Goodwork

Goodwork LLC

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Fraud Risk · Due Diligence · Governance Advisory
Fraud Risk · Due Diligence · Governance

You Built Something Worth Protecting.

Most businesses operating in the GCC are more exposed than they realise. The risks that cost the most rarely announce themselves — until the damage is already done.

16+ YearsGCC & East Asia
CFE CertifiedFraud Examiner
40+Investigations & audits
$800M+In cases led
Arabic · English · RussianLanguages of engagement
The Pattern

You’re Not the First.

These are not hypothetical scenarios. They are the situations Goodwork is called into, repeatedly — by family offices, financial institutions, government entities, and private businesses operating in the GCC.

01
The partner who checked out — until they didn’tCredible introduction, right connections, UAE-registered entity. Nobody independently verified ownership, litigation history, or what happened to the last joint venture partner. By the time the picture was complete, the money was gone.
02
The trusted employee with unchecked accessRapid expansion, new hires, one person managing vendor relationships and approvals with no oversight. The losses were building for months before anyone noticed a pattern.
03
The investment that felt rightThe opportunity came through a trusted introduction. The names attached were recognisable. The documentation looked legitimate. The money moved. The counterparty disappeared.
04
The compliance gap nobody knew existedBanking documentation was incomplete. Ownership structures were never properly disclosed. The account was frozen without warning — business halted, no clear timeline for resolution.
05
The governance structure that looked solidOn paper, everything was in order. In practice, there was no real oversight, no accountability, and no way to detect what was happening until the loss was significant enough to be impossible to ignore.
Why Goodwork

The Gulf Is Not Like Anywhere Else.
Neither Is How We Work Here.

Most advisory firms operating in the GCC were not built for it. They bring Western frameworks, English-only engagement, and teams who learned this market from the outside. That gap costs clients — in missed context, in overlooked risk, and in findings that do not hold up when they need to.

We Engage in the Language That Fits

Engagements are conducted in Arabic, English, or Russian — whatever the client and the context require. Reports and legal documentation are prepared in the language required by local regulatory authorities, regardless of the client’s language. You are never navigating this alone in the wrong language.

We Know How Business Actually Works Here

16 years of GCC experience — not studying it from abroad, but operating inside it. Government frameworks, private sector investigations, family office disputes, financial institution mandates. The cultural and commercial context that generic advisory firms miss is what we have built our practice on.

Languages of Engagement

Our team engages clients and counterparties across the GCC in the language that the situation demands — and delivers reporting in the language that local regulators, courts, and authorities require.

Arabic English Russian French

Investigation reports, legal submissions, regulatory filings, and board communications delivered in the language required — not just the language preferred.

Through our specialist partner network, Goodwork also supports engagements requiring additional language and jurisdictional expertise beyond the GCC.

The Cost

What It’s Already Costing You

Fraud and weak controls are not one-time events. They compound — and they cost more than most businesses realise until the damage is done.

5%
of annual revenue lost
to fraud — typical organisation
$145K
median loss per case
across all industries globally
12 mo
median time before
fraud is detected
longer detection when
no controls exist

Source: ACFE Report to the Nations 2024 — Global Study on Occupational Fraud and Abuse

The GCC Multiplier

Regional legal counsel operating across UAE, KSA, and Qatar consistently report that foreign businesses are disproportionately targeted — unfamiliarity with local counterparty norms and regulatory expectations makes them easier marks. The losses are avoidable. The controls are not complicated. They just need to be built.

The Cost of Waiting

Every case Goodwork has been called into could have cost less if it had been addressed earlier. The businesses that acted before a loss occurred spent a fraction of what the ones who waited spent managing the consequences. The right time to act is before something goes wrong.

What We Do

Four Services. One Advisory Relationship.

We cover the full spectrum of fraud risk and governance — so you don’t have to coordinate between multiple firms or discover gaps after the fact.

