Former Investigative Reporter Is Now PI

  The guest post today is by Scott Krischke of Dinolt Becnel Wells Investigative Group, LLC, Arlington, VA.   Scott is a former investigative reporter.  Scott works with PIAVA member Phil Becnel.  Phil is the managing parner of Dinolt Becnel Wells Investigative Group, LLC, see Phil’s Bio. 

This is all new to me, as I have recently arrived in the private investigation industry as a former investigative journalist. My work took me to Central America, Chicago and the metropolitan Washington, DC area. As a reporter, I found that I was most useful when I used my background in investigations to best complement my stories. It was my passion and excitement for this aspect of my career that ultimately led me to this profession.

In particular, I remember an investigation that I conducted into the operation of Costa Rica’s real estate notary industry in Fall 2005. I had been working in the country for several months at the time, and remember vividly picking up a daily newspaper outside of Costa Rica’s Supreme Court and seeing that a team of about a dozen real estate notaries had been arrested for stealing millions from would-be investors in sham real estate schemes.

It turns out that the notaries, who had all been registered with the state agency that handles real estate officials, had taken serious liberties with their power. In Costa Rica, a real estate notary is essentially the center of power for any real estate transaction. When two parties want to exchange property, the notary will draft the agreement and the deed, witness the signatures, and report that exchange to the country’s land management bureau. The problem in this case is that these notaries were pulling property information on owners at the country’s registry and selling their land by forging the agreement and deed as well as their signature.

The fraudulent notaries would then pocket the money from the transaction and leave the two property owners to handle the issue. The problem was further compounded by the fact that designated real estate ownership laws did not allow the real property owners a method for redress.

My investigation led me to Alicia Bogarin, who was the head of the country’s notary licensing organization. After several attempts, I was able to secure an interview with Bogarin, who revealed to me that the country’s notary system was inherently unstable.

There were virtually no restrictions for those seeking notary licenses, as even notaries with convictions for real estate fraud and other financial crimes were eligible for the licenses. There were no limits on how many notaries could be licensed – we counted more than 10,000, a large number for a country of only 3 million residents. The lack of legal checks on submitted real estate transactions further compounded this problem.

The results of my investigation were put on the front page, but it is unknown how much affect that they had on a licensing industry that is still run primarily through paper communication out of a small office tucked into a corner of the urban sprawl of the country’s capitol, San Jose.

It was in speaking with the people who were affected by this fraud that I really became interested in investigations as a career. The possibility of helping people who have been the victim of a crime or other offense is very attractive to me, and I wanted to become more involved from a proactive stance.

It is for this reason that my career led me to Dinolt Becnel & Wells Investigative Group LLC. After undergoing more than a month of intense training offered by their in-house investigation school, I have been involved in learning this active side of investigations. My work here will lead me to areas that I had once covered as a reporter, only this time as an active participant in the legal process. I will cover criminal, employment, corporate and fraud cases on behalf of our clients, and am incredibly interested in delving further into this area of the law.

It is my hope that I can take all of the skills and experiences I have developed as an investigative reporter to their fullest extent to my new career as a private investigator.

- Scott J. Krischke

Dinolt Becnel & Wells Investigative Group LLC

www.dinolt.com

927 South Walter Reed Drive
Suite 23
Arlington, VA 22204
Office: 703-892-3700
Fax: 703-842-8041

New Laws In States For 2008

  Thanks to beSpecific for this one about new laws to take effect in states in 2008.  Some are odd to say the least.  See 2008 State Laws. Also see Stateline’s Summary and  50 State Summary 

If you want to search a specific state’s new laws, use a search engine like Google and start your search like this: “effective january 1, 2008″ legislation inurl:”name of state”leg.   Put in name of state you want to search.  Then look at the number of results picking out your state’s references.  It is a long shot but workable.

New laws target text messaging, light bulbs, smoking, civil unions and bus safety.

DENVER - A host of new laws on topics ranging from allowing civil unions in New Hampshire to prohibiting text messaging while driving in Washington state become effective Jan. 1, 2008. The National Conference of State Legislatures found a host of state laws in 31 states ranging from controversial to clever that will become law on New Year’s Day.
 
New Hampshire and Oregon will have new provisions regarding same sex couples. In Illinois, there will be a new law prohibiting smoking in public places while in California, smoking will not be allowed in a car when a minor is present.

Washington and Oregon will prohibit typing messages while driving.  In Minnesota, bus cushions must meet new depths.  Three states will issue license plates to veterans or family members of military personnel killed in combat. Illinois will allow pets to be included in protection orders.  If you sell American flags in Minnesota, they have to be made in the US.

