Cyber bullying cases pass to private investigators ANDREW CARSWELL THE DAILY TELEGRAPH MAY 21, 2013 12:00AM

POLICE are referring cases of Facebook cyber bullying to private investigators, telling them they neither have the time nor the expertise to deal with complaints from parents.

Private investigators receive countless tip-offs from police through unofficial channels asking them to step in and solve cyber bullying crimes.

The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday that parents were paying up to $800 a day to hire private investigators to identify and track down those who were bullying their children and confront them with evidence of their ugly online behaviour, with one investigator fielding three calls a day from anxious parents.

The revelation sparked our campaign to put pressure on social network sites to become more proactive in pursuing and banning bullies who use anonymous profiles.

For many parents, approaches to private investigators are a last resort after complaints to police and schools often fail to result in action.

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Aside from the fact police are seemingly not equipped to deal with the technical side of cyber-crime on social networks - according to the investigators - the forensics specialists are frequently told by officers that Facebook bullying complaints are "outside their case prioritisation".

Former AFP investigator Jason King, who operates J&D Online Investigations, said police often pass on the details of parents who have complained about cyber bullying.

"They contact me to take on the cases," Mr King said.

"Not officially of course, because they can't be seen not doing their jobs properly.

"It's not that the police are under-resourced, but a kid getting annoyed by Facebook bullies is not really high on their list of priorities. You get these local constables call up and say 'I have no idea how to handle this, can you do it?'.

"We slap intervention orders on people who bully in person. The internet is just another element of that - just investigate it the same way."

At Sydney's Lyonswood Investigations and Forensics Group, investigator Lachlan Jarvis said that some parents came to them on the advice of the police.

"We get clients who have been referred by police who tell them 'it is not work we take on; we don't have the expertise'," Mr Jarvis said.

NSW Police launched a Fraud and Cyber Crime Squad in November 2011, committing resources to what it claimed was a dramatic shift in the way its detectives were investigating crime in cyberspace.

A police spokesperson said police have "successfully identified numerous people (who are) using social media platform to commit a variety of cyber crimes.

"We don't use private investigators, nor do we refer to private investigators."

 

Killing of Vancouver man in Costa Rica a targeted hit

Killing of Vancouver man in Costa Rica a targeted hit: private detective

 

Victim sold futures in unregulated market

 

BY LARISSA CAHUTE, POSTMEDIA NEWSMAY 21, 2013

 

 

A father from Vancouver shot dead in his home in Costa Rica was the victim of a targeted hit, according to a private investigator in the Central American country.

Brad Deering, 42, and three others were inside his gated community home in San Jose on Thursday morning when three men stormed the house, shot and killed Deering and tied up the others.

According to private investigator Douglas Smith, local police are calling the attack a home invasion, but "that doesn't make sense."

"This wasn't a household robbery, this was a hit," Smith said from his office in Costa Rica. "They had one intention and one intention alone of capping him."

While Smith isn't investigating the case, he said he was made aware of the killing by close friends of Deering.

According to Smith, three men dressed as security officers fooled a guard outside Deering's home into letting them in.

They tied up the guard, broke into the home and tied up three people while Deering tried to escape. They ultimately found Deering and shot him three times.

"A home invasion usually is at night ... most of the time in home invasions they wait for people not to be there," Smith said. "In this case they went in prepared, tied people up in broad daylight.

"It doesn't measure up as a home invasion."

According to Smith, Deering "sold futures" in Costa Rica - an unregulated and dangerous business in that country.

"Buying futures as an investment is the most dangerous, most speculative investment you can possibly do," he said. "Buying them from any broker in Costa Rica, you're playing in the twilight zone."

Smith speculates that someone targeted Deering because they either lost money in a deal with him, or simply because his wealth was known, as he owned three expensive cars and lived in an expensive home.

"He made himself a target in Costa Rica," said Smith, but added that those who knew Deering had "nothing but nice things" to say about him. He had a young daughter, aged around four, from a previous marriage.

