Candice D Tal - CEO - Infortal Worldwide

Candice D. Tal

Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Infortal Worldwide

As CEO of Infortal Worldwide, Candice Tal helps companies mitigate risks to their business, employees, and assets while maximizing operational success. With over 33 years’ expertise in the investigative field, she is one of the most highly-regarded subject matter experts on global due
diligence investigations. She has been interviewed in numerous media and business publications and featured in the seminal, industry book Doing Compliance.

Candice founded Infortal in 1985 to combat the increasing security and risk challenges faced by companies in high growth Silicon Valley and high risk growth markets globally.

Infortal helps companies lessen corporate liability exposure by minimizing business risks. The company is known for its high-quality reputation and best practices work in board advisory, M&A due diligence, executive due diligence, FCPA compliance, complex security programs, and leads the highest industry standards in Global Background Checks and employment screening at all staff levels.

Under Candice’s innovative leadership, Infortal has completed over 2 million successful investigations in 160 different countries.

A licensed private investigator, she has grown her team of international investigators with a global reach that spans the U.S., Europe, Russia, China, India, the Middle East, Africa, and South America.

Candice is an expert in governance, finance, employment, and business investigations. She is skilled in analyzing clients’ business needs and assessing a company’s compliance issues and corporate liability exposure.

Her entrepreneurial mindset and pursuit of excellence drives her to employ the latest technology and investigative techniques. She is a proven security expert and trusted business adviser with a track record of excellence in corporate investigations. Candice is held in high regard as a risk management specialist and thought leader in global due diligence investigations.

Education

BSc (Hon) Science, Metropolitan University London (formerly Sir John Cass School of Science & Technology).

MS Science Coursework.

Chris Mason

 Christopher Mason, Esq., CAMS

VP Global Compliance & Investigations at Infortal.

As the Vice President of Global Compliance & Investigations at Infortal Worldwide, Chris Mason leads the International Investigations Team and works with clients to coordinate due diligence investigations to facilitate private equity investment, M&A deal making, and international business expansion.

Mr. Mason is a CAMS certified attorney with over 10+ years of experience focused on investigating financial crime on behalf of the US federal government and a leading global investment bank

Chris leverages his expertise to advise companies and their legal teams on how best to navigate changing geopolitical environments through training, active consulting, and crisis management. This includes Infortal’s signature “boots on the ground” intelligence collection related to geopolitical risk facing companies operating in complex environments and emerging markets.

Prior to joining Infortal Worldwide, Mr. Mason was a VP – AML Risk Officer at Morgan Stanley where he led a department tasked with executing the firm’s AML compliance program. This involved protecting the firm from reputational risks and ensuring compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act.

Mr. Mason was also previously the Chief Economist of the Immigrant Investor Program at the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. In this role, he examined the impact of foreign investment flowing into the United States and frequently collaborated with the FBI, SEC, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Intelligence Unit (FINCEN) on federal investigations.

Chris Mason holds a Bachelor of Science degree in International Economics from the University of Florida and a JD from the University of Miami School of Law.

Dr. Ian Oxnevad

Dr. Ian Oxnevad

Director, Geopolitical Risk at Infortal Worldwide.

As the Director of Geopolitical Risk at Infortal Worldwide, Dr. Ian Oxnevad leads the firm’s Geopolitical Risk Intelligence & Analysis efforts. Ian’s Geopolitical Risk (GPR) thought leadership informs Infortal Worldwide’s GPR training program, due diligence investigations, and geopolitical risk advisory services. 

Dr. Oxnevad is a political scientist and political economist by training, where he combined economics with security studies to examine issues of geopolitical risk, economic warfare, intelligence, terrorism, corporate espionage, and money laundering. 

Ian leverages his expertise to advise and train clients on geopolitical and economic risks facing their operations. Ian’s expertise substantively expands Infortal Worldwide’s “boots on the ground” approach to obtain accurate and timely information on geopolitical threats and liabilities.  Ian also advises clients on integrating risk intelligence into their operational and strategic planning processes. 

Prior to joining Infortal Worldwide, Dr. Oxnevad taught courses on corruption and terrorist financing for the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and at other leading academic institutions. Ian has also routinely consulted with attorneys as an expert witness on cases related to terrorism, persecution, and human rights abuses.  

Ian is a prolific author of several articles and books including, a book on terrorist financing in the international banking system: Making a Killing: States, Banks, and Terrorism (Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2021).  

Ian holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California and holds a MA in National Security Studies along with degrees in Arabic and English.

Investigative Team

Infortal offers wide ranging expertise and perspective in addressing the critical financial, operational, organizational and sales issues that global enterprises and start-up companies must face in today’s global business environment.

We maintain an extensive affiliate network of over 800 top-level investigators and investigative firms both nationwide and internationally.

This high caliber network enables Infortal to rapidly deploy “in country” teams to conduct international business investigation to determine whether your trading partners are who they say they are and can produce or manufacture on a scalable basis for that region. Infortal’s network includes top agency owners in every country worldwide.

Infortal’s in-house managers and investigators have extensive experience working with clients on complex background investigations and are adept at interfacing with clients to address and respond to their most critical needs.  Our investigators are available to make presentations to, and conduct training with, our clients’ management teams and staff on a variety of relevant topics including board advisory, business risk mitigation, FCPA investigations, executive due diligence, background checks, and workplace violence protection services.

Infortal has completed 2 million investigations globally utilizing a conservative, high-quality approach to investigative services, with extensive experience in business due diligence investigations, workplace violence investigations, focused on rapid deployment and accurate, meaningful results.

Our team of professionals includes individuals representing a wide-range of specialty skills:

  • Employment screening specialists

  • Experienced investigators

  • Forensic accountants

  • Computer security specialists

  • Forensic document examiners

  • Certified Fraud Examiners CFE’s

  • Specialists in international security and investigations

  • Armed Protection Specialists

  • Forensic psychologists

  • Facility security specialists

  • Surveillance and undercover specialists

  • Court researchers

Certifications & Memberships

California Association of Licensed Investigators 300

C.A.L.I.

Licensed Investigator PI 15304 CA | California Association of Licensed Investigators

NACD

National Association of Corporate Directors

Society_Logo_300

SCSGP

Society of Corporate Governance

WAD LOGO 300

W.A.D.

World Association of Detectives, Board Member

certified-wbenc-women-s-business-enterprise-logo

WBENC

Certified WBE Women Owned Business Enterprise

ACAMS

Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialists

Compliance Week

Informed Chief Compliance Officer and Audit Executives

ProVisors

Trusted Advisors Network

WPO

Women Presidents Organization

OSAC

US Dept of State Overseas Security Advisory Council 

AFIO

Association of Former Intelligence Officers

AIRIP

Association of International Risk Intelligence Professionals

OSINT Foundation

Foundation that Promotes Open Source Intelligence Tradecraft

SCCE

Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics