Executive Due Diligence
& Investigative Vetting
Standard background checks confirm identity and surface criminal records. They do not uncover misrepresented credentials, undisclosed litigation, competing financial interests, or the behavioral and reputational signals that determine whether a candidate, partner, or acquisition target is who they represent themselves to be.
What Standard Background Checks Don't Find
The background check industry was built to confirm identity, flag criminal records, and verify employment history. It was not built to uncover the things that actually sink organizations — the misrepresented tenure, the confidentially settled lawsuit, the undisclosed directorship in a competing entity, the pattern of behavior that surfaces only when you look at the full record.
Standard screening is a compliance function. Investigative vetting is an intelligence function. The distinction matters most at exactly the moment when the stakes are highest — a C-suite hire ahead of an exit, an acquisition at LOI, a partnership with significant financial or reputational exposure.
SAS Intel applies all-source intelligence methodology — the same analytical tradecraft used in national security environments — to surface what screening vendors are structurally incapable of finding.
Check
Vetting
Who Requests Investigative Vetting
Every engagement involves a decision where the cost of being wrong outweighs the cost of knowing the truth. These are the three most common contexts.
Private Equity & Investment Firms
Pre-investment due diligence on founders, management teams, and target company leadership. The moment of highest leverage — before capital is committed, before the deal closes, before the management team becomes your management team.
- Platform acquisition — founder and leadership team vetting
- Add-on evaluation — target company executive assessment
- Post-LOI confirmation before final close
- Portfolio CEO replacement or succession vetting
Boards & Governance Bodies
Independent vetting of C-suite candidates, incoming board directors, and senior leadership nominees. The board's fiduciary obligation includes knowing who it's placing in positions of authority — and standard HR processes are not designed for that standard.
- CEO, CFO, or COO search and selection
- Independent board director nomination
- Audit or compensation committee appointments
- Succession planning — internal candidate assessment
Organizations Evaluating Key Partners
Intelligence-grade assessment of the individuals behind a critical vendor, joint venture partner, distributor, or strategic alliance — before significant revenue, data, or reputation is committed to the relationship.
- Strategic partnership or joint venture formation
- High-value vendor with sensitive data access
- Distribution or licensing agreement principals
- Key hire from a direct competitor
Six Investigative Dimensions
Every SAS Intel vetting engagement covers the full scope below. Methodology and scope is discussed under confidentiality agreement with qualified clients.
Professional Background
What a subject's professional history actually shows — as distinct from what they've chosen to represent. The gap between those two things is where the most consequential findings live.
Behavioral Indicators
How a person leads, operates under pressure, and conducts themselves when the stakes are high. Character reveals itself in patterns. Patterns leave a record.
Reputational Signals
How the broader professional environment — peers, counterparties, and the public record — actually regards a subject, separate from what they present in a controlled setting.
Undisclosed Relationships
Affiliations, interests, and associations that were not volunteered during the engagement process — and that create conflicts of interest or competing loyalties your organization hasn't accounted for.
Litigation History
The full scope of civil, criminal, and regulatory proceedings connected to a subject — including those that resolved in ways designed to limit visibility. The record exists. The question is who looked.
Digital Footprint
What a subject's online presence reveals about character, judgment, and associations — content and context that no interview or reference call is designed to surface.
Why the Florida PI License Matters
Most intelligence advisors and due diligence consultants operate without a formal investigative license. They collect information, produce reports, and deliver findings — but without the regulatory accountability that comes with a state-issued private investigator credential.
SAS Intel holds an active Florida Private Investigation Agency license issued under Chapter 493 of the Florida Statutes and regulated by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. This is not a certification or a membership. It is a state license — one that requires demonstrated investigative competency, background clearance, and ongoing regulatory compliance.
For clients, this means three things: the engagement is conducted by a licensed professional with legal authority to perform investigative services, the work is subject to regulatory oversight and professional conduct standards, and the resulting findings carry the credibility weight of a licensed investigative report — not an informal intelligence product.
Investigator
& Consumer Services (FDACS)
Former Defense Intelligence Agency Professional
US Government Security Cleared Professionals
SDVOSB Certified by the Small Business Administration
SAS Intel's investigative vetting services are conducted for business intelligence and organizational decision-making purposes. Clients are responsible for compliance with applicable law in their specific use context.
Request a Vetting Assessment
Every engagement begins with a confidential briefing call to discuss the subject, the context, the decision at stake, and the scope required. No generic intake form. A direct conversation with the analyst who will conduct the work.
All SAS Intel vetting engagements are governed by a signed confidentiality agreement before any subject information is exchanged.