The Canadian consulate did not respond to requests for information by deadline.

Read breaking news on your mobile device at vancouversun.com

Burglary victims hire private investigators

By REBECCA MAR
Mercer Island Reporter Staff Writer
MAY 9, 2013 · 10:21 AM

Charon Gooding’s wedding ring is the only piece of jewelry she has left after her home was burglarized while she was out of town last month.

The 73-year-old Mercer Island resident was widowed 20 years ago, but still wears her diamond wedding ring.

Gooding was visiting her daughter in Los Angeles when the burglary occurred, sometime between April 8 and April 22. Gooding has lived in her waterfront home below East Mercer Way, in the 5400 block of 96th Avenue S.E., for 27 years. The home is situated in a wooded area.

Several other houses off of East Mercer Way were burglarized during the same timeframe, April 12-16. Island police have made an arrest in those incidents.

“My mom is devastated,” Chandra McNicholas, Gooding’s only daughter, wrote to the Reporter. “She lost three generations of our family’s heirlooms and, of course, other more monetarily valuable jewelry. She’s got a great attitude, but she is a widow and lives alone and, aside from her family, her jewelry was her most cherished possession.”

The pieces carried sentimental value, McNicholas said. Many were gifts from her mother’s late husband, James.

Gooding and her husband were married for 32 years. They were both born in Canada, and met at a church in Seattle.

“My dad went to church because he was looking for a wife,” McNicholas said. The couple married at the Seattle Tennis Club in 1961. Years later they settled on Mercer Island, on 96th Avenue S.E., where they shared seven years together before James Gooding’s untimely death.

James Gooding was working as a lawyer in Kent when one of his tenants walked into his office and shot him three days after Christmas, in 1993. The tenant, 33-year-old Timothy Ledford, then immediately shot himself. Gooding had recently served an eviction notice on Ledford and his girlfriend, who were renting the house across the street from the law office. The couple had stopped paying their rent.

Gooding’s son, Jim, had just started practicing law in his father’s office. That particular day, however, he was absent.

Several pieces of Gooding’s jewelry were purchased abroad, in Italy, Australia, Greece and the U.K. Her collection, worth an estimated $142,844, comprised at least 58 pieces bought locally and in other states and countries.

Most of the jewelry was appraised, but it was never insured.

While Mercer Island police continue to investigate the burglary, McNicholas hired two private investigators. The first visited local pawn shops. The second, Denise Scaffidi, canvassed the neighborhoods where the series of mid-April burglaries took place.

“The purpose of this canvas was to ascertain whether other neighbors had received unexplained or unusual visits from strangers,” Scaffidi wrote in a report of her investigation. “My assumption was that in order for the burglars to know which houses were empty and vulnerable, they had to have information from a scout.”

Scaffidi has a background in criminal defense. She was the lead defense investigator in the Green River and Christopher Monfort cases.

“The neighbors she (Scaffidi) spoke with had never been contacted by the police, and no one has been asked to help with a police sketch of the suspects,” McNicholas said.

Four sightings of a white utility van were reported to Scaffidi. The van was seen parked outside of a home in the 9900 block of S.E. 40th Street one week before it was burglarized. A neighbor saw the van again after encountering a suspicious solicitor. On the same day of the burglary, another neighbor saw a white van parked at the bottom of the lane, and an older, disheveled Caucasian man approached her and her daughter. Another resident, in the 4200 block of East Mercer Way, recalled seeing a white van park in her neighbors’ driveway on the day they were burglarized in December of 2012. In all incidents, the van did not have windows or any writing on it.

Scaffidi documented numerous reports of suspicious visitors. One resident who owns a restaurant on Mercer Island told Scaffidi that he answered the door to a young man supposedly selling magazines but wanting to come inside to use a bathroom, and he “felt that the young man had some unlawful purpose for being at his home,” according to the report.

MIPD Commander Leslie Burns concurred that there has been a lot of recent activity involving solicitors.

