Joe Yum, Ph.D.
President
Joe has more than 30 years of experience in successfully leading diverse groups of people in dynamic and challenging environments as a military officer, an academic researcher, a management consultant, and a leader in the FBI. As an FBI Special Agent, Joe led investigations of transnational organized crime, public corruption, complex financial crime, terrorist threats, violent crime, and threats to national security. Joe is a recipient of numerous awards, to include the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Criminal Investigation, a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for his outstanding and invaluable service to the community, and a Certificate of Honor from the City and County of San Francisco for keeping communities safe. Joe developed an upper-division college course on investigative interviews, and currently teaches an interview and deception detection course in the Division of Criminal Justice at California State University, Sacramento. Joe is dedicated to using his vast investigative experience to develop innovative strategies and tackle complex challenges in service of our clients.
Ken Bagchi, Ph.D.
Vice President
Ken applied his critical thinking and rigorous scientific research skills developed during a Ph.D. program at Stanford University and a National Science Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania towards complex federal criminal investigations during a two-decade career as a Special Agent with the FBI. Ken’s investigative work included some of the most important international money laundering, FCPA/bribery, and complex fraud cases in the FBI, spanning 22 federal judicial districts and 13 foreign countries. Further, Ken was the risk/compliance manager for a high-risk investigative program involving more than 800 investigative personnel. Ken was also extensively involved in screening FBI Special Agent applicants as well as fellow FBI Agents for a sensitive FBI program. Ken's vast research, investigative, and risk management experience provides tremendous value to both organizational clients and law firms.
Denise G. Gaztambide, M.S.
Senior Investigator
Denise is a decorated collegiate track and field athlete who was a Pac 10 Heptathlon Champion and a recipient of Stanford Track Leadership/Sportsmanship Award in 1986, and a top five athlete in the high jump in the 1992 Olympic Track and Field Trials. As an FBI Special Agent, Denise conducted investigations in various programs to include violent crime, Asian organized crime, international terrorism, and crimes against children. Denise served as the first female operator and team leader on San Francisco FBI SWAT and has extensive experience in crisis and tactical operations to include threat assessments, executive protection, tactical planning, negotiation, and evidence response. In 2010, due to her specialized training and vast experience, Denise was promoted to supervise all critical response personnel and operations for FBI San Francisco. As a supervisor, Denise led a 45-member enhanced SWAT Team, hostage negotiators, evidence response team, tactical operations personnel, and tactical and firearms training personnel. Denise served as an Onsite critical incident supervisor for many special events and emergency incidents, including the 2012 and 2014 World Series in San Francisco, Super Bowl 50, and the Asiana Flight 214 disaster at the San Francisco Airport. As a Special Agent Assessor, Denise conducted selection interviews of FBI Special Agent applicants throughout the U.S. Since retiring from the FBI, Denise continues to use her vast investigative and critical response skills in service of our clients.
David Strange, M.A.
Senior Investigator
David is a San Francisco Bay area native who received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA and an M.A. in International Policy Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. David joined the FBI in 1988 where he worked as a Special Agent for over 30 years. David was initially assigned to the FBI San Diego office from 1988-2000 where he worked a variety of criminal violations to include bank robbery, kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking, financial crime, and border crime. David worked closely with the San Diego Police Department and the Baja California State Police in Mexico. In 2000, David was promoted as a supervisor in the International Training Unit where he trained police officers from Colombia in anti-kidnapping operations. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, David headed a special unit at FBI Headquarters designed to combat terrorist financing where he worked with both foreign and domestic police agencies. In 2005, David accepted a supervisory position in the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) at FBI San Francisco. David supervised both the Domestic Terrorism Program and managed the JTTF officers, to include screening of applicants from local police departments and federal agencies. In 2012, David returned to investigative duties and worked complex financial crime investigations until his retirement at the end of 2018. David is a fluent Spanish speaker and continues his investigative work in service of our clients.