Complex investigation into risk associated with a new romantic interest
Executive summary
This brief explores an anonymised case study into a complex investigation into risks associated with a romantic interest for a High Net Worth Individual.
While the romantic interest did not present any immediate risks to the High Net Worth Individual, there were secondary reputational, financial, and personal exposure risks presented by the romantic interest’s associates.
Secondary risks are often overlooked due to an analytic focus on the romantic interest, underlining the importance of a thorough investigation.
Case description
High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) and other high-status individuals face a materially elevated risk profile in romantic relationships as a consequence of their wealth, status, and influence. These factors can distort the incentives for intimacy, raise the likelihood of targeted relationships, and increase risk.
For high-status individuals, relationship dynamics can give rise to financial loss, reputational damage, legal disputes, and personal security concerns. Relationships, while initially personal, can introduce exposure beyond the private sphere and should be recognised as potential sources of personal, family, and enterprise risk.
This case describes in an anonymised fashion the result of a complex investigation into a romantic interest for a high-status individual. We were retained to conduct a rapid background check, validate claims made by the subject of interest, and identify immediate risks or adverse activity. This assessment supported forward-looking procedures designed to mitigate potential exposures.
Investigation of the subject
The review did not identify any evidence to undermine confidence in the subject’s claims that they were discreet, well-connected, and from a wealthy family. Testing these claims is important.
Claims to discretion, connectivity, and apparent wealth are commonly relied upon by threat actors to establish legitimacy in high-status environments. Anna Sorokin, a Russian-born German who impersonated a fictional German trust heiress, exploited such factors to infiltrate elite New York City circles and deceive institutions into giving her over USD300,000; she was convicted on larceny charges in 2019 [LINK].
The investigation did however identify indications of adverse activity connected to several of the subject’s associates. Preliminary enquiries indicated that these associates had generated substantial wealth though successful commercial ventures.
Review of commercial records and publicly available information across several jurisdictions revealed a history of business disputes and litigation. This included a court-ordered liquidation of a business and the registration of companies from a residential address associated with over 100 other different entities; a pattern associated with high-risk or potentially fraudulent business structures.
While these factors alone did not constitute evidence of adverse or criminal activity, the assessment of potential involvement was strengthened by online material linking the key associates to alleged criminal or fraudulent activity. The number and consistency of the nature of the allegations indicated there was some validity.
These associates also maintained very low profiles, and given the allegations, it was determined that this was likely a deliberate attempt to obfuscate attempts to trace them. As a result, we assessed that these associates presented a risk to the high-status individual.
Secondary risks from targeted romantic relationships
Risks posed to high-status individuals from romantic relationships are typically perceived to originate from the romantic partner themselves. Attention focuses on the perceived financial threat posed by a partner seeking to extract wealth or advantages at the expense of the individual, their family, or associated business interests.
This risk has clear precedent. There are numerous high-profile examples of targeted romantic relationships pursued for financial gain, including cases in which trusts, estates, or inheritance arrangements were contested or altered to the detriment of existing beneficiaries [LINK, LINK]. The protracted legal battle between Anna Nicole Smith and the family of US oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall is a frequently cited illustration of the scale, duration, and complexity of such exposure [LINK, LINK].
However, this framing can obscure other forms of exposure that can arise through targeted romantic relationships. This can include attempts to capitalise on relationships through extortion or sale of information, with associated reputational risk.
In 2010, a former Hong Kong athlete attempted to extort a Hong Kong-based HNWI by publishing details and a sex tape of their encounter unless paid millions. The athlete later admitted that the sex tape did not exist and was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for blackmail [LINK, LINK]. Carly Storey, an UK-based interior designer, sold the details of her affair with former Premier League footballer Rio Ferdinand, who was at the time married, to a tabloid newspaper in 2011 [LINK, LINK]. Both incidents caused significant reputational harm and personal distress.
In this investigation, the main source of exposure did not stem from direct financial or personal risk posed by the romantic interest, but from reputational vulnerability stemming from their associates. Although indirect, such second-order exposure can be material, particularly when adverse histories or allegations involving those actors become publicly linked to a high-status individual.
Lessons identified
High-profile individuals should consider discreet investigations into romantic interests as a means of mitigating personal and professional risk.
Ensuring that investigations are conducted in a sensitive fashion, in line with ethical and legal requirements, is essential.
Conducting investigations earlier rather than later can mitigate downstream pain.
Managing your own digital exposure is the first step to mitigating the risk from targeted relationships.
HNWIs often underestimate how their online digital footprint increases their exposure; location data, patterns of life, indicators of wealth, and personal vulnerabilities are often left unmanaged, and this enables targeting by hostile or opportunistic actors.
Discreet identification and control of digital exposure is therefore essential to mitigating this risk before actors can profile and target HNWIs.
Risks are often indirect, emerging not from the individual in question but from those around them.
A focus on the person of interest can obscure secondary risks arising from their associates, networks, or those positioned to benefit from the relationship.
Discreet investigation into these extended connections is therefore essential to identifying secondary exposure that would otherwise remain concealed.
At Tyburn we conduct complex investigations to support decision-making and personal security for at-risk individuals.
To learn more, contact info@tyburn-str.com.
