Paragon NZ - Private Investigators New Zealand

July 14, 2016

Now Employees can Provide their Own Criminal Check to Employers

Surveillance and technological advances

Back in the old days when a PI was asked to assist domestic cheats there was no option but to follow the suspected spouse. That resulted in the 1974 Private Investigators Act prohibiting PI’s from taking photos. Likewise, when a sales-person or the like was suspected of malingering or not making their calls on customers it was necessary to tail them, usually from home in the morning until tea time.

I was one of the presenters to the Parliament Select Committee on the changes to the PI Act arguing for the right of PI’s to be able to take video and photographs and thankfully that was accepted and the Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Act 2010 removed those restrictions.

Following someone nowadays is especially difficult due to increased traffic and although it still has its place in situations where an individual is claiming some illness or the like for insurance or your target is meeting others to engage in commercial or criminal dishonest acts, there has been a quantum shift in the surveillance tools available to your PI. With that comes the need for the PI to keep up to date with advances in technology.

So when you think of instructing a PI to perform surveillance it is incumbent on the PI to offer a range of choices and be aware of the legal and technical issues you/they might encounter.

For example; the domestic cheat can most likely be tracked using spyware on their home computer and phone and a device in their car (although the phone will track their movements as well). Experience shows that to have an affair you usually will communicate with the other party by text or email, even a work colleague.

Staff who use company equipment and vehicles can just as easily be tracked and monitored. I favour a couple of programs; www.webwatcher.com and www.mspy.com Both are cheap to buy and easy to install. For vehicle tracking you can buy equipment from China but I prefer the “snitch” unit from www.armadagps.co.nz Paragon have a few units available at all times and we typically will ask the client to book their company car in for a service and do the install at that time. The costs of using this technology is substantially less than any two-person surveillance team and there is no disputing the evidence later on, the target does not have any argument against an agent’s perception.

Another aspect relates to computer forensics and again, the recent advances here are also astounding. For example, a new product just being released in New Zealand is called Forensic Explorer (FEX) which is a specialised software tool for the perseveration, analysis and presentation of electronic evidence and is a fraction of the cost of the former forensic tools and, more importantly, has been developed for use by investigators as opposed to high priced “forensic experts”.

From a business perspective, all these advances mean that an investigation can be performed quicker and at lesser cost when you engage a PI who is technologically, legally and commercially savvy.

I realise this is all a bit spooky and some will even say it’s offensive, but “the truth will out” and a professional PI should simply be a conduit to get to the facts of the matter without any bias or favour. If a person is innocent, then surely it’s best proved early and put to bed than having the suspicion remain.

Now Employees can Provide their Own Criminal Check to Employers
A trend overseas is for an individual seeking employment to prove up front they have no criminal history with reports that such an initiative is a good sign the individual is keen to work.

Our Aussie mates at www.nationalcrimecheck.com.au tell us they are performing 1000’s of checks a month and they have direct access to check the relevant databases and some really smart tools to make those Aussie checks fast.

While New Zealand does not have a 2-day turnaround like Australia, at Paragon we have made it so easy to validate your potential employees’ claim of having no criminal history, that your hiring decision can be speedy and with independent integrity. Further, you quickly root out those that might hope the checks are not performed.

We have set up a website and simple click and pay process that allows our clients and individuals to have this check performed in days, as opposed to weeks, through our Agreement with the Ministry of Justice.

Simply click on our bespoke site www.criminalhistorycheck.co.nz and you will be amazed at how easy and fast this service is.

Of course, we welcome enquiries from businesses for a more personalised service.

Current Scams doing the Rounds
Two current scams doing the rounds of businesses are:

Fake Invoices for Trademark registrations
If you get an invoice from Patent and Trademark Organisation (PTMO) advising your trademark is due to expire and asking for funds to renew, then it’s a scam. https://www.iponz.govt.nz/news/warning-misleading-invoices/

Cold Calls from The IRD
If someone calls saying they are from IRD to advise you are in payment default and you might get fined or imprisoned, then it’s a scam. http://www.ird.govt.nz/identity-security/scam/scam-alert.html

And remember that if you did not apply for a prize you cannot win one
This item from NZ Herald on 7 July only serves as a reminder that you should never part with your hard earned money to someone you have never met before, for a prize you did not apply for or even want, just through a hard sell by some foreigner on the phone. It’s easier to hang up or even better don’t go there in the first place http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11670158

May 22, 2016

Beware Unlicensed Investigators

Private Investigators have been required to be licensed in New Zealand since 1974. You would have thought that by now there would be a proper enforcement regime in place. Yet, it seems that some people will do anything to avoid meeting their obligations whilst touting for business and remarkably being instructed by leading insurance companies. The case in point can be read here.

