This is the 3rd post in my private investigator series discussing what private investigators can and cannot do legally when searching for assets. My January 6th post mentions that on behalf of clients, former attorney Mary Nolan and her private investigator conspired to place illegal wiretaps in cars. Their clients were reportedly never accused of
Privacy Laws
Swiss Leaks Project & Police Raids Raise The Issue Of Swiss Reform
- Based In Basel & Zürich, Switzerland, UBS is “recognized as the largest and fastest-growing large-scale wealth manager in the world.” Source: UBS Annual Review 2013, p. 12.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Swiss Leaks project, (“the Project”), arises out of whistleblower tips from Mr. Hervé Falciani who worked as a software technician at HSBC in Geneva. During 2008, Mr. Falciani reportedly supplied the French government with the Swiss bank account information of more than 100,000 HSBC customers from over 200 countries. The true beneficial owners of these accounts range from foreign dictators to American actors.
The Project is outlined by the article “HSBC Scandal Heightens Calls for Tougher Bank Oversight.” The article mentions “[t]he use of secret accounts and shell corporations to hide cash and its account holders is hardly confined to HSBC. Another banking giant caught engaging in this was Switzerland’s UBS. And there have been others.” According to reports published today by the Guardian, CNN &/or the BBC, Swiss police raided HSBC offices in Geneva, Switzerland. The police raids could be based on suspected violations of Art. 305bis Swiss Criminal Code: Money Laundering (English Translation) & other anti-money laundering laws.
The police raids and the Project bring to the fore the problem of money laundering through Swiss bank accounts. There are however, some Swiss reforms in this area. The reforms are outlined at an e-mail Swiss counsel sent me last week. The e-mail emphasizes there are “fundamental changes affecting the Swiss financial markets” and says “the business model of the banks is changing towards more transparency on tax matters.” Part of the e-mail is reproduced below and its key points are:
Continue Reading Swiss Leaks Project & Police Raids Raise The Issue Of Swiss Reform
Private Investigators: A Surreptitious Search For Money Hidden In Divorce & Other Cases
This is the 2nd post in my series about private investigators & what they can & cannot do legally when searching for assets. It is also the 10th post in my Divorce & Hidden Money series. The Huffington Post article “Uncovering Hidden Assets In Divorce Litigation” observes that information obtained by “surreptitious means” might be used by one divorcing spouse against the other. Obtaining information through a surreptitious search can be critical to recovering assets in a broad range of criminal & civil cases. Depending on the circumstances, surreptitious searches might involve wiretaps; bank searches; law enforcement databases; and physical surveillance. These surreptitious means have however, sometimes been abused by private investigators, attorneys & others in the following ways:
WIRETAPS– As stated in testimony at a 1967 U.S. Senate hearing ‘private bugging in this country can be divided into two broad categories, commercial espionage and marital litigation.’ ¹ Former attorney Mary Nolan handled divorce & family law matters for nearly 30 years before pleading guilty to the wiretapping & tax fraud charges at counts 1-4 &/or 6 of her 2012 criminal indictment. An amended judgment showed Ms. Nolan was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, etc. Ms. Nolan’s sentencing memorandum said her cases frequently involved allegations that husbands were hiding assets. The prosecutor’s sentencing memorandum meanwhile, claimed Ms. Nolan had employed a private investigator “to install eavesdropping devices in cars used by her clients’ spouses for use in their divorce proceedings.”
BANK SEARCHES– Some private investigators try to surreptitiously search banks in the U.S. for accounts secretly opened by divorcing spouses, debtors, etc. These investigators may claim they search through computer research; insiders; or information brokers. Private investigators cannot ordinarily search banks legally because of privacy and other U.S. laws, as explained by the post available here. The Court has also noted “it is more likely than not that the only way that information brokers can obtain private financial information from banks is through the use of deception and trickery, including impersonation of account holders.” Commonwealth v. Source One Associates, Inc., No. CIV. A. 98-0507-H, 1999 WL 975120, at *6 (Mass. Super. Oct. 12, 1999) aff’d sub nom. Com. v. Source One Associates, Inc., 436 Mass. 118, 763 N.E.2d 42 (2002).
Continue Reading Private Investigators: A Surreptitious Search For Money Hidden In Divorce & Other Cases
Private Investigators: 5 Things To Be Aware Of When Hiring A PI For A Bank Account Search
This is the first post in my new series about what private investigators can & cannot do legally when searching for hidden assets. Divorcing spouses, creditors bringing forced collection proceedings, etc., may search for assets by hiring private investigators and/or information brokers who try to detect secret bank accounts. The post asks: what standards should be followed when investigating bank accounts at U.S. financial institutions? At the conclusion it discusses some best practices. The post’s talking points are:
- Hiring A Private Investigator For A $249.00 Bank Account Search?
- The Security Of Your Information At Banks in the U.S.