“Over the past six to eight weeks, we have had a landslide of calls regarding solicitors on the Island,” she said. “We are well aware of the relationship between those who knock on doors, to see if anyone is home, to residential burglaries.”

Detective Pete Erickson of MIPD said that there are different criminal “crews” working the Island at any given time.

“We investigate these burglaries; we do it all the time,” he said. “It helps us if people call us when they see something suspicious when it happens. That is when it is most helpful.”

According to police, there have been over 30 residential burglaries reported on the Island since the first of the year.

“One thing I know for sure; had my mom known about all of these crimes, she would have locked her jewelry away and probably taken other precautions,” McNicholas said.

 

 

 

Contact Mercer Island Reporter Staff Writer Rebecca Mar at rmar@mi-reporter.com or (206) 232-1215.

House panel OKs registry requirement of Colorado private investigators

By Kurtis Lee
The Denver Post

If Coloradans need a private investigator to spy on a cheating spouse or help recover stolen property, it's likely the individual is not registered to do the job.

That's because the state is one of a handful that do not require investigators be registered, though this could change as a measure ensuring regulation must occur makes its way through the legislature.

Opponents, including Colorado's Society of Private Investigators, say regulation is not needed and would be a burden.

"By making this a requirement, we're going to protect people and generate jobs in Colorado," said Rep. Jovan Melton, D-Aurora, the House's prime sponsor of the bill, which Thursday passed through the House Business, Labor and Economic


Read the inside scoop on Colorado politics and policies at blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/.
Full political news coverage at denverpost.com/politics.
committee on a party-line vote.
Melton stressed the measure has three objectives: providing consumer protection from scam artists, ensuring public safety by requiring background checks for investigators, and retaining jobs in Colorado. He said 44 other states regulate private investigators.

Senate Bill 259 requires all private investigators to register with the Department of Regulatory Agencies. Already in Colorado, private investigators can voluntarily register with the state. Economic analysts say the bill is designed to have registration fees cover the cost of bills' implementation.

Dan Anglin, chief lobbyist for the Colorado Society of Private Investigators, said the organization had little input into crafting the bill. He called the measure duplicative and futile.

"The bill would require everyone to have a fingerprint-based background check. Well, that's already required for concealed-carry weapons permits," Anglin said, noting that many private investigators carry firearms.

Anglin on Thursday was among about a dozen opponents to the measure who testified against the bill being heard before the House Business committee.

Proponents, however, argued a registry would weed out bad investigators. "The state has become a dumping ground of private investigators," said Ellis Armistead, president of Heartland Investigative Group based in Denver. "There's convicts, sexual offenders out there acting as private investigators."

Private investigators could face £500,000 fines for accessing data illegally

PS Public Service.co.uk
29 April 2013

Public authorities, police forces and members of the public are being asked to help uncover rogue private investigators, which could face fines of up to £500,000 if they are found to have illegally accessed people's data.

A new campaign, launched by the Information Commissioner, aims to uncover the extent of the problem after issues were highlighted during the Leveson inquiry and by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

"The majority of private investigators go about their business in compliance with the Data Protection Act, using their expertise to ask the right questions, investigate the right areas and examine the information that's already available," said Information Commissioner Christopher Graham.

"The fact that less scrupulous professionals may be trying to take shortcuts by illegally accessing people's data is, quite simply, wrong.

"This is why they must be identified and stopped using the enforcement powers available, including monetary penalties of up to £500,000 for serious breaches of the act."

Some private investigators were also not meeting their obligations by failing to make sure the information they handled was accurate or that it was securely deleted once it was no longer required, Graham added.

He has now written to police forces, public bodies and private investigation firms asking them to report any concerns they have.

"Any information provided to our office can be submitted anonymously and we have channels in place to allow people to do this," he said. "We would urge anyone who has information that would aid our investigation to get in touch.

"By shining a light into the darkest corners of the private investigation industry we are aiming to root out any criminal elements that continue to cause public concern and blight the professional reputation of their counterparts."

