Industrial Consultants

The PRETEXT team includes NEIL HOUT-COOPER and RALPH GOOTNER. Their ability to examine cause and affect issues, combined with their expertise as Organizational and ISO Standards experts have provided a new dimension to the investigating team. Aside from their individual and complimenting skills their network of information sources can and does provide valuable intelligence to the corporate investigator or attorney. When managed by counsel, Pretext investigative consultants are cloaked in the "attorney-client privilege." Their intellectual prowess can and does provide insight into very complex problems under study. In a recent experience, a client solicited the services of our investigative team. Initially, the team consisted of investigators and forensic accountants who were asked to conduct an investigative audit. In the process, investigators viewed a need to extend the team to include an organizational specialist. This alternative approach disclosed the short comings of the organization and its management techniques to the client's satisfaction. An amenable resolution was reached between the adversaries and litigation was avoided.

NEIL HOUT-COOPER, PH.D.
No single investigator has all the talents or resources needed to manage a multi facet investigation. There are times when an industrial investigation requires the special skills of a consultant, such as Hout-Cooper. His academic and industrial experience include a lengthy tenure at Florida International University, where he held the positions of Director of Engineering Outreach, Engineering Information Center and Assistant Dean, Department of Industrial Systems. His educational and professional credentials are impressive and include the following:

Education:
- Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
- Ph.D. - Education Administration & Curriculum Design
- M.S. - Education Administration & Curriculum Design
- University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
- M.S. - Industrial & Systems Engineering
- Mankato State University, Mankato, MN
- B.S. - Industrial & Systems Engineering

Professional Affiliations:
- Microsoft Corporation, Technical Consultant
- Florida International University, ISO 9000 Consultant
- NASA, Technology Transfer Project Director (Grant)
- Zenith Data Systems, Research & Development of Microcomputer
- Hardware/Software Systems at Florida International University
- Florida Department of Transportation, Mobile CADD Training System
- Project Director, Information Management & Decision Making Systems
- U. S. Department of State, National Security Agency
- U.S. AID Technical Consultant
- Bankers Mortgage & Construction, Vice President, Computerized Tracking System Development
- G. T. Schjeldahl Corporation, Commercialization of Flexible Printed Circuit Applications to Telecommunications, Defense and Automotive industries

Professional Associations:
- ASEE American Society for Engineering Education - ISEE Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers - IIE Institute of Industrial Engineers - SME Society of Manufacturing Engineers - FES Florida Engineering Society - ASQC American Society for Quality Control

RALPH GOOTNER
The Introduction of computers into the business arena created new opportunities for white collar criminals. As Hout-Cooper, Gootner has also worked in the academic and Industrial sector as an Organizational, ISO Standards instructor and Telecommunications expert. He brings 34 years of trouble shooting experience from International Business Machines (IBM). His skills are a valuable asset to the investigative team in the following areas:

- Loss prevention - Theft of intellectual property - Firewall protection of automated systems - Inventory controls - Product liability

As a member of the Pretext Services, Inc. team of investigators and a certified ISO-9000 instructor, Gootner brings high-tech solutions to internal problems in the corporate and private sectors. He works with Pretext Management as a consultant in these areas:

- Organizational, analysis, control & effectiveness - Internal Control Systems, analysis, design & implementation - Quality Management Systems design and implementation

Forensic Accounting

FRANCIS DONOHUE, CII, CFE
MICHAEL DONOHUE, CII, CFE

Francis Donohue brings 45 years of investigative accounting experience to the PRETEXT team. He is what others claim to be a FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT. Frank earned a BA and MS degree from Siena College in Loudonville, New York before embarking on an interesting accounting career with the US Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service. As a Revenue Agent and Special Agent Criminal Investigator, he served both the Audit and Intelligence Division, catering to Federal Grand Juries, investigating Organized Crime. As a Supervisor, he established and operated the Criminal Division Field office in Glenn Falls, New York, before retiring from service in June 1982 and entering the private sector.

Michael Donohue, Frank's son, upon earning a Bachelor Degree, entered the family accounting and investigative business 15 years ago. As an investigative/accounting team they continue to provide litigation support to major financial institutions, law firms and the corporate sector as Kentech International, Inc. and Foxtech International, Inc.

PRETEXT has been most fortunate to enjoy a long-standing working relationship with the DONOHUES. The blend of talents has enabled the firms to compete aggressively in a market where far too many "forensic accountants" are misrepresenting their skills to include many internationally recognized accounting firms.

The Donohues are both Certified International Investigators, Fraud Examiners and licensed Private Investigators in the State of Florida. Frank is a certified expert in Federal and State courts and a certified Public Accountant. They frequently lecture in professional circles as members of various National & International Associations serving the Accounting, Investigative & Security Industries. Frank is honored to be the Regional Director of the Council of International Investigators, a worldwide network of elite investigative professionals.

This team brings the following experience and expertise:

- Corporate/Business Analysis
- Equitable Distribution Analysis (fund diversion & hidden assets)
- Fraud, Theft & Embezzlement (Certified Examiner)

Project Coordination and Documentation Development
JACQUELINE WILLIAMS
Member of the Royal Institute of Foreign Affairs, London, UK. Foreign Culture specialist. Experience includes positions with embassy offices, foreign dignitaries, authors, international television and domestic and foreign corporations.

PAUL R.LASKA
Pretext Services has built a well-respected reputation in the handling of criminal defense cases. Paul, as he prefers to be called, brings 35 years of criminal justice and forensic science experience, making him one of Pretext Services most respected agents. As an expert in Fingerprint Identification, Crime Scene, Firearms, Bomb, Hazardous Material and Weapons of Mass destruction investigations. Paul is called upon regularly as a court certified expert and lecturer.

When defense counsel seeks a review of crime scene evidence, Laska is capable of interpreting the evidence and methods of collection as a court certified expert in crime-science reconstruction and the above fields. His opinions often provide an alternative interpretation of the evidence and formidable defenses. To the civil client, his talents are routinely used in the investigation of fraud and property crimes with assistance to the legal, insurance or industrial communities in the public or private sectors, designing or assessing in-house training programs.