CALABRIA, ITALY - Thanks to his Facebook contacts, suspected Italian mafioso Pasquale Manfredi was apprehended. To ascertain Manfredi’s whereabouts, Italian police contacted his network of connections from the social networking page. Reports indicate that Manfredi, one of the country’s top 100 most-wanted suspects, was arrested trying to escape from the rooftop of an apartment complex in the city of Crotone.

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SYRACUSE, NY – PI Noah Felice has admitted to making misleading and false claims about his criminal record two years ago when applying for a pistol permit amendment. Felice has pleaded to a second-degree charge of offering a false instrument. Felice claimed on the amendment that he had no criminal record when in fact he has several arrests and convictions. He has been sentenced to one-year conditional discharge and has had his permit revoked. The status of Felice’s PI license is in question now that he has been convicted, but it is not immediately known whether he will be allowed to retain his PI license.

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CHARLESTON, SC – Heather Angelica Kamp has been accused of posing as a physician, but she has also been charged with murder, obstruction of justice and forgery. Kamp and a man known as Ethan Mack have been indicted in the murder of Katherine Waring. Waring’s murderers might not have been found if not for PIs. Kamp had left the area where she and Waring used to live, but Waring’s family hired a team of PIs to find their daughter’s killer. PIs eventually found evidence linking Kamp to Waring’s death.

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TORONTO, CANADA - Ponzi scams have deprived investors of billions of dollars, but investigators note that tracking assets and wrongdoers is so difficult that many victims may not recover lost funds. In Ponzi schemes, investors get money because other investors pay in. No profits are ever made, so an economic downturn or a slowing of new investors mean people lose money. Forensic investigation specialists note that with the economy now doing poorly, many such schemes are falling apart. Forensic investigators say that class-action lawsuits and PIs are often the only ways to track down victim’s money, but in many cases this is very challenging since there is little actual profit in these schemes. In many cases, leaders of Ponzi schemes spend money on a lavish lifestyle, so there is no money for victims to track and recover. Ponzi fraudsters also often hide money in tax shelters and through families, making money hard to trace.

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NEWPORT BEACH, CA - It’s not the typical PI assignment: Guess and Maxim model Bree Condon hired a PI to track down someone who was posing as “Bree Condon” – complete with photos of the real Bree Condon – on the dating website SeekingMillionaire.com. What PIs discovered was a man named Justin Brown, posing as Condon on the dating site to lure and scam men of money. Brown posted pictures of Condon and used his feminine voice to convince men that he was Condon during long romantic phone conversations. His scheme allowed him to scam wealthy men out of tens of thousands of dollars. All the men believed they were dating Condon, although Brown was careful to never permit a face-to-face meeting. Now, Brown in being investigated by authorities and has been indicted on a felony theft charge.

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MIAMI, FL – Club surveillance videos show model Paula Sladewski leaving a popular nightclub, possibly followed by a man. PIs hired by Sladewski’s boyfriend and local police are looking closely at the surveillance footage to get more clues in the murder. Surveillance shows Sladewski leaving Club Space at 7:20 am on January 3, 2010. Sladewski’s burned body was found in a trash bin later that same day.

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CONCORD, NH – Adultery cases may soon change in New Hampshire, as legislators consider changing existing laws regarding infidelity. New Hampshire has a 200-year-old state law which defines adultery as criminal offense and although no one has been charged with the crime in a long time, it is still technically a law. The law was last revised in 1992, when the penalty for adultery in New Hampshire was reduced to a $1,200 fine. Some legal experts consider the law unconstitutional, suggesting that it should be stricken from the books. Currently, over twenty states have similar laws, which define adultery as a criminal act.

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LAKE CHARLES, LA – The case involving the unsolved deaths of eight women has produced so many rumors and allegations that law enforcement officers and a PI with direct links to the case have submitted their DNA to have it compared with DNA from the cases. Rumors that investors may be connected to the deaths have concerned local law enforcement. In an effort to disprove these rumors, investigators and PInow.com advertiser Kirk Menard have submitted their DNA for analysis. Menard has stated that he willingly consented as he has “nothing to hide.” He also suggested that law enforcement need more outside help – potentially from the FBI – to crack the case.

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NEWPORT BEACH, CA – Niveen Ismail allegedly tried to convince PIs and investigators to take part in a plot to kidnap her son from foster parents. Ismail was eventually arrested for attempted kidnapping. She had apparently approached a number of PIs to take part in the plot, and these investigators tipped police off about the plot. Police then sent an undercover investigator to speak with Ismail. Ismail offered the investigator money to kidnap her son and take him to Mexico, where she could flee with the child. Authorities are looking for other PIs and investigators who may have been solicited by Ismail about the plot.

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TORONTO, CANADA – The Ontario SPCA launched a six-month investigation into allegations made against the Toronto Humane Society and its president, Tim Trow. PIs combed garbage during their investigation and eventually found evidence of animal cruelty and abuse which led to arrest of Trow and four others associated with the Toronto shelter. PIs interviewed volunteers and employees of the Toronto Humane Society during their investigation. The investigative work will likely play a major role in any court cases and criminal charges that result from the case.

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