Billy Joel hires Private Investigator to Track Daughter's Stalker

2013-04-16 08:50:56 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Justice News Flash)

04/15/2013 // West Palm Beach , Florida, US // JusticeNewsFlash // Justice News Flash // (press release)
New York – Singer Billy Joel reportedly hired a private investigator to track down the person who was allegedly cyberstalking his daughter. As reported by the New York Post, Joel hired a detective recommended by his friend Paul McCartney after his daughter, Alexa Ray, 27, was sent over 60 threatening Facebook messages that purportedly made her afraid to leave her home.
Sheryl Finley, 40, has been charged with stalking Alexa Ray after being found in Minnesota.
A source is quoted by The Post as telling the news source of Alexa Ray, “Her mother, Christie Brinkley, was terrified that someone would harm her baby…Billy Joel was worried but focused.”
Joel has reportedly hired a bodyguard for his daughter’s protection.

WHY SPOUSES CHEAT

This my friend, is the conservation for all ages of all centuries. Having more than one sexual partner at a time has been going on since the beginning of time. This can be found in the Old Testament, novels written both long ago and now at present. There are many theories, concepts, debates and thoughts on this subject of cheating. Documentaries on this subject have made the most prominent airways ratings soar and doctors of psychology rich.
When all is said and done, the truth is a simple one. Men and women cheat on their spouses for various reasons but the one common denominator in all cheaters is low self esteem. One statement that could be placed on every cheaters tombstone is this, “It’s not you, it’s me.”

Private-investigator licensing emerges as potential threat to CPAs

BY JEFF DREW
MARCH 5, 2013
The AICPA has made available to members an online guide detailing which states and cities require CPAs practicing forensic accounting to be licensed as a private investigator.

More than 40 states have enacted laws requiring private investigators to buy a license to operate in their state. Most of those regulations have gone into effect during the past five years, according to research done by the AICPA’s Forensic & Valuation Section.

Based on feedback from AICPA members, the FVS Section believes many CPAs are unaware that they might be breaking state laws regarding P.I. licensing. Penalties for operating as a private investigator without a license vary, but in some states it is a felony.

To spread the word to the CPA community, the FVS Section is making available to AICPA members an online matrix designed to help CPAs determine if the tasks they perform in their practice require them to obtain a private investigator’s license in the states and/or cities in which they do business. The matrix of P.I. licensing requirements for CPAs previously had been available only to FVS members.

While the scope and complexity of P.I.-licensing laws and statutes vary nationwide, they all impose licensing requirements on individuals participating in activities associated with private investigations. Because forensic accountants conduct research- and document-based investigations, they often fall under the purview of these laws. In addition, some CPAs specializing in information technology perform work, such as digging for information in computer files, that could require them to register as private investigators.

The requirements for obtaining a P.I. license, like the penalties for failing to do so, vary greatly by state. In some states, the statutes specifically exempt forensic CPAs from the licensing mandate. In other states, including Virginia, the P.I.-license exemption is extended only to CPAs based in that state. In Virginia, state law mandates that forensic accountants licensed as a CPA in another state must obtain a P.I. license to do work in Virginia regardless of whether their home state has exempted them from such a requirement.

Some CPAs in states that have exempted CPAs from having to procure a P.I. license might believe that mobility laws would carry that protection over to other states. But, as shown in the Virginia example, that is not necessarily the case.

—Jeff Drew (jdrew@aicpa.org) is a JofA senior editor.