01 — Fraud Risk Assessment & Investigation

Find out where you are exposed — and what to do about it. We assess fraud risk across your operations and investigate suspected misconduct with the rigour required for legal proceedings. Evidence-ready output. Full chain of custody.

02 — Integrity Due Diligence & Business Intelligence

Know who you are dealing with before you commit. We verify partners, investors, counterparties and vendors — beneficial ownership, background, reputation and risk — across the GCC and globally. You commit with confidence, or you walk away before the loss.

03 — Governance Frameworks & Internal Controls

Build the structures that protect your operations and satisfy your regulators. Practical governance frameworks designed for how businesses actually operate in the Gulf — not adapted from foreign models that don’t fit the regional reality.

04 — Operational Risk Advisory

For owners and investors who need to understand the risk embedded in how a business actually runs — before they scale it, acquire it, or restructure it. We find the gaps that are invisible until they become expensive.

Every engagement starts with a confidential conversation. No commitment required until you decide there is one.

The Lead
Maher Hashash
Maher Hashash
Founder & Managing Director · Goodwork LLC
CFE — Certified Fraud Examiner Big Four Alumni 16+ Years GCC

I believe the best protection against fraud is a framework built by someone who understands how it actually happens.

Before founding Goodwork, I spent my career at Big Four and leading advisory firms — building fraud risk frameworks for governments and ministries, investigating fraud at the highest levels, and advising financial institutions and government entities on regulatory compliance across the GCC.

  • Established the UAE Federal Anti-Fraud Guidelines (2018) — still the national standard
  • Developed anti-fraud frameworks for the KSA Ministry of Finance
  • Led investigations across manufacturing, real estate, banking & family offices involving hundreds of millions of dollars
  • Active fraud risk advisor to Saudi financial institutions under SAMA
  • Proceedings supported across multiple international jurisdictions simultaneously

What I do now at Goodwork is make that level of expertise available directly — without the overhead, the delays, or the junior teams that characterise larger firms.

Goodwork LLC is registered in the UAE. Maher also holds Individual Entrepreneur (ИП) registration in Russia — reflecting a genuine commitment to serving clients across both markets, not just passing through.

The Expert Team

Senior Advisory. No Junior Handoffs.

Farrukh Attamuradov
Senior Advisor & Regional Market Expert
English · Russian

Former Executive Director at a major GCC Development Group. Deep expertise in commercial fraud, procurement risk, and vendor management across the GCC. Brings comprehensive knowledge of regional business culture, counterparty dynamics, and UAE regulatory environment to every engagement.

Specialist Partners — Brought In When the Situation Demands It

IntelligenceOSINT & HUMINT specialists for background checks, beneficial ownership verification, and enhanced due diligence across multiple jurisdictions
LegalRegional law firms across UAE, KSA, Qatar, Lebanon — regulatory interpretation, contract reviews, dispute resolution, and enforcement
SpecialistsFamily office governance, wealth management, banking compliance, employment law — the right expert for the specific situation
Khaled Zaza
Operations & Regulatory Strategy Advisor
Arabic · English

International lawyer specialising in regulatory compliance, company setup, and social responsibility frameworks across the GCC. Leads relationships in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Qatar. Board-level advisory on governance strategy, operational compliance, and local regulatory alignment.

The Work

When It Mattered, We Delivered.

Three engagements. Real situations. Real outcomes. All client details anonymised.

Family Office & Investment UAE Active Retainer
Foreign Investors — Protected From Day One

Two family offices entering UAE markets with serious capital. Both had JV partners and deal structures that looked sound. Neither had been independently verified. In both cases, what we found when we looked changed the picture materially. Fraud was uncovered, losses were stopped, legal proceedings were supported. Both clients chose to move to an ongoing advisory mandate. Both remain active relationships.