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Excellent Search Engine–Zuula.Com

    Try this search engine. Zuula is a metasearch engine.  You can search videos, images, web, blogs, news etc., using Google, YouTube, Yahoo and several other search engines.  Zuula

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Public Records On The Web–Interesting Site

  Thanks to Abbie Mulvhill, Law Librarian, DC, AbsTracked Blog, for this reference to Public Records Wire, an open system for cataloging, sharing and discovering new public records databases. The system promotes the databases that are most used and voted upon with the goal of enhancing overall quality of public records databases.

You can find a lot of public records from this site–a good resource.

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

 

The Meaning of “Doh!”

  I’ve used the term “Doh!” in several posts in the past.  See PI Arrested, UVA Students Kidnapping and National Background Check. 

Some readers may not get the connection of my using the term with specific stories.  The term “Doh!” means:

Expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish.  Also (usu. mildly derogatory): implying that another person has said or done something foolish. Oxford English Dictionary,  See definition.

According to OED, Doh! was popularized by the American actor Dan Castellaneta who provides the voice for the character Homer Simpson in the U.S. cartoon series The Simpsons.  Castellaneta said:  “The D’oh came from character actor James Finlayson’s “Do-o-o-o” in Laurel & Hardy pictures.  You can tell it was intended as a euphemism for “Damn.”

So, “Doh!” is especially usefully when referring to something akin to “How could I be so stupid?”

If you want to hear the correct pronunciation and inflection of “Doh!” Listen to 32 Dohs!

See you later,

 Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

NYPD Operation Lucky Bag–Doh! Doh! Doh!

  I am “shocked,” “shocked”, I tell you that this is a true story of NYPD gone wild!

It seems that NYPD has been running a police decoy program in NYC lately–”Operation Lucky Bag.”  Here is the con.  NYPD leaves shopping bags, backpacks, purses, wallets etc. in and around subway stations or stores.  Anyone who finds the item, picks it up and does not turn in to a uniformed police officer in the vicinity is arrested and charged with, let’s see, grand larceny!  Lucky Bag started in 2006 and among the first 220 arrests about 100 were people with prior charges and convictions.  The rest were “clean.”  In dismissing one case, a Brooklyn judge noted that the law gives people 10 days to turn in property they find.  The judge suggested that NYC had enough real crime for the police to fight without the need to provide fresh temptations.  Oh, and the law does not provide that found items be turned over to a police officer.  Fortunately, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office began to dismiss Lucky Bag charges.  See NY Times Story Here.

I know some readers may not understand the significance of the use of the term “Doh” in the title.  My next post will explain all.

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

More On NY Overturned Murder Conviction

  The New York State Investigation Commission is looking into recently overturned murder conviction of Martin Tankleff.  I posted the NY Appeals Court story on overturning the conviction based on new evidence turned up by private investigator Jay Salpeter.  See Prior Post Here.

Tankleff was convicted of the 1988 slaying of his parents.  The State Investigation Commission is investigating how Suffolk County, NY, police and prosecuting authorities handled the initial investigation.  The Commission has not enforcement powers, but it can gather evidence, refer cases to authorities or propose a special prosecutor.  Jay Salpeter, Tankleff’s private investigator who uncovered the “new evidence,” said that he had met and spoken with the Commission on more than one occasion.  See NY Times Article, and see more recent update Newsday Article

This incredible story shows the value of private investigators’ role in the criminal justice system.  It is obvious, if all allegations are true, that the local police and prosecutors investigated, prosecuted, locked up a guy and walked away.  Apparently, they did not listen claims of innocence from Martin Tankleff himself, or his family and friends. 

Prosecutors are subject to the NY Bar’s ethic rules as well as to the American Bar Association’s model rules of professional conduct.  The Rules provide that the prosecutor’s primary goal is to seek justice, not convict.  The prosecutor must assure that the defendant is tried by fair procedures and that guilt is decided on proper and sufficient evidence.   Maybe that rule was forgotten in this case?  See prior post on prosecutor’s ethical standards Here

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Want To Know More About MySpace & Other Social Sites?

  If you are doing investigations, you have to include internet research in doing the job.  So, social networking sites are a must search. Here is a good article by Cliff Landis, a reference librarian at Valdosta State University, listing social networking sites and places to learn about social networking: Article Social Networking

The article lists all the sites and other sites to learn more about the social sites.  Our good friends at PI Buzz, just posted a note on the importance of using the Internet for due diligence, background, employment and skip tracing investigations, as well as, reputation research and even surveillance for legal and insurance matters.

