The Expert Podcast

…If you're going to hire a private investigator to track a subject or to do any kind of work for you make sure. That you know what they're doing on your behalf because…there are certain things that are illegal that some investigators either don't know or they just break the law Anyways in this case, the mayor of Reno Nevada. Is suing a private investigator and the company, the private investigator company, because they found a tracking device on their vehicle. So. The mayor. Had brought their vehicle in for normal routine service And the mechanic found this tracking device…So once it was found they did some research on the device who bought. it who was using it? A tracking device has to send back data to an email address And they discovered that that was being tracked by a private investigative agency accompany. So the mayor sues them because guess what It's illegal to put tracking devices on vehicles In most cases, it's against the law They I can go to jail for that So then private investigator might have legal, criminal legal problems for putting that device, but it's worse than that because the complaint the lawsuit says the investigator is working on behalf of UN An identified third party whose identity has not been able to ascertain yet. That will come out even though a private investigator. has certain privacy requirements They can't reveal their clients If there is some violation of law normally. That breaches the privacy So at some point in this case, the identity of that client. Is going to be I revealed to this mayor and to law enforcement. We have seen cases like this as an investigator we have seen…the counterparties two cases we've worked on, have hired private investigators that have done illegal things, illegal for asset searches for tracking for hacking, for breaching phones or emails. And we find this as counter-intelligence for our client. And they go back and they file claims against the other party And that's exactly what's happening here. the tracking and surveillance of the person caused…her significant fear and distress as it would any person if you find a tracking device on your car, that's, that's legitimately going to cause you distress. she who's this mayor. Filed a lawsuit. And she seeking restitution for invasion of privacy trespassing civil conspiracy and negligence So these are civil claims. And some criminal. That could apply to the investigator And if the client was aware or should have been aware they could be liable as well. She's also seeking to know who hired the investigator That's going to come out in court. There'll be a deposition. or testimony or discovery that will reveal that And then all of the emails all the communications that happen between the client and the investigator are kind of come out. And maybe it's a political rival Maybe it's. I'm a stalker, maybe it's somebody that's in business that wants to find out about this mayor where they go. All of it's going to come out It's going to cause major liability and expense for the investigator. Possibly for the client that hired the investigator. If they knew anything about it or should have known anything about it or even if they said something like I don't want to know. Right. There's been cases where clients have said to an investigator look, I just want to know this I don't care how you find out or I don't know I don't want to know how you do this. That's could be considered negligence and create liability. We have clients come to us all the time that ask about things that are illegal. Now most of the time, the client doesn't know that it's illegal We tell them. We can't put a tracking device on a car You can't hack somebody's computer. You cannot break into somebody's phone illegally. So. We'll tell now there may be ways to get the information legally. Right. Fi by finding where it exists outside of the protected areas And that's very often what can be done. Instead of hacking somebody's computer or their phone. The information sometimes is outside of that computer or phone in other areas might be in the cloud might be in a vehicle It might be somewhere else. And we can suggest ways to find it legally So you're not violating the law. But sometimes clients just say I don't want to do that I want to do it this other way. We're not interested We don't get involved with cases like that. And even if you are a client. Who finds an investigator who says they'll do something illegal. Just because the investigator does it. Doesn't mean you're off the hook There's been many cases where the client themselves has been found liable. And has had to pay damages or even sometimes had criminal cases There was, a case in the nineties. Don't quote me on I believe it was Hewlett Packard major fortune 500 company that had a leak from their boardroom. Some of their board members were leaking stuff to the pre. and they hired a private investigator. To get into their cell phone account to find out who they were calling. And it was revealed that this investigator hacked the phone. And several of the executives at this company. We're now found liable for this And I believe one of them had criminal prosecution because of that just because you hire a third-party to do something illegal, doesn't automatically get you off the hook Again we're not attorneys giving you legal advice. We just want to make sure you're aware that you want to not only be sure that you're hiring a licensed legitimate investigator, but that their methods aren't going to get you into trouble. Because you're the client.