Cheating Spouses- Why They Cheat

People cheat for many reasons. Some like the excitement of seeing how far they can go without getting caught. Some want to go after passion they think is lost. Some feel younger and more attractive with someone on the side. Some feel better about themselves if they can take someone away from another, a little like the grass always looks greener on the other side and some are just scum-bags. I’ve worked as a state licensed private investigator for many years. I have seen things that others have only seen in movies. I’ve been asked many times the same questions number one being, who are your most clients, men or women? My answer is about 50/50 and that hasn’t changed. Second question is, should I feel guilty hiring a PI to check out my suspicions? My answer is again the same which is no. If you have reason to be suspicion, there are probably good reasons why. The third question is usually how long does this type of case take? My answer is always this. The length of an investigation and surveillance depends a lot on what the subject and the lover does. For instance, how often they see the other party, if the other party is married also or single, what type of work they do, how many vehicles they have access to drive and if they are on the road a lot going out of town, and of course many other factors. I’ve had cases that were successful within a few days while others took a few weeks. The length of each case is different. Clients need to keep in mind that it’s not necessarily the length of the case they should be concerned about, but that all evidence is obtained correctly by the PI you hire. Anything else is subject to being thrown out of court. Most all my clients ask the question why are they cheating on me? Stating, I’ve been the best wife/husband I could be. Here’s the thing. It’s not you, it really is them. They are the one cheating. Hold your head up and take the appropriate steps to protect yourself and your children. There is life after divorce. I will end on this truthful fact. Discovery Investigations never had any evidence thrown out of any court. Keep in mind that there is a right and wrong way to obtain evidence. Make sure the PI firm you hire is licensed and has some good years of experience behind them. We gladly provide our clients with references from attorneys and other clients that have used us for many years.
Dollie Mason, LPI

Divorce- or Live with Infidelity?

Back in 2011, I had a call from a business woman in Marietta. This client and her husband both had their own business. She felt her husband was cheating on her since he was displaying all the usual criteria of a cheater. He had started working out, buying new clothes, underwear, and taking extra stock in his appearance.
He had started putting his wife down by telling her she looked old, had gained weight, needed a face lift and he was no longer attracted to her sexually. He still claimed no affair when she asked him and as things heated up he went a step farther and told her even if he was she would never be able to prove it.
I took her case and within a week I was able to follow her husband to his mistress' house and the rest is history. You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and the camera doesn’t lie.
This case was ready to go- retain a lawyer and win in any court of law on grounds of adultery. However, once confronted with the evidence I obtained, he began to cry like a baby and apologize all over himself and she, the client, took him back.
I haven’t heard from this client since but I find it hard to believe the marriage is in good shape.
Private investigators obtain the evidence, but what the client chooses to do with it, is their business. If you are thinking about hiring a PI to obtain evidence for you remember this. Once evidence is obtained and you take that person back, that evidence is no longer useful to you in future court cases.

Private Investigators Join Search for Dylan Redwine

Posted: Tue 10:05 PM, Feb 05, 2013
Reporter: David Nancarrow
Updated: Tue 11:42 PM, Feb 05, 2013 Back to HomePage
Private Investigators Join Search for Dylan Redwine


The father of a missing boy from the Colorado Springs area has asked local private investigators to join the search. Dylan Redwine went missing last November.

Hundreds of volunteers have given their time to search for the missing 13-year-old.

Tracy Kostecki is now one of them.

"It's difficult because all of us have our children; it puts it on a real personal level," Kostecki said Tuesday.

She is a private investigator with Colorado Springs based Rocky Mountain Investigations. Dylan’s dad Mark asked the team to join the search. They agreed to join the case pro-bono.

They’ve now traveled a number of times to where Dylan disappeared near Durango, going back over areas that have already been scoured.

“There's a lot of information out there, new information that I don't think has been looked at,” Kostecki said. “Everything is promising at this point.

Although she can't give specifics, Tracy says Dylan’s dad is cooperating. She's looking for any and every small hint.

"The most important goal is finding what happened to this little boy," she said.

Even the smallest useful piece of information could be the key to solving this mystery.

Dylan’s family here is holding a celebration in Monument Wednesday, which is Dylan’s 14th birthday.
It’s at Limbach Park on Front Street at 6:30 p.m.

Quartzsite says investigation legit, vows to bring illegal voters to justice

The Town of Quartzsite’s procurement of private investigators to find evidence of voter fraud in the last election is authorized by state statute, according to a statement sent Friday to Parker Live by Town Manager Alex Taft.

