CORPORATE INTELLIGENCE

• NEW YORK - K2 quietly demotes co-CEO

• ABU DHABI - Consultant Charles Peterson returns to nuclear

• WASHINGTON - Ex-staffer takes Guidehouse to court

• HOUSTON - Former Federal Reserve Board executive Christopher Laursen joins Straife
  

• PARIS - Bpifrance executive committee loses another member
  

• NEW YORK - Wells Fargo's Isabel Plasencia moves to Treliant

• WASHINGTON - Robert Lewis anchors The Van Aucker Group to Ankara again
  

• BRISTOL - Police inspector Mark Lemoir goes private

Moscow investigations firm Gambit Global Intelligence expands Emirati footprint 

The small company, which specialises in complex transnational investigations and has good connections from Geneva to Dubai, is taking advantage of the exodus of its Western competitors on the Russian market.

Byblos Groups new branch B-Guard ME opens in Beirut 

French security firm Byblos Group is going to do business in Beirut, in owner Simon Hoayek's native country. He is counting on Sami el-Hoyek, a former Lebanese Armed Forces general, to get the new branch off the ground.

Private investigators allegedly involved in trans woman's forced return to Saudi Arabia 

Special Investigations Limited was hired by the family of Eden Knight, who has reportedly committed suicide. Its CEO Michael Pocalyko, a former Navy pilot with a background in intelligence, reportedly misled Knight, claiming his goal was to help her repair relations with her parents.

Hack for hire: ENRC aims to open up Dechert and Nick del Rosso's Pandora's box 

Kazakh mining group ENRC is already pursuing a legal and investigative campaign of unprecedented scale and complexity. Now, it is overseeing the start of fresh legal action against its nemesis, Neil Gerrard, his old law firm Dechert, and, by the same token, Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

From New York to Geneva, Israeli-Luxembourg due diligence firm Sqope prospers under Krancenblum 

Veteran Luxembourg due diligence firm Sqope has had a new lease of life, opening up outposts from New York to Geneva and appointing new people, since the arrival of CEO Ilana Krancenblum and with the help of a number of Israeli consultants.

Bahaa Hariri swaps CT Group for BGR to promote his political ambitions in Lebanon 

A powerful businessman and son of the former prime minister murdered in 2005, Hariri will pay BGR $600,000 for a year's work. Lobbyists on the contract include Ed Rogers, a veteran of the Reagan and Bush Sr.

Deloitte and Lebanese ex-partner Al Fadl escape LCB shareholders' wrath for now 

A legal battle between Deloitte and former shareholders in Lebanese Canadian Bank, relaunched in February, involves an array of characters including a member of the Qatari royal family and Beirut financial consulting figure Joseph Al Fadl.

Ezra Friedlander, Turkey's lobbyist in Washington, teams up with Ankara's allies 

Ezra Friedlander, a Washington lobbyist and PR adviser to Turkey, has recently started promoting Azerbaijan's interests on Capitol Hill. His connections to the US Israeli community are of particular interest to both Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Wang Duanyong, the academic testing the waters for China in Afghanistan 

The consultant turned researcher who heads China's Overseas Interests Studies Centre at the prestigious Shanghai International Studies University, assists Chinese companies with their investment plans in Kabul.