PI Blotter: Canadian Private Investigators Arrested in the Caribbean

• September 08, 2012
• by PInow Staff
• In the News

Each week PInow combs the web for the latest and most interesting industry news stories to bring you the Weekly Private Investigator Blotter.

Private Investigators Finding Success in the Ukraine

UKRAINE – Private investigators in the Ukraine say that they get hired for a variety of cases, the most popular being background checks, especially checks for people met online. Like elsewhere in the world, professionals here rely on social networks for information as well as on databases. Background checks using public sources cost roughly UAH 2400 ($300) while business cases start at UAH 8000 ($1000), although the costs can vary widely depending on the case. In the Ukraine, it is still usually only the wealthy who hire private investigators. Currently, some private investigators in the country have submitted a draft of a bill which would create legislation for private investigation activity. Currently, there is no legislation regarding the industry and this prevents private investigators from working with authorities.

To read the full article, click here.

Private Investigator Course Starting in the Fall

ELGIN, IL – McHenry County College has a Private Investigation course starting this fall. The course will be taught by Illinois private investigator Edward Herdrich, who has 28 years of experience in the industry. Herdrich focuses on criminal defense cases, background checks, family cases and witness location. In addition to the course at McHenry County College, he also teaches at Elgin Community College and Harper College.  

To read the full article, click here. 

Questions About Private Investigators Hired by Former Councilors  

UK – A group of former parish councilors from Holbeach have responded to accusations concerning their hiring of private investigators. The group are accused of hiring the private investigators to check whether there were listening devices placed in council offices, but the group denies that two former councilors were the only ones responsible for hiring the private investigators. Morcliff Securities were paid £1,185 to check for listening devices after details about a private council meeting were released. No devices were found.

To read the full article, click here. 

Fraudster Private Investigators Caught

CANADA – A husband and wife team of private investigators have been apprehended in the Caribbean and will likely face charges that they defrauded business clients. Canadians Cullen Johnson and Elaine White worked as forensic accountants and private investigators when they allegedly faked and sold bank records which seemed to prove that someone has offshore money stowed away. In these cases, the couple could turn friends and spouses against each other using the faked information and this would lead to White and Johnson being asked to dig further into the cases. The couple fled Canada after pleading not guilty to the charges against them in 2009. Authorities in Canada hope to get the couple back to Canada to face charges.  They are currently being held in Turks and Caicos awaiting a hearing.

To read the full article, click here.

CFPB Seeking Private Investigators

WASHINGTON, DC – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is newly formed and is already advertising for private investigators who have experience in surveillance. The group wants, among other things, to investigate private investigators who may be posing as financial service clients. After congress complained, a similar plan at the Department of Health and Human Services was scrapped last year.  

To read the full article, click here.

Private Investigator Helps to Pursue Paternity Claims

CANADA – George Dryden has spent almost two years trying to prove that Canadian politician John Diefenbaker is his father. He has worked with a private investigator who has managed to acquire a cotton swab with ear wax. The substance has been sent to Accu-Metrics, a DNA testing company. That company concluded that there was “genetic overlap.” The DNA results are not very conclusive – suggesting rather that Dryden may be a distant relative – but Dryden remains convinced that he is related to Diefenbaker. Dryden’s family has denied the possibility that Dryden is Diefenbaker’s son. 

To read the full article, click here.

For more private investigator news highlights, click here to check out the in-the-news archives.