The statement says the Town investigation is working on finding evidence that voter fraud occurred in the May election, which elected Ed Foster, Mark Orgeron and Pat Workman.

Workman recently filed a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office regarding checks written to the investigators, which she says total more than $30,000 so far. Workman’s complaint alleges that the Town Council did not authorize the payments.

While the Town did not confirm the amount paid to the investigators, its statement says the payments are valid under the authority given to Town Attorney Martin Brannan by state statute, citing ARS § 16-1021, which says that the “town attorney may enforce the provisions of this title [governing lawful elections] through civil and criminal actions.”

It adds that the investigators were hired pursuant to section 3-409 of the Town Code, which “permits contracts with professional service providers apart from the standard bidding requirements of Quartzsite Revised Town Code Article 3-4. The procurement of these professional services is substantially related to the authority granted to the Town Attorney by the Arizona Legislature and the services were lawfully procured.”

The Town says its investigation into the voters in the May election is “ongoing”:

“…the information obtained at this point will remain confidential to prevent the destruction of evidence and to protect those whose activities, while apparently suspicious, may yet prove to be lawful. The Town is working diligently toward acquiring prima facie evidence of voter fraud and hopes to gain the assistance of the Arizona Attorney General, the Arizona Secretary of State and/or the United States Department of Justice in bringing those individuals who voted illegally to justice.”

Speaking to KLPZ radio on June 14th, La Paz County Recorder Shelly Baker said she had been co-operating fully with the investigators, but said they had not found voting irregularities. Baker has not been on the record about the results of the investigation since June, but said Friday that the investigators were “very professional” and “went through everything with a fine tooth comb.”

She added that the work of the investigators was wrapping up and the Town of Quartzsite should have a report from them soon.

Ontario private eyes nabbed in Turks

Published on Wednesday September 05, 2012
Kevin Donovan
Staff Reporter

DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR Elaine White once worked for forensic accountants in Toronto. She is in a Turks and Caicos jail awaiting a hearing Friday.
Two Canadian private eyes accused of defrauding divorce and business clients have been nabbed by police in the Caribbean where they have been island hopping for three years.

Cullen Johnson is a former aide to a Toronto police chief. Elaine White, his wife and partner in alleged crime, once worked for forensic accountants in Toronto. They are in a Turks and Caicos jail awaiting a hearing Friday.

A Toronto Star investigation in 2009 exposed an unusual scheme: Both were accused by former clients (and later the police) of forging and selling bank records that made clients believe an ex-spouse, friend or employee had millions of dollars stashed offshore. One case involved a group of lottery winning friends led to believe one of their group swindled the others.

Shortly after the pair pleaded not guilty to fraud charges in Newmarket court in late December 2009, they flew south and set up shop in the Bahamas, calling their new private-eye company Internal Affairs Global, boasting a crack investigation squad that could pierce any banking veil.

On Wednesday, immigration agents in the Turks and Caicos arrested Johnson, 64, and White, 69. Police in Ontario say the pair had overstayed their Turks’ visa. A routine check turned up warrants for their arrest filed internationally by the Ontario Provincial Police, stories in the Toronto Star and their Panamanian-based website.

“Our folks are in touch with the authorities in the Turks,” said OPP spokesman Sgt. Peter Leon.

He said the OPP is exploring options to get them back in Ontario. Extradition is one option, but there may be an easier route. “The (Turks government) may deport them. If we know they are coming, we will be waiting for them.”

The Star’s probe of Johnson and White turned up a series of authentic looking bank statements sent to numerous clients for a fee.

In one case, well-respected former Ontario Liberal MPP Eric Cunningham was a target. Cunningham and his wife were in court on divorce proceedings in 2005. In a case that took years, his ex-wife presented banking documents obtained from the detectives that made it look like the former MPP was a wealthy man with assets offshore, an incredible $2.3 million in accounts flung as far as the Cook Islands, Panama, the Bahamas, Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands.