Fraud identified. Further losses prevented. Both clients on active retainer covering their continuing GCC operations.
Real Estate & Development UAE & KSA ~$806M USD
When the CEO Is the Suspect

Two separate investigations into CEO-level misconduct across major real estate development projects. Owners and boards suspected fraud at the highest level. Integrity due diligence, directorship checks, social media monitoring, forensic analysis of accounts, contracts and communications, interviews across both organisations. Fact-finding reports presenting fraud schemes with amounts and named culprits. Executive reports for boards and detailed reports for audit committees, regulators, and Public Prosecution.

Fraud schemes uncovered. Culprits identified. Legal proceedings supported in both jurisdictions through to conclusion.
Manufacturing Saudi Arabia ~$1.9M USD
The CFO Was the Problem

An industrial manufacturing plant. The CFO had been trusted, senior, and unchecked. The owners needed evidence that would hold up before the Public Prosecution, Police, and a court. We reconstructed five years of payments, interviewed the full management chain, built a fact-based evidence file, and prepared Arabic-language reports for all legal proceedings. Coordinated with legal counsel, filed for travel ban, and led the asset recovery process through to conclusion.

Stolen funds recovered. Travel ban obtained. Legal claims filed. The client had answers, evidence, and a result.

These are three of more than forty investigations and twenty-five fraud risk assessments Goodwork has led across the GCC.

See the Work →
What You Get & Next Steps

What You Get — And How to Get Started

Government & Regulatory ExperienceUAE Federal Anti-Fraud Guidelines, KSA Ministry of Finance frameworks, SAMA, CBUAE, ADGM, and DFSA — built from direct government advisory mandates.
One Relationship. Full Scope.Fraud risk, due diligence, governance, operational advisory — one firm, one point of contact.
Direct Senior InvolvementEvery engagement is led by Maher Hashash. Not delegated to a junior team.
Investigation Capability On DemandDiscreet, evidence-ready, legally sound — available when a situation demands it.

How It Starts

1

Conversation

30 minutes. Confidential. In the language that works for you. No commitment required.

2

Assessment

Maher reviews your situation and identifies the right track. We tell you honestly if it’s not a fit.

3

Proposal

Specific, honest, clear. Deliverables, timeline, fees. Nothing generic.

4

We Start

Your business is protected from the first session. Not from when the report lands.

The right time to act is before something goes wrong — not after it already has. All initial consultations are confidential.

How We Engage

Two Engagement Tracks

Investigations and due diligence cannot be packaged in advance — they are scoped per situation. Advisory and framework work follows a structured path. We are clear about which track applies before any engagement begins.

Advisory & Framework Track

Governance · Compliance · Capability Building · Structured phases

For businesses building or strengthening governance and risk infrastructure. Predictable scope, clear deliverables, defined timeline.

Phase 1 — AssessmentFraud risk assessment or compliance gap analysis. Define the exposure before designing the solution.
Phase 2 — Framework DevelopmentGovernance structures, internal controls, and operating procedures built for your specific context.
Phase 3 — Capability BuildingTrain the teams. Embed the processes. Build independence from external advisors.
Phase 4 — Ongoing AdvisoryRetained advisory, quarterly reviews, and response support when situations arise.

Investigative & Intelligence Track

Investigations · Due Diligence · Asset Tracing · Scoped per engagement

For situations requiring investigation or verification. Scope, timeline, and fees defined after a confidential brief. No generic proposals sent blind.

Integrity Due DiligenceVerify counterparties before you commit — partners, investors, vendors, employees.
Internal InvestigationsDiscreet fact-finding for misconduct or fraud. Evidence-ready output. Full chain of custody.
Forensic AssessmentFinancial records analysis and transaction review to detect irregularities or support disputes.
Global Asset TracingCross-border intelligence — beneficial ownership and asset location across jurisdictions.

All investigative work is confidential. Fees on application following initial brief.

Contact

Start the Conversation

All initial consultations are confidential. Engagements are conducted in the language that works for you. No obligation until you decide there is one.

BaseUAE · Online
Maher Hashash · CFE
Managing Director, Goodwork LLC
“You built something worth protecting. The right time to protect it is before something goes wrong — not after it already has.”