One Agent’s Story
A delegation from
the United States went to visit a foreign government to discuss their joint
participation in the Trade Transparency Unit (TTU). As part of these meetings, Senior Special
Agent G[1] planned to demonstrate the capabilities of
LEADMiner—which is specialized data mining software used within the TTU.
After arriving
in-country, G sat down to prepare his presentation, using sample data from the
United States, when the phone rang. G
had planned to spend the evening preparing for tomorrow’s presentation but he
answered the phone, accepted the invitation from the GOVERNMENT officials, and
had dinner and drinks well into the night.
Part of the unspoken job description, afterall, called for socializing with
his counterparts as he traveled to other nations.
When G returned to
the hotel room, he powered up the laptop, started LEADMiner, and constructed
what he felt was a credible demonstration of the software’s ability to uncover
criminal behavior in large amounts of GOVERNMENT data.
The following day, G
spoke before a room packed with law enforcement executives, analysts, and
agents. No translater was needed; English is understood in much of the country.
Minutes into the
presentation, an executive said, “Stop!”
G looked up.
The executive’s eyes
were opened wide. “The example you are
using,” he exclaimed, “is familiar to us—very familiar!”
Others nodded.
As it turned out,
GOVERNMENT investigators had worked for years to build a case against the
individual highlighted on the overhead projector. The individual had been recently put behind
bars.
Continuing with the
presentation, G used advanced LEADMiner features to describe a potential
network of individuals whose suspicious activities linked to the original suspect.
The GOVERNMENT
investigators could hardly believe their eyes. LEADMiner had uncovered, with a
few clicks of a mouse, much of the conspiracy which they had pursued—and were
currently pursuing—for over two years.
G fielded questions
as the agents and analysts wrote the names from the LEADMiner screen. While the GOVERNMENT had already uncovered
elements of the fraud which G now identified, the extent of the conspiracy was
still not fully understood and there were significant new facts provided by this
demonstration.
“This software is
available to us?” asked one analyst.
“Yes,” said G,
explaining the concept of the TTU. “And
once we get the TTU up and running, with appropriate data from partner
governments, the example we saw today will be a fraction of what we can
uncover.”
After the
presentation, agents and analysts approached G to learn about how the TTU helps
nations target security risks while dramatically boosting revenue collection.
Click here to learn more about the TTU concept