All false, two judges said, vindicating Cunningham. But the case took a financial toll on him as he had to pay lawyers for years to defend his case. His ex-wife’s father funded most of the investigation of Cunningham, but private eyes cooked up the false documents.

In Cunningham’s case and others, the detectives are accused of doing a sort of financial striptease for clients, showing clients (his ex-wife in this case) more and more documents depending on how much they paid in fees. The Holy Grail which clients would finally get (all forged) was the signature card “proving” who had opened the offshore account.

Cunningham said Wednesday he is cautiously pleased. “The wheels of justice grind, but they grind slowly,” said Cunningham, a communications consultant who said he would be happily retired were it not for Internal Affairs.

The Star stories revealed how the Ontario government has little control over the private investigators it licenses. Not much has changed since then, though a top official lost his job.

In another case, four Toronto Catholic School Board employees who were good friends routinely played the same lottery numbers, hoping to make a big score and retire early. One day, one of the four did a random check of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. website and learned the group’s ticket had won $5.7 million six months earlier.

Suspicious of the friend who had checked the number at a convenience store, the group hired Internal Affairs. A “banking sweep” turned up records that appeared to show the friend had won, and sent the money offshore to Barbados and Switzerland. The group confronted their friend who said the convenience store owner had told her they did not win.

An investigation turned out that the store owner was the thief, and he had closed his shop, bought a mansion, a Tim Hortons franchise for his son and several cars. The lottery corporation reimbursed the four friends and the store owner pleaded guilty to fraud.

Johnson and White are also believed by investigators to be behind a series of forged documents that suggest federal minister Julian Fantino, Cunningham, other politicians and a “yellow” journalist at the Star are involved in a bizarre, fictitious financial conspiracy called “Superstar Corruption.”

In a previous interview by email in 2010, Johnson both attacked the Star’s credibility and protested his innocence. In other correspondence, Johnson has mused about his predicament, unable to come home to see family.

“I’ve always liked the Kenny Rogers ballad, ‘The Gambler.’ Good advice. Know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em,” Johnson wrote to the Star at one point. He ended on a cheery note. “As they say at McDonald’s, “Have a nice day!”

Do not try this on your own!

I’ve had the opportunity of working with a client that had already attempted his own investigative work. He thought he knew the man that was living with his former wife and small son. I took this mans case because he told me his attorney, let’s call him Mr. Good, after chastising him for his actions, had referred him to me to conduct a background on this man. I knew this attorney very well as I have done business with him for many years. He has even written about some of my cases conducted for him on his website, not mentioning any names in order to maintain confidentially.
This case was only 3 days in progress when the client started to show his true colors. During the background process I found out he had given me the wrong name, age, address and arrest for subject, etc. I also found out he had only spoken with Mr. Good and had not retained him. This was not the statement the client gave to me earlier when we spoke about his case.
I uncovered some information that I had to rule out involving a possible sex offender since the welfare of a little 4 yr old boy could be at stake. It became necessary I speak with local law enforcement. Once I spoke with the sheriff’s department regarding this unknown man, things became pretty sticky in a short amount of time.
To make a long story short, the client was the one that was almost arrested for stalking and still may be if he continues on the same path.
The moral of this story is simply this: Do not attempt your own investigation and do not ever give your private investigator and or attorney the wrong information. It is always best to just say you don’t know. It always best to be willing to pay for an investigation by a state licensed investigator and leave the investigating to us.
Remember the saying, “Only a fool lies to his attorney and investigator.”
Ok, the last part about the investigator might be my saying, but nevertheless, still true.

EXCLUSIVE: How a Private Investigator Elicited the Confession That Helped Exonerate Brian Banks

Long Beach High School football standout Brian Banks called a private investigator after his accuser contacted him for the first time in years

By Joel Grover and Chris Henao

 

A hidden camera confession helped exonerate Brian Banks, a former Long Beach high school football star, after he served five years in prison for a rape he did not commit.

