"From the Editors Desk"

It has been a while since I last took the time to produce our newsletter. This is not due to a lack of interesting developments or stories to tell, quite the contrary. Business has been brisk and the stories keep rolling in, however I had taken some extended leave and traveled to exotic destinations and have found that I have been time poor of late.

Being recovered from taking advantage of the benefits that hard work brings, I have put fingers to keyboard and provide the following for your information, education and entertainment.

HANDY HINTS AND TIPS

Many people have reason to believe they are being bugged. Some with devastating effects to their personal lives and business enterprises. The cost effectiveness and ease of access to recording devices is becoming more and more attractive every day, not only is the size of the devices becoming smaller, but also the costs. Much of this equipment, which can also be illegal to possess, not just to install, is now manufactured in China. It’s relatively easy to use, devastatingly effective and quite often difficult to detect.

Lyonswood is often called upon by government departments and the Private Sector to undertake the detection of unlawful listening devices. One of the most frustrating things about these requests is that they are often unwittingly made on the very phones and from the very locations that our clients suspect are bugged. When first becoming aware of the type of inquiry, I always ask at the commencement of the phone conversation, “Are you calling me on a phone or from an area that you suspect is being bugged?” There is almost always a pregnant pause and a sheepish response, “Yeees”. Naturally, if there is a device, the bugger will be alerted to the suspicion of the target of the device. Provided that we attend immediately, we should still be able to locate that bug before the bugger has time to remove it.

If you do suspect your phones or premises are bugged, cease immediately to have any confidential discussions in those areas or on those phones. Don’t even discuss the fact that you suspect your phones or premises are bugged in those areas or on those phones.

If you have a cordless remote phone, remember that this is also a radio frequency transmitter. Some of these devices can easily be listened to with a cheap radio frequency scanner from as far away as a couple of hundred meters. If you have a competitor nearby or in the same building, they can listen to your every phone conversation.

If you do require the assistance of Lyonswood to undertake a Technical Surveillance Counter Measures (TSCM) sweep, call us from a mobile phone and from another location. Remember, if someone has infiltrated your business with listening devices, your e-mails might also be monitored with ‘Spy-Software’.

STATISTICS SUPPORT PRIVATE INVESTIGATION

Interestingly, I recently came across some statistics, some of which my company contributed towards. The statistics were compiled for the Australian Institute of Criminology and relate to Private Investigators in Australia.

The figures revealed that the work of 25,000 private investigators (I challenge this number which I believe is closer to 15,000 and most probably includes commercial agents) in Australia had a strong commercial and legal focus, particularly in relation to anti-fraud investigation. The study also found that private investigation produced results of value to clients. In fact, for every dollar spent on private investigation, six dollars are saved uncovering fraud. Interviewees claimed that concrete evidence was obtained in 70 to 90 percent of cases.

The value of a well-planned, well-constructed and well-executed investigation has proven it’s worth time and time again. The difficulties faced by private investigators in the conduct of investigation relate in the main to the lack of access to reliable government held data (the basic tools of any law enforcement agency investigation), the lack of interest and assistance to investigators and their victim clients by law enforcement agencies and the general misconception of what private investigators can do to assist a victim of crime.

The sooner respective State Governments acknowledge the findings of this national study and seize upon a gift horse that is staring them in the mouth, the sooner a steering committee can be put together to allow for industry and Government consultation to provide the framework for greater cooperation between governments, law enforcement agencies and the private investigation industry.

Police forces all around Australia are finding it difficult to cope with their workloads, not to mention the difficulties associated with recruitment and a very high incidence of resignation. The private investigation industry provides a great opportunity for governments to outsource investigation work and allow the government law enforcement agencies to concentrate upon more serious crimes. The sooner they realise this, the sooner a reduction in crime will eventuate.

NOT CRICKET!

A local Rotary Club that I once belonged to recently approached me. They required assistance in tracking down an individual who attended a fund raising night and managed to outbid all comers on a Sir Donald Bradman signed cricket bat and another less valuable item. The amount owed by the enthusiastic bidder was $5,500.00, a considerable proportion of the total fund raising event.

There was no doubt about his identity and that he was the bidder, however when it came to collecting the money at the end of the night, he couldn’t be found. When Rotary members realised this they also discovered that the cricket bat was missing. After a quick audit of the records there was no doubt that the bat had not been paid for. In fact, a Rotarian at that fundraiser saw the bidder departing, bat in hand.

The bidder was approached by Rotary and denied he had the goods. Because it was a charitable service organisation I decided not to charge and undertook the investigation personally.

After some difficulty and being unable to locate a home address, I managed to locate the business premises of the bidder, which was well secured by electronic video surveillance and door latches. After examination and an attempt to gain entry to discuss this matter with the suspect it was soon realised that I was not going to get to the batsman to step over the crease. Although I observed him enter the building, his well-rehearsed secretary denied he was in. I suspected I wasn’t the only person attempting to speak with him.

I devised a well-constructed subterfuge and a disguise and returned some weeks later after their memories had faded and their guard was down. Well knowing that he would probably deny he had the bat or come up with some unbelievable excuse for not having it, I had prepared a letter of demand. I gained entry as a prospective client, was invited into his business premises and after being seated in his fashionable office; I confronted him with the true purpose of my attendance.