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Airlines & Airport Information–Good To Know

  You never know when you need airline flight information or airport information.  Below is good starting point.

Google Launches Better Results for Flight Status: See Google Blog:  “For the latest information on a flight’s status, simply search for an airline and flight number, and the first result will tell you whether your flight is on time or delayed as well as the estimated departure and arrival times.”

FlightAware Flight Awareoffers live flight data, airport information, weather maps and charts, as well as aviation news to nearly two million users a month. FlightAware also powers operational management and dispatch software, airport FIDS (flight information displays), and provides reporting data to aircraft and airport operators.

You can track planes by flight# or aircraft tail #.  You can also track airport activity. Access FAA aircraft registration data for US registered aircraft.

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Have Unlisted Phone Number–Need Address?

     Interesting information from Wired: See Wired

“A site that allows consumers to compare prices for digital phone, internet and TV services has been leaking private address information belonging to people with unlisted phone numbers.The site DigitalLanding.com, which is owned by Acceller, Inc., initially said it was not doing anything wrong and that the information it provided was all publicly available, despite the fact that addresses connected to unlisted numbers are not intended to be public by customers who pay a fee to protect that information or, presumably, by the phone companies that offer unlisted numbers to their customers. Acceller has since recanted and announced that it’s in the process of fixing the data so that information belonging to people with unlisted numbers will be protected. ”

This is another incident where amassing personal data can result in “data leakage.”  Ah, ID theft, how easy!

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Federal Election Commission Launches Campaign Finance Maps

FEC Campaign Finance Maps: Campaign finance information is now available via easy to use maps of the USA for both Presidential and House and Senate Elections through September 30, 2007.

Search Donor’s name, contributions and size of donations. See FEC Search

Interesting searching.

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Wisconsin Police Fingerprint Traffic Stops

     If you’re ticketed by Green Bay police, you’ll get more than a fine. You’ll get fingerprinted, too. It’s a new way police are cracking down on crime.

If you’re caught speeding or playing your music too loud, or other crimes for which you might receive a citation, Green Bay police officers will ask for your drivers license and your finger. You’ll be fingerprinted right there on the spot. The fingerprint appears right next to the amount of the fine.

Police say it’s meant to protect you — in case the person they’re citing isn’t who they claim to be. But not everyone is sold on that explanation.  See WBAY TV Story

Bill Lowrance
President PIAVA
president@piava.org

More On Pretxing PIs

    Back on December 7 or so, I posted the news that 10 people were indicted by the Federal government for various charges relating to pretexting by two individuals in Belfair, WA.  See Prexting Post

Well, it turns out that the two Belfair, WA, people doing the pretexting, Emilio and Brandy Torella, were reported to the Washington’s Department of Licensing for operating an unlicensed investigations business.  The Department investigates unlicensed private investigators.  To operate a private investigation business in Washington you must be licensed.  If you are not, you are subject to a prosecution for a gross misdemeanor.   The Department had received a complaint that the Torrella’s were operating a private investigations firm out of a Belfair strip mall without a state mandated investigator’s license.

In a Kitsap Sun news article dated December 21, 2007, The Washington Department of Licensing states that “We were aware of unlicensed activity, . . . but we didn’t get to point of investigating it because of the federal government’s investigations.”  See Kitsap Sun Article Here.  Let’s see, you, the Department of Licensing, did not get to the point of investigating the alleged unlicensed activity because of the federal government’s investigation?  Does the federal government always tell you what to do and how to run the Washington licensing affairs?  Roll over, Fido.

The article reports that Washington’s leading licensed private investigators are upset that the Belfair couple have been labeled licensed investigators when clearly they were not.  Former and officers of the Washington Association of Legal Investigators said that legitimate, licensed Washington investigators do not conduct activities such as those in the Belfair couple’s indictment. 

Ummm, would the US Attorney’s office in Seattle mind clearing up the misunderstanding in the headlines of their press release that indicate all those indicted were licensed private investigators?  Probably not!

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

IRS To Redact SSNs On Tax Liens

  The IRS announced recently that it will redact SSNs on Federal Tax Liens that are filed in public records.  Usually, if you search public records you will find Federal and State tax liens.  The liens usually contained the full SSN of the subject.  Well, not anymore.  IRS will redact SSNs starting with filings in January 2008. See See IRS Article Here.

