PI Blotter: Private Investigator Key to Finding Missing Children

• June 02, 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.

Is the UK Moving Closer to Regulation of Private Investigators?

UK – Grosvenor Law partner Dan Morrison, Bindmans partner Mike Schwarz, and Farrer & Co partner Julian Pike gave testimony before the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee. They told the committee that private investigators should be regulated, even though they stated that attorneys do not tell private investigators to break the law in surveillance cases and in other investigations. Nevertheless, the three partners acknowledged that in some cases private investigators do gather information illegally. While attorneys are regulated to ensure that they act in specific ways, however, private investigators are not yet regulated in the UK.

To read the full article, click here.

Private Investigators Hired by Murdoch Allegedly Spied on Hedge Fund Boss

UK – Investigators compiled records that private investigator Steve Whittamore or one of his employees, working for Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers, used suspect methods to get the hotel bills for a hedge fund boss. According to the records, the private investigator or someone working for him lied about who he was to get a Claridge Hotel bill for Robert Agostinelli who is head of the Rhone Group private equity firm.

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Private Investigator Key to Finding Missing Children

CANADA – Private investigator Wilhem von Mayer, of the FIND Foundation, along with a suspicious neighbour all played an important role in helping to find Dominic and Abby Maryk, two Canadian children that had been missing for four years. The children were allegedly kidnapped by their biological father and were recently found in Mexico. A neighbour in Mexico contacted private investigator Wilhem von Mayer to report a family that was suspicious and von Mayer was able to find out that the children had been reported missing in Winnipeg, Canada.

To read the full article, click here. 

Private Investigators Claim Company Denied Them Lunch Breaks

IRVINE, CA – U.S. Investigations Services is being sued by former California private investigators for allegedly not providing investigators with lunch breaks, which are required under California labor laws. Lead plaintiff Catalina Ricaldai also has accused her former employer of not paying on time, and not paying for overtime all while employees had heavy work schedules and tight deadlines. Private investigators working for the company worked out of their homes. U.S. Investigations Services sought summary judgment on five of the claims.

To read the full article, click here.

More New Female Private Investigators Enter the Field in the UK

UK – In the past year, the number of new private investigators in the UK has risen 26%. However, the number of female private investigators has jumped 86%. Women between 25 and 34 seem to be on the cusp of this trend, with more women from this age group joining the industry. Most new male private investigators, on the other hand, tend to be age 45 or older. According to some industry experts, while private investigation has traditionally been seen as a male dominated field in the past, that is now changing, in part because women are sometimes seen as more compassionate. In some cases – such as infidelity investigations – targets also tend to be less suspicious of younger female private investigators, giving the PIs an advantage.

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Are Wheel Clampers Bound by the Same Laws as Private Investigators?

NEW ZEALAND – The Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Act 2010 went into effect three months ago and now there is a controversy about whether wheel clampers are affected by the law. The law requires anyone who runs a private security business in a private parking lot to have a license. Wheel clamper Daniel Clout, who placed immobility devices on cars parked illegally, has been accused of illegally clamping cars because he does not have a license. Clout has stated that he is not bound by the law, since he is neither a private investigator nor a security professional. In the end, the case may go to court for a judge to decide. 

To read the full article, click here.

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