In Tempe, the employee who wants to leave and the competitor who wants to hire them are rarely far apart. Marina Heights, ASU Research Park, downtown Mill Avenue and Papago Park Center all sit inside Tempe’s 40 square miles, and US 60, Loop 101, Loop 202 and I-10 tie them together. A manager can change employers without changing commutes.
For many Tempe businesses, that makes files a bigger worry than cash. In 2019, two former employees of a Tempe financial firm were arrested and accused of emailing confidential files to someone at a competitor in Chandler. The firm valued the files at $6.1 million. Those were allegations, but the pattern is familiar: someone who knew where everything was kept, and a rival close enough to use it.
We give you a timeline in place of a hunch. You find out who had access, what moved, when it moved, and who else was involved. It’s written up so your attorney can use it for a termination, a civil claim, or a report to the Tempe Police Department.
Employee misconduct investigations in Tempe also produce answers that clear people. Sometimes the person you suspected did nothing wrong, and it’s far better to know that before you lose a good employee.
Quantum Investigations is a veteran-owned corporate investigations firm serving Tempe and the rest of Maricopa County. We were founded by Jeff Penrod, a former Phoenix Police officer and military veteran. The method comes straight from that work: build the case, document every step, keep a timeline, and handle evidence so it holds up when someone challenges it.
We’ve been doing this for 20+ years, based in Phoenix with a presence in Mesa, which borders Tempe. If you’re searching for corporate investigators near you in Tempe, that’s the experience behind the call.
You shouldn’t have to take our word for any of it. Quantum Investigations holds Arizona PI License No. 1547944 through the Department of Public Safety, and you can look it up before you ever pick up the phone. If what you describe doesn’t need an investigator, we’ll tell you that too.
Our corporate investigation services in Tempe start with a free, confidential call, and it’s open at any hour, because the moment you notice something is rarely during business hours. Tell us what you’ve seen: files opened that shouldn’t have been, numbers that don’t match, a tip from an employee. You’ll get an honest read on whether an investigator makes sense or whether your attorney or accountant should move first.
If it does make sense, we put the scope in writing before any fieldwork starts. That covers what we’re looking at, how updates reach you, and how the retainer works. Typical Phoenix-area retainers run $1,500 to $5,000, applied against hours, with any unused balance returned. Hourly rates typically run $95 to $175.
Then comes the work. Depending on the case, that means interviews, document and financial review, background checks on people and outside vendors, and surveillance when it fits. It’s all lawful, with no pretexting for phone or bank records, no trespassing and no getting into accounts.
Tempe’s employer clusters are tight, and people at different companies often know each other, so we keep the circle small and the details need-to-know.
You finish with a written report: timestamped logs, photos or video where they were used, and a clear timeline. What happens next is your decision, made with your attorney.
Ready to get started?
Corporate work in Tempe looks different from what you’d see in a warehouse or retail district. Picture the offices around Marina Heights, ASU Research Park and Warner Road, the professional suites along University Drive, Broadway Road and Mill Avenue, and the property management and real estate offices serving the ASU rental market. The risk here is people with access: confidential files, client lists, vendor payments, a company card, a rent deposit that never reached the right account.
We focus our services on that environment. Employee misconduct investigations in Tempe cover policy violations, workplace complaints and staff working for a competitor on the side. Fraud investigation services in Tempe cover embezzlement, vendor fraud and billing schemes, plus workers’ comp and insurance claims that don’t add up.
With new buildings, tenants and contractors arriving through the Novus Innovation Corridor, business investigation services in Tempe, Arizona also include due diligence on vendors and partners you haven’t worked with before, and background checks on people you’re about to hire.
Each case starts with a written scope sized to what you need, from a short vendor check to a longer fraud matter. We work with your attorney, HR team or insurer, and if a case belongs with someone else, we’ll say so.
Yes. Arizona licenses private investigators through the Department of Public Safety, and a licensed agency can investigate employees in your business as long as the methods stay lawful. That means no pretexting to get phone or bank records, no trespassing and no getting into accounts. Evidence collected those ways is usually unusable and can expose you to a claim of your own.
If the investigation leads to a termination or other adverse action, federal law (the FCRA) generally requires you to give the employee a summary of the nature and substance of the investigation. You don’t need advance notice or permission to investigate in the first place. Employment is a regulated area, so most Tempe employers bring in their attorney or HR counsel early. We work alongside them and write our reports so they can use them.
Typical Phoenix-area hourly rates for private investigators run $95 to $175. Retainers usually run $1,500 to $5,000, applied against your hours, and any unused balance is returned to you. Corporate cases don’t have a published flat price because scope drives everything: how many people are involved, how many hours of fieldwork, and whether financial tracing is needed. Nationally, corporate investigations commonly run from about $2,000 to $10,000 or more.
The better comparison is the cost of waiting. A Tempe woman was accused in 2024 of stealing nearly $489,000 from an employer over about two and a half years, according to news reports. Those are allegations, but they show how a small, steady leak adds up. We put the scope and billing in writing before work begins, and no honest investigator can promise a particular result.
Slow down. The urge to confront is strong, but it commonly destroys the case, because the person deletes files, moves money or hires a lawyer before you know what happened. Hold off on accusing anyone or making changes that signal you’re suspicious until you’ve talked to counsel. Save the bank statements, card statements, payroll records and email you already have, and don’t edit or delete anything.
Then call your attorney, and your accountant if the numbers are involved. Local cases in Tempe tend to follow the same pattern: someone trusted with the checkbook, found when an owner reads a bank statement or an audit turns something up. If the suspect runs the books or is close to you, your own staff can’t look into it. That’s when a licensed outside investigator makes sense. When there’s enough to act on, a report to the Tempe Police Department is one of your options.
It depends on the case, and you’ll get a realistic range in the written scope. Nationally, a due diligence check on a partner or vendor usually takes about one to two weeks, an employee misconduct case about two to four weeks, and a complex fraud case can take months.
Fraud also tends to run a long time before anyone notices it. The 2024 report from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found the median scheme went about 12 months before detection, so the trail you’re following may be a year old or more. Tempe adds its own pressure: with employers packed this close together, someone who has already left may be settling in at a competitor. If that’s your situation, say so on the first call, because timing affects what can still be documented. Updates come on the schedule agreed up front, so you aren’t left guessing.
Often, yes, within limits. The work is establishing facts: who had access to what, what was copied or sent, when, and who else knew. That comes from interviews, records review, background work on the people involved, and a clear timeline. It’s the same case-building approach used in police work.
We aren’t a digital forensics lab. If laptops, phones or email servers need to be imaged, your IT team or a forensic examiner should preserve them, and we coordinate with them and your attorney. Your attorney decides whether the facts support a civil claim, a demand letter or a report to local law enforcement. The 2019 Tempe case, where two former employees were arrested and accused of emailing files to a competitor, is a reminder that this happens here. Don’t contact the former employee or their new employer before you’ve talked to counsel.
Ask for the license number and check it with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which licenses PI agencies. Under A.R.S. § 32-2411, nobody can work as a private investigator in Arizona unless they’re registered as an employee of a licensed agency, and doing so without a license is a class 1 misdemeanor. Quantum Investigations’ number is PI License No. 1547944, and you’re welcome to check it.
Tempe has plenty of firms, some with an office in the city and some based elsewhere in the Valley. When you’re comparing corporate investigators near you, ask who will work your case, what experience they have with employee and fraud matters, and whether the scope, billing and reporting schedule come in writing. Be wary of anyone who offers to pull phone or bank records, since getting them through pretexting is illegal, or who guarantees an outcome.
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