A false Beard

Some time ago we were asked to trace and serve documents on a "Mr. Smith" who had gone away and left substantial debts incurring interest at £3000+ per day.

We attended at various linked addresses and at one we met a little old lady who told us she knew him and had purchased the property from him. She informed us that he came back to the house two days after the sale and wanted an urn from the garden shed, which had his good friend's ashes in.

The friend's name was Mr. Beard and this prompted further investigation which led us to find out that the subject had taken on the identity of the deceased friend, Mr. Beard, and we subsequently traced him to a number of addresses in Spain. At one of these, we caught up with him, his true identity given away by the housekeeper, and he was served.

Can we have our money back please?

London House had a case recently where our hunches, skills, determination and "dog with a bone attitude" paid off for our client.

We were instructed by a client to trace a subject who it was believed had committed cheque book fraud in excess of £1m. Our searches led us to find several linked addresses to the address provided, and one address in London was of interest to us. Attending discreetly at the address we obtained information that led us to believe there was a lead to follow in Spain. Spending time in Spain we ascertained that the subject had established residence there and continued enquiries in the area finally took us back to two additional properties in London that our client had no knowledge of. This subsequently led to our client securing legal charges over both assets and put them in a position to negotiate a full and final payment.

Football's coming home?

Well what can we say, except a resounding No, or should that be Het.

Despite being given verbal assurances of enough support to get us through to the last round of voting those votes failed to materialise.

Not even the attendance of our own three lions for the last days bouts of diplomacy were enough to get us past the first round of voting. Two votes - one of which was our own! Gutted!

Milton Keynes and the rest of the country look on in astonished amazement. We had the best presentation, the best technical bid, the best commercial case. Tales of fraud and corruption will occupy the press for months to come. We know some good investigators!

Milton Keynes to host World Cup?

You may not know that Milton Keynes began celebrating last December when it was named as a host city for the 2018 World Cup should the England bid be successful. If England win the bid, the MK Dons stadium will host World Cup football and one of the teams will be based in the city. This is a huge success for Milton Keynes, placing the city alongside other successful venues such as London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.

The result appears to be narrowing to a choice between England and Russia and we now wait with bated breath for the World Cup decision which will be announced on 2nd December. The Champagne is chilling nicely!

A knock on effect of hosting the World Cup is likely to be a huge increase in the number of attempted frauds and criminal activity. The fraudsters see the games as an opportunity but London House stands ready to help with fraud prevention and the recovery of any losses.

Fraudsters traced and taken to court

London House were asked recently to confirm the residence of a male subject who we believed to be using different names in an effort to hide.

Our trace enquiries began with a series of telephone and database investigations before we visited the subjects property discreetly so as not to alert the occupiers.

 At the address we were met at the door by a lady who confirmed her identification as Mrs X and that she lived at the address with her husband Mr Y (a different surname) and her son, Mr Z (a further surname). We confirmed our understanding with Mrs X and told her we would call her if we needed any further information. We telephoned later and she again confirmed her earlier comments. When asked about middle initials she supplied those for her husband and her alleged son. These matched the details we had discovered on databases. Our investigations had also confirmed that both adult male names had the same date of birth.

Reviewing the information supplied by our clients and the results of our own investigations, we were firmly of the opinion that the two males with different surnames were in fact one and the same person. Our suspicions were confirmed when Mrs X phoned us later, after a period of reflection perhaps, to ask how we knew to call at her address as only the surname Y was used on records and documentation. We were able to supply our clients with a detailed statement suitable as evidence in court.

Mrs X and Mr Y have been found out. As investigators we know to never assume that things are as they seem.

Fraud Enquiries

All types of work undertaken by specialist personnel, many ex-senior police officers.

We can help you to reduce risk through preventative consultancy.