Change comes with the opportunity for both good and evil, which is something to keep in mind for the next 10 to 15 years as political tides change, said Jules Kroll '63, founder of Kroll Inc. The firm investigates governmental and corporate corruption internationally and was the company that located Saddam Hussein's riches hidden abroad.

The opportunity for evil often manifests itself in corruption, corporate thievery and malfeasance, said Kroll Oct. 21, speaking on "Fighting International Corruption: Holding Corrupt Heads of State Accountable from Marcos to Saddam Hussein" in McGraw Hall. These opportunities, he said, are made easier when regimes are replaced with new leaders and systems of governance.

Kroll said he started the company 36 years ago with a law degree and experience working as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. His original idea was to help corporations be more efficient and honest.

At first, there seemed to be little interest, until Marvel Comics agreed to pay the company a portion of the money that Kroll would presumably help them save. This worked financially for both Kroll and Marvel Comics; today, Kroll has offices in more than 65 U.S. and international cities and employs more than 5,000 people.

Kroll gave various examples of investigations his company has carried out, saying that although they have made crucial discoveries, "there are lots of times we fail."

For instance, Kroll was hired in the 1970s to investigate theft and squandering by then-Haitian President Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The investigations were easy, Kroll said, and Baby Doc was exiled as a result, but getting the money back was another story. The company was able to recoup only a fraction of the stolen government money.

Often, a lack of what Kroll called "political will" on the part of the plundered country makes it difficult to settle the scores of corruption. And the widespread nature of the crime makes it difficult to tackle all instances of corruption.

Kroll also discussed some of his most famous assignments. In 1985, the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hired Kroll to investigate reports that Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, had amassed millions of dollars in private wealth. Kroll's investigation confirmed this and also linked the Marcoses to other foreign assets. In 1990, the company was hired by the Kuwaiti government to track down Hussein's assets.

Kroll Inc. does more investigations than any non-governmental organization that he is aware of, Kroll said. Its mission is "to keep the fish tank clean."

Kroll, who was named Cornell's Entrepreneur of the Year In 2003, is now chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Georgetown University Law Center and chairman of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Foundation. He retired from Kroll Inc. last spring.

The lecture was part of the LaFeber-Silbey Series in the Department of History, which invites Cornell alumni who are active in public affairs.

"The object is to provide an opportunity for our undergraduates to get to know some of these people who may then serve as a model for them," said Isabel V. Hull, the John Stambaugh Professor of History at Cornell.

Jill McCoy '09 is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.