Insurance is based on the premise of “the utmost good faith” which goes both ways. When you lodge a claim you might expect that the insurer would have a look at the bona fides of what you are claiming and that will often involve an investigation. What you don’t expect is that their appointed investigator in a country that has had licensing laws for 42 years will be breaking the law by being unlicensed. Further, you would expect in a fire claim that the investigator would have proven skills, experience gained over years either by way of qualifications and/or accepted work history. You would not expect the investigator to have attended a 1 week fire course, as mentioned in this next article – read here.

The investigator says that he was of the opinion he did not need to be licensed because he was a “specialist”, the sad fact is that if you cannot work out you are breaking the law, you need to think long and hard about your ability to investigate at all.

Why does this case stick in our craw, well Licensed investigators in New Zealand have to jump through hoops to operate for fear of prosecution and at considerable cost. We also are required by larger clients to hold indemnity insurance policies in the $millions. How then was this unlicensed investigator able to pick up work from insurers is a question that baffles even seasoned investigators. It seems they came unstuck but it is unbelievable to think that such a situation could occur in such a long time regulated profession.

Our understanding of the Privacy Act is that when you lodge a claim you agree pursuant to the Privacy Act to assist the insurer, but any offending by an agent of the insurer is, by default, offending by the insurer. It’s kind of like the Police getting a bad warrant; evidence obtained by acting on that warrant might not be admissible. We accept privacy matters relating to insurance law is in the civil jurisdiction and not criminal but insurers do refer insurance fraud to the Police so the same rules of conduct relating to investigating claims remain.

The point here is that if you are looking to engage an investigator, make sure you have evidence they are licensed. This case suggests you might go so far as sighting the licence which is a simple scan and email compliance. Any client instructing an unlicensed investigator is taking a big punt and the few dollars per hour less in charges might in turn result in a higher cost spent on lawyers.

May 11, 2016

Paragon Vetting – Priority Service

Paragon are pleased to advise that we have a priority checking service available through NZ Ministry of Justice. This means that we can provide clients with Criminal history checks in a speedy timeframe as opposed to waiting weeks.

Paragon is voted No.1 on New Zealand’s Background Checker Website

To assist, we have included a sample package pricing structure, although every client might have a different need and we will customise all packages to suit you Paragon Pre-Employment and Vetting Standard Services and Fee Structure

March 17, 2016

Beware Netflix Payment Scam

Scammers have no concern for anything other than money. Even New Zealand’s leading PI firm receives emails like this below.

If you are savvy you will note from the address that the email is not from Netflix, but how many won’t.

Clicking on the sign in page takes you another page that is identical to Netflix and if you put in any email and password you are in turn taken to a page for you to enter your card details. I put in as my password “pissoffscammers” and it still worked !!

For the un-educated or trusting, this is a very slick and easy way to lose your $$$ – Beware

March 14, 2016

Can you hide in NZ

How easy is it to disappear?

It’s been a year since 65 year old John Beckenridge and his 12 year old step-son went missing. His car was found having gone off an 88 metre remote cliff in treacherous waters and it took Police weeks to recover the vehicle. Forensic testing failed to find evidence of any occupants having been inside the car at the time it went into the water.

John Beckenridge was known to have multiple passports and use various aliases – who does that?

From an investigative perspective this can only be classed as a missing person’s case, why ? because there is not even one piece of evidence the two have come to any harm. In fact the opposite. Simply put, investigators categorise evidence into the following; (a) limited circumstantial, (b) compelling circumstantial, (c) hearsay or (d) direct evidence. Typically compelling circumstantial evidence is the least required to put the case to a coroner, because a Coroner’s task is to determine the cause of death, meaning the Police should be certain of death.

But as mentioned, there is not one shred of even limited circumstantial evidence in any of the reports to date. All we have is the fact that a man picked up his step-son from school, they have disappeared, his car was found in the water having gone off a cliff and a comprehensive police forensic enquiry has found no trace of occupants in the car at the time it went into the water.

Certainly, there are reported cases where a person has gone into the sea off cliffs and the body never recovered, the vast majority are recovered. But two people “perhaps” inside the car – yet no forensic trace at all, in an area exactly where the car would take a while to recover, having been used by a man with several aliases including having false passports, and all against a domestic background that suggests he has run off.

With a lack of any circumstantial evidence of loss of life, the investigation must remain on the likelihood the couple have deliberately disappeared and either they managed to skip the country without the authorities knowing or they have gone bush. Is this possible, to disappear for a year, with or without help, I believe it is.

The one thing that is certain is that time will out them if they have run off.

Ron McQuilter was approached for comment by Stuff.co.nz and Radio Live, due to his expertise in dealing with previous Missing Persons cases.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/77360652/a-year-since-mike-zhaobeckenridge-and-john-beckenridge-disappeared

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/298727/what-happened-to-the-beckenridges