Investigation Services

Debtor Search

Tracing people is always unpredictable and often even dangerous, but always interesting. Once, we were looking for a debtor. It is a very common task, people are always and everywhere trying to make a profit, to cheat, to do things other than what they were promised and so on. Someone, of course, just took the money and was not going to do anything initially. That’s the kind of person we were looking for: he took a contract and an advance payment for building a dacha house in the summer, and when the customer discovered the empty site in late August and tried to ask the subject, of course he had already disappeared.

Social media is a big help these days. The debtor-fraudster was young and, of course, may have had ties there. That’s where we started, “monitoring” the accounts of family and friends, which we had to trace first. It turned out that everyone had an account under a not subject name, but with a silhouette in the photo, as the client said – very similar to the wanted person. This suspicious account had a “best friend” who worked in the cafe-restaurant industry and didn’t seem to be hiding.

It was a matter of technique to find out the specific café and the opening hours of the friend. It was also a matter of technology to escort the friend home after work and, as the flat was in a typical low “soviet building”, we get a full view of the lighted windows.

What we saw there (and recorded) made it possible not only to close the wanted case, but also to collect the debt for the client. It turned out that the wanted man lived with a friend and the “male friendship” was very close. And this fact was of course concealed. Since the client had proof in his hands, the debtor simply couldn’t help but admit it and promised to pay it all back in the near future. Just to keep the secret.

Business Intelligence

At the present time, competitor intelligence, business niche intelligence, or simply gathering information about the products or pitfalls of a future partner, is very much in demand. Firms are expanding, businesses are relocating, big firms are taking over small ones and so on.

One frequent order is to deal with counterfeit products. For example, laser printer cartridges. In one such case, a foreign firm wanted to find out which of several firms in Moscow and St. Petersburg were specifically flooding the market with counterfeit cartridges of a brand known the world over. The Agency was given criteria to distinguish originals from counterfeits. They can be identified by packaging, stickers (including holograms) and other features. Of course, the manufacturer, has a register of official distributors, but it is not always the end point of sale and seemingly “outside” shop can sell the original, obtained in different ways. And an official retailer may sell “not only” the original. Everything happens.

The work is painstaking. First of all, images of packages were collected from websites. Next comes the ordering of products, because the photos from the sites and what will actually arrive are two big differences. Yes, it is necessary to create a legend, fake data of the “clients”, places the products will come – first of all it is safety for agents. After a video report and consultation with the customer, the products are mailed to them, which means the customer will have all the facts for prosecution on the fact of sale of counterfeit products. Further processes are out of our hands. Once again, for all potential clients – we gather facts, information, evidence. Their application and legalization is at the discretion of clients and their lawyers.

Sometimes we are asked to find out the whole chain from where a firm takes counterfeit goods. And this work is operational – calculating the days the products are brought into the shop, tracking the cars to the starting points, i.e. spinning the chain backwards. These are generally routine processes, drivers and expediters do not usually take any action against surveillance, and getting the full picture is a matter of time and professionalism.

Trace of wife

Tracing comes in all shapes and sizes, from friends and relatives to debtors and “enemies” from the past and present. In the early days of our practice, we were looking for the wife, Europe citizen who had run away from her “tyrant husband” back to Europe from China. The client, accordingly, gave us all of her addresses and friends and relatives he wanted very much to find her, since she had taken two young kids with her.

The search was difficult because the relatives were very aggressive and we knew at once that it would not be possible to find the fugitive with a “no pain” – it is possible (high percentage) that the client phoned and threatened, which made the mother and sister of the wanted person literally walk backwards and any attempts at surveillance were stopped within an hour. For a month, every possible address was checked, and hours of surveillance were spent. However, there was no result. Without going into detail, an advertisement was found on the Internet that had been placed by the Wife, she wanted to buy special vehicles (under a false name, but that’s not important). And even a mobile number was given.

Naturally our agent called immediately and made a profitable offer that was discussed in her rented flat (it was not convenient for her to go to the meeting with two children – we understand it). The search was done but it didn’t end well for the client as he only wanted the children. And the order to smuggle them out to China was of course ignored.

Experienced cheater

What can be said about the observation? Naturally, it is 90% in people’s minds to ambush the lovers of wives and husbands. Surveillance as such is almost always part of an investigation. Either part of an investigation, or business intelligence, when observing a competitor’s warehouses, and so on. There was an interesting case at the Agency when we were literally chasing an employee who was suspected of “cheating” on his firm. Why case was hard? There were a jealous wife! Who simultaneously suspected him of cheating on his own family. And I think she was very tense in the past – most likely to send him under the “surveillance” on several occasions. As a result, he very skillfully evaded pursuit, abandoned his car in obscure places and even changed his clothes!

The peak came when he and his mistress (yes, his wife’s suspicions were justified), drove into another courtyard and it was impossible to accompany him in transport – he was clearly “tailgating”. The agents of the foot surveillance that day met all the norms – running ahead of, following or parallel to the car that was moving, then stopping and then suddenly speeding up, but all within the limits of the courtyards. In the meantime, cars of other agents blocked possible exits to public roads. The assumption was made that the mistress lived somewhere around here. And so it turned out – having abandoned his SUV somewhere in the middle of a field with an unfinished building, our ward took the girl by the hand and escorted her to the entrance of a house that was far away. Yes – he watched the “tail”, but did not suppose that “tail” could be on foot – there were no cars nearby. By the way, he did not cheat on his firm (his mistress worked in another industry). How it ended up with his wife is none of our business.