Gold Coast Fraud Investigation

Gold Coast fraud investigation, Gold Coast fraud investigator, investigation by a private investigator, private detective; to investigate 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, Gold Coast fraud 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. Recent years have seen the rise of online scams, online fraud, whereby people are induced to give money; it may be a fictional online relationship, it may be a person claiming to have cancer, to be ill, or with a dying mother. They are all sick criminals who prey on others. Clients are not equipped, cannot afford, to investigate some of these online scams, especially those involving the transfer of funds overseas. Sometimes this requires multiple victims to band together. We do not have the required criminal investigation powers, we have to rely on things like civil warrants, such as an Anton Piller Order; the cost to the person scammed, of an investigation, can be large. The Privacy Act, when combined with the lack of will of Police to investigate, means Australia actively protects the criminal.
An Anton Piller order is a court-issued search order, often called a civil warrant, that allows a party (typically the plaintiff's representatives) to enter the premises of an accused, without prior notice, to search for and seize evidence or materials that are at risk of being destroyed or concealed. It requires an application to the court to establish prima facie (on the face of it) an offence has occurred, that the evidence is at the place, or in possession of the person/s, that there is real risk of destruction, or secretion, of evidence if forewarned. You need us to gather evidence, you need a solicitor representing you at court, and another independent solicitor who attends the warrant execution to ensure the rights of the accused are preserved. Usually the police attend, to keep the peace. This also, now, also often requires specialists to examine computers, lap tops, phones as part of the process. There are laid down procedures that must be followed.
For Commonwealth offenses 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; herein lies the problem, an 'innocent party', a third party, shouldn't be injured, when prosecuting the fraudster, this is especially true for civil law.
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 offenses 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). We are an experienced Gold Coast fraud investigation, Gold Coast fraud investigator, service.
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, private detective, to investigate fraud, call us for assistance. We are a network of experienced investigators, here to gather evidence.