Gold Coast Fraud Investigation

Gold Coast fraud investigation by a private investigator, private detective, phone 1300 966 103, email us at [email protected], text only to 0427 703 120, or use our 24/7 online form Contact Us, for a free quote. Ex-police and experienced private investigators.

Fraud is simply the obtaining of a benefit, advantage, reward, or inducing another to act, or not act, in a certain way, by deception. It must go further than advertising 'puff' (e.g. this is the best thing since sliced bread!), or a random comment. It is often associated with ponzi schemes, 'boiler room' 'get rich quick' operations, phoenix building company scams, Trustee and Director deceptions, and Workcover or Workers Compensation claims.

The description 'fraud' covers a wide range of sins, and has come a long way from the original 'forge and utter' fraud of previous times. In Queensland it comes under Section 408C of the Criminal Code, as well as Chapter 40 for other similar offences.

For Commonwealth offences you need to look at Sections 134 and 135 of their Criminal Code. Every successful fraud involves the transfer of ownership of an asset, or benefit, from one to another; and herein lies the problem; an 'innocent party', a third party, shouldn't be injured, when prosecuting the fraudster.

The 'simple' elements of the investigation relate to the often asked questions of how, what, when, where and who. You must show a benefit was received (e.g. money or goods, as the result of the fraud), or influence over an action occurred (e.g. told another not to buy a property because of termites, then buy yourself> know no termites). You must be able to infer that the actions were intended to defraud. There is an implied element of intent, as the Act refers to 'dishonest', this is taken as an 'intent to defraud'.

That the person offers to pay, or make right, after the action is discovered is irrelevant, except for penalty. There are times when the fraud becomes much more complex, when there are multiple players (or it becomes industry or department wide), or where it extends over years.

The time to investigate is when you first form the suspicion. An initial investigation is launched, to establish if an offence has occurred, and identify areas which warrant further investigation or examination.

This investigation needs to locate, examine, and preserve, evidence of a money trail, false documentation, or the shifting of assets. In some cases the assistance of a solicitor or barrister is required, to apply for a civil warrant.

There are times when you need to build a case for presentation to the Police, to force them to act. police tend to treat each contact, related to fraud, as an isolated incident. They rarely start collating the fraud complaints.

The more 'run of the mill' investigation relates to WorkCover, Workers Compensation fraud investigation, Comcare claims fraud, insurance fraud, claims against the self insured; people falsely claiming the injury as work related, exaggerating the injury, or failing to report a recovery, with an eye to a big 'payout'.

Some of these are dealt with by Workers compensation surveillance, to compare real world restrictions with claimed restrictions. We have experienced Gold Coast Workers compensation fraud investigators.

An area related to fraud is 'false evidence', or lying in a court or tribunal. It has been noted in recent times that in some settings it seems the best liar wins, with false affidavits handed up, unless you are fully prepared.

There is a Section of the Queensland Criminal Code, Section 193, 194, 195A, that refers specifically to this but it is rarely used, as well as Section 123 and 123A for perjury, giving false or conflicting evidence in court. It would seem honesty is not valued, at times.

Fraud is also related to the twinned offences of stealing and receiving, as well as stealing by finding (if the rightful owner could reasonably be found). If you need to investigate a fraud be aware that it can be a long and drawn out investigation (read expensive).

For more complex matters, requiring multiple experts in their field, this is an expense. Collation of evidence is time consuming. When you need a Gold Coast private investigator, to investigate fraud, call us for assistance.