Page 193 - Bundle for MF Final

Bates no 192

"lV\u-.tl lZJt:r"
Application
11

C08ASCO
BIOGRAPHY OF MICHAEL COMER

Michael Comer was until late 2018 the Managing Director of Cobasco
Group Limited, a community of anti-fraud and compliance specialists.
Cobasco Group Limited which works in mentoring relationships with Clients to prevent, detect.
investigate and recuperate from corporate fraud.
From 1963 to 1971 he served as a Commissioned Officer in HM Customs
Customs and Excise
& Excise Investigation Branch where he successfully handled hundreds of
investigations into commercial. revenue, narcotics smuggling. Organised
Crime and complex financial frauds. He successfully investigated some of
the first cases of computer crime in Europe.
He has multiple commendations from Judges at the Central Criminal
Court, Old Bailey and from other civil and criminal courts for his skills as
an Investigator.
Headhunted by Essa Petroleum Company Limited in 1971, he was
Esso appointed as Corporate Security Co-ordinator and later as Security Adviser
for Esso Europe Inc. In these positions he directed the European-wide
protection programme for critical assets including operations the North
Sea. refineries, extensive computer and communications networks, a large
marine fleet, thousands of retail outlets and for more than 60,000 people.

Network Security In 1979, he resigned from Esso to found Network Security Management
Management & Hambros Limited which (as a subsry of Hambros Bank limited) arguably became
the most successful fraud consultancy in Europe building annual profits to
over £4 million with a staff of over one hundred. In 1996, He resigned
from Hambros and launched Maxima Group Pie which established itself as
a leading counter- fraud practitioner.
However. in both Network and Maxima. he became disillusioned over
the inability of these, and other larger consultancies. to consistently
maintain quality and to deliver value to clients. In 2002 he resigned from
Maxima and subsequently founded Cobasco Group Limited to work with
a limited circle of clients and on selected pro-bono assignments.
Value driven From 1979 onwards. Mike Corner has worked with hundreds of clients on
a wide range of preventive assignments and has investigated scores of high
profile frauds in Europe. Asia, Africa and in South and North America,
successfully and mainly without publicity.
In 1974, he initiated the methodology of Critical Point Auditing based on
Fraud Detectin automated tests and diagnostic profiling which has, so far. uncovered
losses in excess of $300,000.000.
He worked with Edward de Bono and James Martin on a strategic project
Kroll to reappraise the way businesses manage operational risks.

Jule$ B Kroll, the founder of Kroll Inc-described by Time Magazine as "Wall Street's
Private Eye" and acknowledged as the creator of the modem security and investigations
industry • said:
"I have long respect Mike Comer as probably the greatest fraud inve5flgator
In the world"