At first he denied he had taken the bat however when confronted with Rotarian evidence that he had, he then alleged he didn’t have it any longer and had no idea where it was. When I pressed him in relation to the circumstances of its whereabouts he became angry and escorted me from the premises. Before we reached the door I served the letter of demand upon him. Some weeks down the track neither I nor Rotary had heard a word from the batsman so we began legal action with the help of a Rotarian member legal practitioner, by way of summons.

The service of this legal document presented an even greater degree of difficulty. The only way I would get to serve this document was if I awaited his arrival at the workplace and approached him prior to his entering his security-protected domain. Pretending to be a courier, I rang his office and advised I had a parcel to deliver and inquired as to when he might be there to sign for it. His secretary, obviously as well skilled in deception as I, wasn’t going to divulge this information under any circumstances. She confronted me with a barrage of questions in relation to the identity of the sender etc. I was now certain that he might have been alerted to my ruse and probably suspected he was about to be served by someone he was attempting to avoid.

Two days of surveillance at the premises had gone by and I was beginning to think I would never succeed when out of the blue I observed him approaching his office door. Dressed in courier type clothing and carrying a delivery manifest and a large box wrapped and addressed to him, filled with heavy telephone books, I moved in on him quickly and exclaimed, Mr. XXXXXXX? He turned and looked at me (remember I had a disguise on when I last visited him) and he immediately began to accelerate towards his doorway, I again said, “ I have a parcel for you, I have been trying to deliver this for some days now and I don’t get a lot of money as a courier” He stopped and looked at my clothing, courier hat, delivery manifest and two way radio and said, “Oh! You really are a courier, I thought you were someone trying to serve me with a summons” Seizing upon the opportunity, I handed him the heavy box to keep his hands occupied, hands that I suspected would become the hands of a pugilist once he discovered my ruse. I then reached into my back pocket and served him with the legal papers. He was absolutely stunned and as I walked away, I could see he was still holding the package filled with old phone books as well as the legal papers.

Some days later after I had completed the affidavit, the lawyer representing Rotary received a phone call from a male alleging that he had been confused and had inadvertently accepted service of a summons for another person. The summons was returned with a statutory declaration to this effect, signed by a person who we suspect was the fraudster using another name.

Now for the sting!

Whenever I get a difficult target, one who is devious enough to steal from a charity, I always take my insurance policy with me. On the day of service and on the day I entered his office under subterfuge, I was wired up with a small hidden video camera to record all the events just in case an allegation of assault or in this instance, mistaken identity is alleged. I immediately captured some still photographs from the video showing him holding the summons as I served it upon him and attached them to an e-mail and sent them to him demanding the return of the cricket bat within 48 hours, otherwise Rotary would seek legal advice as to whether he should be prosecuted for perjury ( false Statutory Declaration-Oaths Act.). Surprise, surprise, the next day he personally presented the cricket bat and the second item to another Rotary member.

I guess you could say that his spin was hit for six.

PISSED OFF!

My client was a well-mannered, well-spoken eastern suburbs woman who had become the victim of a malicious resident in a neighbourhood dispute involving an apartment complex that she resided in. She suspected a particular male resident of that same strata, however like most people who use investigators to assist them, she didn’t have conclusive proof.

She had been the recipient of well disguised and computer generated, vicious, defamatory and threatening notes left under her door.

The dispute had been long term and arose out of a decision of the body corporate (upon which she was an executive member) of the strata to make alterations to the common areas. All but two residents had agreed (the suspect and his partner) and the motion to undertake the alterations and additional costs above what was retained in the sinking fund was passed.

Three other residents of the residential strata who were also owner occupiers had also received threatening letters and decided that life wasn’t worth living at this address and had departed and rented their properties out. One of the notes our client received made it clear that three had been forced to leave and that she was next on their hit list. Tenacious as she was, she remained however things became worse. He threatened her with violence and she resorted to an Apprehended Violence Order against him which was granted. Shortly after the order, she received another note under her door, “One year on and one to go, ENJOY IT! I WILL WAIT” Our client took this note to mean he would again pursue her after the AVO had expired.

During this dispute, our client broke her leg and because she resided on an upper level of the strata, the suspect again seized upon this and it is believed, disabled the lift so that she would have to walk several flights of stairs to reach her apartment. An AVO can sometimes have a contrary effect to that which is desired. A disgusting smell soon emanated in the area of her front door and she noted the carpet was damp and the smell was not dissimilar to that of urine. She believed the suspect was urinating at her doorway.

We advised her that the best way to gather evidence was to set up a hidden video camera. We installed a tiny camera in the metal doorframe pointing downwards. It wasn’t long before we had video of the suspect smiling and urinating against her door. In fact, on 29 different occasions. We referred our client to a competent lawyer and the evidence was given to police. The suspect appeared in court, charged with 29 breaches of his apprehended violence order. He was convicted, fined, placed on a bond and ordered to pay costs as well as being ordered to move out of his own apartment.

This was a great result for our client, as she not only caught the suspect, she recovered costs and managed to get rid of him from her strata complex.

In this bizarre story, the heading also reflects the outcome.

Warren Mallard (Producer/ Editor)
Managing Director Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group
Certificate (iv) Investigative Service
Advanced Diploma Security (Risk Management)
Canberra Institute Of Technology.

The case of the Butcher bringing home his employer’s bacon and Lyre Birds and lovers (an excuse never to be believed). Take care and if you cant, give me a call.