In an exclusive interview with the NBC4 I-Team, Private Investigator Freddie Parish divulged how he pulled off the stunning confession that freed the 6-foot-2, 239-pound linebacker who was being courted by top schools, including the University of Southern California, when accusations were brought against him 10 years ago.

Do you have a tip for Joel Grover? Click here to send him an email

Last year, Banks called Parish, who runs Vantage Point Investigations, asking for his help. The former football star had received a friend request on Facebook from his accuser Wanetta Gibson, who told Banks she wanted to “let bygones be bygones.”

Parish devised a plan to see if Gibson would admit she fabricated her 2002 accusation that Banks raped her in a stairwell at school.

“There was no doubt in my mind that this young man was innocent,” said Parish, who has known Banks since his son, Freddie Parish IV, played football with Banks at Long Beach Polytechnic High in 2002.

Gibson’s family received a $1.5 million settlement from the school district, and Banks took a plea bargain that sent him to prison for five years, and then faced another five years on parole, shackled with a GPS tracking device on his ankle.

In an attempt to elicit a confession, Parish wired his office with hidden cameras and microphones and suggested that Banks invite Gibson to the office to talk about their past.

“There’s only one chance to get the goods,” Parish said. “I mean, you gotta make it right the first time.”

Wanetta Gibson accepted Banks’ invitation, and showed up, by bus, at the private investigator’s Signal Hill office for a chat with her old high school crush.

“It just wasn’t true at all,” Gibson said about her rape accusation while hidden cameras were rolling.

Banks then asked Gibson for help in clearing his name, so he could move on with his life.

Gibson said she was willing to help, but didn’t want to lose the $1.5 million settlement her family received from the Long Beach School District.

“I will go through with helping you, but all that money they gave us, I don’t want to have to pay it back, because that would take a long time,” she said on the video.

With Gibson on board, Parish was ready to execute the second part of his plan: he had Banks ask Gibson to return the next day to meet with the investigator.
“I needed to get her basically to recant everything she said Brian did ten years ago,” Parish told the NBC4 I-Team. “If I let this man down, I would have to live with that the rest of my life.”

The next day Gibson returned to Parish’s office, hidden cameras were rolling. Parish then asked the critical questions about the 2002 incident between Banks and Gibson.

Parish: “Did he rape you?”
Gibson: “No, he did not rape me.”
Parish: “Did he kidnap you?”
Gibson: “No.”

When Gibson made the stunning confession that she’d fabricated her rape accusation, Parish thought to himself: “Wow. I got it.”

That confession was evidence that lawyers from the California Innocence Project needed to go back to court on Banks’ behalf.

Armed with the video confessions, lawyers Justin Brooks got Brian Banks rape conviction overturned on May 24.

“The videotape is a slam dunk, in the sense that she’s recanting her testimony,” said Brooks, head of the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law.

Now, Banks is able to finally pursue his dream of a career in pro football, thanks in large part to the work of a private investigator.

“I had a chance to make a difference in a man’s life,” Parish said.

On Thursday, Banks participated in a tryout with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.

Grandparents have rights

Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the most wonderful people on the planet- grandparents. It’s not always the mom or dad that comes to me when lives of young children are at risk. A while back I had the grandparents of 3 minor children come to see me because the parents were both allegedly using drugs and neglecting the kids. The grandparents had retained a very prominent Atlanta attorney with a specialization in domestic cases to represent them as they sought custody of the children. The parents were separated and both had joint custody. This attorney, whom I had worked with on numerous occasions, suggested they talk with me regarding obtaining some relevant evidence for court.

When the mother had them in July, she absconded with the children and refused to bring them home. She stopped communicating with the family members and all were worried sick about the kids.

Over several days of conducting an extensive investigation by utilizing numerous investigative procedures, I was able to locate the runaway parent and the 3 children. I worked with law enforcement to go pick up the kids and bring them back to the sheriff’s department where I stayed with them until my clients, the grandparents came to pick them up.

The clients were awarded custody of their grandchildren and they were raised in a safe, loving environment. As far as the attorney and my clients were concerned, this case ended very well.