a high degree of confidence that SJP is funding terrorism, and specifically Hamas. Tactical Rabbit believes these Islamic charity organizations are in violation of” a wide variety of federal laws. The United States has listed Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997.
Solution
Tactical Rabbit turned over the information it had collected to the FBI, helping to keep this radical organization on the radar of law enforcement and intelligence officials worldwide.
Saving Sweet Briar College
Problem
In 2015, Sweet Briar College grabbed national headlines when School President xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, made the sudden announcement that the prestigious liberal arts school would have to close for good that summer. It came as shocking and devastating news to hundreds of students, faculty and alumni. The school’s senior leaders and Board of Trustees attributed the imminent closing to “insurmountable financial challenges.”
Action
Tactical Rabbit’s intelligence operatives closely examined the college’s finances. Sweet Briar had a substantial $84 million endowment and was experiencing only a small decline in student enrollment. It didn’t take long for Stern and his investigators to realize that the numbers just didn’t add up. Tactical Rabbit launched an in-depth intelligence operation and examined hundreds of school documents. “The due diligence process yielded disturbing results indicating that [two senior school administrators worked together] with the intention of dissolving the college without advance good faith notification to the Sweet Briar community.”
Solution
Tactical Rabbit’s efforts to expose the alleged fraud committed by senior school officials undoubtedly helped seal their fates. Top school leaders were fired, and many Board members were forced to resign. More than three years later, Sweet Briar’s financial picture continues to improve. Student enrollment is up more than 40 percent, and the school is thriving.
Uncovering a Florida Officer’s Racist Rants
Problem
In 2014, Tactical Rabbit received a tip that an officer in the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in Florida had been posting offensive comments online.
Action
Based on the preliminary findings alone, Tactical Rabbit alerted the officer’s superiors at the Palm Beach County Sherriff’s Office, expecting serious disciplinary action. Instead, supervisors placed the officer on administrative leave for just two days.
Tactical Rabbit CEO and Intelligence Director Everett Stern wasn’t satisfied. Tactical Rabbit’s team began closely monitoring xxxxxxxxxxxxxx social media accounts. Tactical Rabbit teamed up with a trusted contact who once worked for the CIA and National Security Agency to find a Twitter account for the officer.
Solution
The Tactical Rabbit investigation uncovered a Twitter account that was secretly operated by the officer. His tweets were vile and completely unacceptable, especially for an officer of the law. By analyzing more than 6,000 tweets and cross-referencing them with police activity logs, Tactical Rabbit was able to establish that the officer had written many of his tweets while on duty, from his county-owned vehicle. Tactical Rabbit proved that at least 10 other deputies in the Sheriff’s Office were sharing his tweets, or laughing along with him, and also using secret accounts to veil their identities. After the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Internal Affairs division dismissed Tactical Rabbit’s investigation, Tactical Rabbit alerted the press and received widespread media coverage. In June 2018, the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office fired the officer for a series of offensive social media posts dating back to 2013.
Exposing LifeLock’s False Advertising
Problem
In 2014, a Tactical Rabbit client raised disturbing new concerns about outlandish claims being made by LifeLock. The company promised to pay any customer $1 million if their identity was stolen.
Action
Tactical Rabbit’s financial forensic investigators meticulously waded through the arcane and confusing language associated with “Million Dollar Guarantee,” and found that it was erroneous. Upon closer examination, Tactical Rabbit operatives determined that customers whose identities were hacked would never see any monetary award. Instead the money would be used to hire lawyers who would attempt to make the bilked customer whole.
During its investigation, Tactical Rabbit utilized financial intelligence, open-source intelligence, and human intelligence methods. In addition, the company’s highly-experienced investigators examined non-public databases and cyber data through proprietary analytical and collection methods.
Solution
Tactical Rabbit shared its findings with the FBI, law enforcement agencies and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In 2015, the FTC made a return visit to LifeLock’s headquarters. Not long after that, the FTC announced that LifeLock would be forced to pay $100 million to settle charges that it had failed to properly protect its customers’ data. The FTC also concluded that LifeLock’s promise that it could stop identity theft was a myth, and that its fraud alerts didn’t quickly alert customers when potential trouble arose. As part of the massive FTC settlement, LifeLock was required to refrain from misrepresenting how much it can do to safeguard customers from identity thieves. The company, which is now owned by cyber security giant Symantec, was also forced to implement a data security program.
Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) Case
Problem
Contacted to conduct a survey of operations at the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (“MDHHS”) specifically regarding the Home Help Program, a multi-million-dollar operation designed to deliver non-medical Medicaid-paid services to individuals in need of hands-on care related to activities of daily living.
Action
Using documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other sources, we have identified three blatant acts of fraud carried out by the MDHHS bureaucracy that took place during the terms of outgoing Governor Rick Snyder. The frauds may have resulted in millions of dollars in misspent taxpayer money and likely denied proper care to countless members of Michigan’s elderly population, causing untold suffering and dooming many to being prematurely warehoused in institutional care at great human, medical and fiscal cost. Our findings may be the tip of the iceberg regarding an out-of-control state bureaucracy with a $25 billion budget, driven by civil servants and political appointees more interested in protecting their fiefdoms than in delivering top quality health care to the state’s most vulnerable residents.
Solution
Tactical Rabbit suggested an immediate appeal to Governor-Elect Gretchen Whitmer and the Office of Inspector General of the federal department of Health & Human Services to launch investigations into the detailed acts of fraud committed by MDHHS, believe the incoming administration could move quickly to bring MDHHS into compliance with federal regulations and afford a broader range of service to Michigan seniors and that a federal review is called for, given the system-wide dysfunction of MDHHS.