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Roanoke Times Backs VA FOIA

  In an editorial today, “Punish illegal secrecy”, the Roanoke Times comments on judicial enforcement of Virginia’s FOIA law.  The Times highlights the recent Court fine levied againt Sheriff Eric Weaver for his refusal to give public records to a member of the public.  The Times recognizes the importance of open government records and supports judicial monotoning and enforcement through fines if necessary.  See Editorial Here.

NY Appeals Court Overturns Murder Conviction Based on Private Investigator’s New Facts

  Jay Salpeter

A NY state appeals court on Friday overturned the conviction of a Long Island man imprisoned 17 years for the grisly murders of his parents in 1988. The decision cited the “cumulative effect” of new witnesses and extensive new evidence that have emerged in recent years, pointing to other suspects as the real killers.

 

A decade after Martin Tankleff went to prison, a private investigator working for the defense, Jay Salpeter, began turning up new evidence. The first breakthrough was finding Glenn Harris, an ex-convict who said he had driven Mr. Creedon and Mr. Kent to and from the Tankleff house that night. Other witnesses followed, including Mr. Creedon’s son, who said his father had admitted to the killings.   Read whole story Here

See background on investigation by Salpeter, former NYPD homicide detective. Here

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

 

Private Investigator For the Defense

   A Sterling, VA, man, Edward Brown, is charged with aggravated malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of aggravated malicious wounding in the Jan. 26 shooting of Kevin Stottlemyer, 22.  Brown’s attorney, William Bassler, filed several motions, one such motion was to hire a private investigator.  Because Bassler is a court appointed attorney, the court must approve funding to hire a private investigator.  The court granted the request for the defense private investigator, but not until after the Commonwealth Attorney’s office objected to the defense hiring a private investigator.  See Winchester Star Article;

Frederick County Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Glenn R. Williams objected to the request for the defense to hire a private investigator saying that Bassler, Brown’s defense attorney, had not shown a need for a private investigator.

I don’t know the situation in this case, but I do know that the American Bar Association and Virginia’s Rules of Professional Conduct apply special rules of ethics to public prosecutors.  The Rules provide that the prosecutor’s primary goal is to seek justice, not convict.  The prosecutor must assure that the defendant is tried by fair procedures and that guilt is decided on proper and sufficient evidence.  It seems that the hiring of a private investigator for the defense would assist the defense and the prosecutor in getting a fair trial.  The Commonwealth Attorney’s office should not object to the defense asking the court to hire a private investigator without sufficient and specific reasons

I hope there was sufficient protection in this matter for the defendant to get a fair trial. 

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Madison County’s Sheriff Weaver Violates VA’s FOIA–Pay Up Sheriff $$$$$

  Madison County, VA, Sheriff Erik J. Weaver must pay a $250 fine and the plaintiff’s court fees for willfully violating the state’s Freedom of Information Act, a judge ruled this week in Madison County General District Court.

Experts say the fine may have set a precedent for punishing public officials who fail to comply with open-records requests.  See Richmond Times Story  The court ruled Sheriff Weaver has to pay up with personal funds.  Sheriff Weaver’s response to the news story was “Weaver described Purdum’s (requester) case as a personal attack veiled in an FOIA request from a “former disgruntled employee.”

I hope the various government entities realize that public records mean Public Records. 

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

White House Logs

   In spite of the FOIA and in spite of the new FOIA legislation passed by Congress, the White House still refuses to release Secret Service created WH visitors logs.  The Justice Department is asking to appeal a previous ruling that the records are ”public records.”  See Associated Press Story

 Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

FBI Arrested Wrong Man–Private Investigator Proves It

    An amazing story is in the Register-Guard, Eugene, OR, newspaper today.  Robert Christie a 71 year old retired school teacher was arrested by the FBI on October 26, 2007, on charges that he robbed as many as 20 banks in Oregon and Washington.  You have to read the story.  Christie spent 10 days in jail before being released on bond.  The US Attorney moved to dismiss the charges “in the interest of justice” after Christie’s attorney, Terri Wood, and private investigator Mike Olsen documented Christie’s innocence.  The FBI arrested Christie based on comparing a bank surveillance photo to Christie’s drivers license photo.  There is a lot more to the story.  Read it Here

At a recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) work shop on use of social security numbers (SSNs), one panelist stated that private investigators should not be allowed any access to SSNs or other ID data.  I’m sure Mr. Christie is thankful that the FTC panelist’s idea was not implemented, at least not yet.  The FTC Work Shop was held by and organized by the FTC’s Division of Privacy & Identity Protection headed up by Joel Winston, Director.

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org