- How Illegal Pretext Calls Work In An Investigation
- Federal Laws Related To Pretexting
- Best Practices For Collecting Bank Account Information
I. HIRING A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR FOR A $249.00 BANK ACCOUNT SEARCH?
Virginia private investigator Arcanum Investigations, Inc. apparently offers bank account searches through the Docusearch.com, (“Docusearch”), website. For $249.00 plus $50 for each open bank account detected, Docusearch says it “[i]dentifies all bank accounts,” “[b]ank name and address,” “[a]ccount titles, where available“, “[a]ccount type” and “[a]pproximate account balance, where available.” The website states that Docusearch “will continue to search all major banks…”:
“We will not stop searching once an account is located. We will continue to search all major banks and credit unions nationwide and locality of the subject. No account numbers will be returned. Your attorney may subpoena all bank records (directly) from the bank once account(s) have been identified.”
The Docusearch “How To Find Hidden Bank Accounts” video asserts “our licensed private investigators specialize in finding hidden assets, secret bank accounts and other financial information that people work so hard to hide.” The video says “[o]ur licensed private investigators and asset search specialists have access to protected information that’s usually reserved just for law enforcement…plus you can rest easy knowing all of our work is done in compliance with all bank privacy laws.”
Piercing The Bank Secrecy Veil During A Marital Asset Search
"Illegally Accessing Customer Information At U.S. Banks" characterized the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act as a U.S. bank secrecy law. On the one hand, it and other bank secrecy laws around the world protect the privacy of bank customers entrusting financial information to banks. On the other hand, bank customers can easily abuse these laws during…
Asset Search News Roundup: January 1, 2010
The "Asset Search News Roundup: January 26, 2009 " mentioned that Heartland Payment Systems was subjected to what might have been the biggest credit / debit card information theft in the U.S. Mr. Albert Gonzalez was ultimately indicted for that privacy law violation / computer intrusion and other ones. In fact, Mr. Gonzalez pleaded…
Asset Search News Roundup: December 12, 2009
Attorney Arienne Irving’s December 4, 2009 Judgment of Acquittal pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 29, raises the general issue of lawyers or clients who might use illegal eavesdropping equipment to "research" an adversary. I previously wrote about violating privacy laws via eavesdropping at "Attorney Christensen’s Wiretap Conviction". That article explained how former…
Asset Search News Roundup: September 10, 2009
This "Asset Search News Roundup" is about two New York criminal defense attorneys who among other things, were accused of violating privacy law by possessing illegal eavesdropping equipment. On August 20, 2009, attorneys Robert Simels and Arienne Irving were found guilty of importing and possessing illegal eavesdropping equipment in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§2512 (1)…
Using Foreign Computer Evidence Against An Accused Hacker
Albert Gonzalez was arrested in the Southern District of Florida on May 8, 2008 pursuant to this warrant:
Click On The Arrest Warrant To Enlarge It
The arrest arose out of Mr. Gonzalez’s alleged computer hacking / identity theft scheme which was later outlined in a May 14, 2008 New York superseding indictment. This superseding indictment in U.S.A. v. Yastremskiy, et. al., 08-cr-00160, claimed that Mr. Gonzalez and his co-defendants had stolen credit card information through computer intrusions at Dave & Busters, Inc. restaurants. Mr. Gonzalez and / or his co-defendants were accused of violating federal laws including but not limited to: conspiracy (18 U.S.C. §371); fraud related to computers (18 U.S.C. §1030); wire fraud (18 U.S.C. §1343 ); access device fraud (18 U.S.C. §1029); aggravated identity theft (18 U.S.C. §1028A); etc.
Almost three months after the superseding indictment was filed against him in New York, Mr. Gonzalez was next indicted in Massachusetts. According to the August 5, 2008 Massachusetts indictment in U.S.A. v. Albert Gonzalez, 08-cr-10233, Mr. Gonzalez had hacked computers which stored credit card information for BJ’s Wholesale Club, DSW, OfficeMax, Boston Market and others.
Like the New York superseding indictment, the Massachusetts indictment accused Mr. Gonzalez of: conspiracy (18 U.S.C. §371); fraud related to computers (18 U.S.C. §1030); wire fraud (18 U.S.C. §1343 ); access device fraud (18 U.S.C.§1029); and aggravated identity theft (18 U.S.C. §1028A). The Massachusetts indictment also essentially asserted that Mr. Gonzalez had hidden the proceeds of his hacking / identity theft scheme by money laundering through multiple jurisdictions.Continue Reading Using Foreign Computer Evidence Against An Accused Hacker
Asset Search News Roundup: July 12, 2009
The "Asset Search News" for this week discusses my interview by AssetForfeitureWatch.com; Transparency International’s press release about Kenyan police corruption; and the file assistant who pleaded guilty to computer intrusions in violation of U.S. privacy law.
+AssetForfeitureWatch.com provides the law enforcement community with training / support in the area of asset forfeiture. Last Tuesday…