PI News Round-up - April 2, 2009

PInow.com Weekly News Round-up

April 2, 2009

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PI Fools Employer
MOBILE, AL – Michael Anthony Allen committed a number of frauds, courts allege, but his former employer, Baldwin Legal Investigations, did not expect to be a victim of a con artist. According to the case brought before a federal grand jury, Allen embezzled $23,347 from the PI firm, something that the company's owner and founder, Max Hansen, is still amazed by.
	Read full article and comment	Source: Alabama Live, March 30, 2009

Government Contract/RFP of the Week

Criminal Background and Landlord Reference Checks

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh is seeking proposals from individuals or companies to perform criminal background checks, Megan's Law checks and landlord reference checks on applicants who apply for low-income public housing or Section 8. The Housing Authority will require an average of 400 background checks, Megan's Law checks and landlord reference checks per month.

To view more details click here. Please note: To view this you must be a member of the PInow.com Yahoo! Group - membership is FREE! State and government contracts can provide investigators with steady, recurring revenue. Many PInow.com advertisers have been awarded contracts such as these as a result of being listed with us.

PIs on the Holloway Case
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - PIs have been hired to help Natalee Holloway's family find some answers. Holloway is a teen who disappeared while on vacation in Aruba. Despite searches by Aruban authorities and volunteers, no trace of her has been found. Now, PI Fred Golba has drained a pond in Aruba to look for clues. The pond has been searched before by local authorities, but Holloway's father hired Golba to revisit the pond after a witness claimed he saw one of the suspects in the case emerging from the pond after Holloway's disappearance.
	Read full article and comment	Source: The Associated Press, March 30, 2009

Records Leaked in PI Case
OMAHA, NE - Kimball authorities want a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling overturned. That ruling allowed the PIs' findings in an investigation to be made public. The case stems from allegations made by local businesses that police officer Sharon Lewis and others were racially profiling and targeting Hispanic residents for arrest. Mayor Greg Robinson launched an investigation and an attorney he contacted in the case hired two PIs. Lewis was terminated from her job and sued some of the business leaders as well as the city. Attorneys for the business leaders asked for the PI report for the case. Kimball County District Judge Kristine Cecava claimed that the documents prepared by the PIs are public records and asked for the documents to be released.
	Read full article and comment	Source: Beatrice Daily Sun, March 31, 2009

“GhostNet” Computer Spying Shows Prevalence of Surveillance, Spying
BEIJING, CHINA - Allegations have surfaced that a computer spying network dubbed "GhostNet" has infiltrated more than 1,000 computers globally and is based in China. The Chinese government denies involvement in the hacking operation. Canadian researchers found the network when investigating the Dalai Lama's organization for malware. Several researchers have voiced concerns that the same methods used by the network could be adopted by criminals for online spying, surveillance and crimes.
	Read full article and comment	Source: Voice of America, March 31, 2009

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