Fraud involving legal documents cost Americans billions of dollars every year in lost business property and litigation costs. Your important documents are one of the most vulnerable assets you possess. For Instance, nobody ever thinks that a family member would every take your Will or Trust and change it, but it happens all the time.
Legal document fraud emotionally affects those victimized by it and each year in the United States those victims incur millions of dollars in legal fees and court costs in attempting to obtain redress.
Much of the fraudulent activity conducted on documents involves altered text and cut & paste signatures. It is important to hire a forensic document examiner who understands current technologies that are being used to alter documents. I know and understands these software programs and how to identify these alterations. Conducting forensic handwriting analysis, document dating and forensic paper analysis along with thorough understanding of various forgery techniques, then being able to explain them in scientific terms, is what makes a paper expert necessary.
Our firm has expertise in Paper Science & Engineering, Paper Manufacturing and have spent nearly 30 years working and consulting in the paper industry. We have the expertise in understanding how paper is made and what unique properties that can be identified in altered documents. There is an untold story of evidence ready to be uncovered within the paper of altered documents.
In addition, we have experience in Art and Color and its relationship to the optical properties of paper. Our development of ScanRite Paper ID Technology allows us to determine if any single page within a questioned document comes from a different manufactured source, allowing us to determine if it is a substituted sheet. We provide scientific, statistical analysis and reporting to provide conclusive evidence, not just an opinion.
Understanding the Science of Paper.
The importance of hiring a print expert.
Our understanding of surface and colloid chemistry, along with the chemical relationships and interactions between the surface properties of a sheet of paper and the inks and toners that are printed on the paper are invaluable in document dating and identifying paper sources.
Years of working with companies like Xerox, HP, Cannon and Deluxe Check has given us the understanding of the interface of paper and printing properties. Doug has developed papers for laser, inkjet and micr printing purposes and understands the unique properties demanded of each of these printing technologies and how they interact with the surface of a sheet of paper.
Portable Color Spectrophotometry
Our patent pending methodology of identifying paper from different sources is a specialized service that only available at Paper Forensics. Our ScanRite Paper ID Technology utilizes a portable color spectrophotometer to measure and compare the color reflectance spectral data of the paper. The data is then scientifically analyzed and reported in an easy-to-understand report. The process is 99.7% accurate and repeatable, providing scientific evidence.
Pulping and water chemistry is unique to each mill. This, along with the specific color dyes and optical brighteners which are added to the paper during manufacturing give unique properties to paper manufactured on every different paper machine. This unique chemical composition gives the paper unique chemical “fingerprint” within each sheet of paper. Utilizing our patent pending methodology, we measure and analyze the dE* reference to as DE or (delta E), a measurement of the total difference in color between a comparable reference standard and the questioned paper.
The examination protocol involves establishing a statistically significant normalized population using the reference paper’s standard as the reference. If the resulting delta E of two different sheets falls within the specified delta E tolerance, it is statistically the same paper, containing the same chemistry and part of the normal distribution. Thus, two different sheets that test within the delta E tolerance come from the same manufactured source, same paper machine, same ream, or box of paper.
Portable Laboratory
The importance of having the proper equipment for a forensic document examination cannot be overstated. Many examinations take place within a courthouse or law office, you must be prepared to do everything you need to do to properly examine a document.
We have a fully equipped portable lab with up-to-date equipment to handle the needs of almost any examination. We utilize the latest software and technology in our examinations. It is essential to keep up with technology, if you don’t, you’ll be left behind.
MiScope Digital Microscope
Forensic Software
ScanRite Paper ID
DinoLite Digital Microscope
We Utilize Scientific Methods
As technology advances, so do the methods that fraudsters use to alter documents. With a degree in Paper Science & Engineering Doug has the expertise to apply scientific methodologies to examine and report forensic document analysis.
An understanding of how printers function and can explain why printers often exhibit unique properties to the text they print. An example would be why a laser printer leaves toner specs around some of the letters. These are clues to identify if all pages within a document were printed on the same printer or not. Most printers have some unique properties that can be identified through examination, if you understand what to look for.
The utilization of scientific analysis and reporting provides objective evidence versus subjective. Science and data provide the hard facts for juries and judges to come to the proper judgements in cases.
