Complex investigations in the world of business.

Who we are

Maya Lau is an investigative analyst and founder of Anza Research. Previously, she was an analyst at a boutique research firm and is a former investigative reporter at The Los Angeles Times. Her work has uncovered unethical business practices in major U.S. corporations and wrongdoing within law enforcement.

Her investigation at the Los Angeles Times revealed names on a secret list of Sheriff’s deputies with histories of misconduct, prompting the district attorney to review past criminal cases featuring some of those officers. The list was so secret even prosecutors couldn’t access it.

Her stories also demonstrated the impact that secret police records have on California’s justice system, where an officer’s testimony could send people to prison without prosecutors or courts knowing about the lawman’s history of dishonesty.

Her work, in collaboration with colleagues, helped to bring about new laws that reversed decades of secrecy in police disciplinary files.

She previously covered criminal justice at The Advocate, Louisiana’s largest daily newspaper, based at its headquarters in Baton Rouge. There, she was a lead writer on a team that won a national Investigative Reporters and Editors award for an investigation into the business dealings of Burl Cain, the long-serving warden of the notorious Angola Prison, who resigned following the stories. Her team’s work also revealed the network of cronies and family members controlling the state’s prison system and spurred criminal investigations into prison officials, some of whom have been arrested and indicted.

She first learned how to knock on doors and dig up documents by working in the small newsroom of The Shreveport Times, where she covered crime and criminal justice.