Paragon are proud to be part of the Missing Pieces team returning to TV3 each Tuesday at 8pm.

Our Managing Director Ron McQuilter can be seen (wearing the blue shirt) working with the team re-uniting lost loves ones. 

At the AGM of the New Zealand Institute of Professional Investigators on 18 November our Managing Director Ron McQuilter was re-elected as Chairman for the 2012 year.

Ron advised the members present that there are a number of issues to be addressed this year, not the least being the new licensing regime that allows anyone without the necessary experience to apply for a Certificate of Approval. This means that persons wishing to engage a Professional investigator should ensure that they only opt for members of the NZIPI.

NZIPI members work to a strict code of ethics and there is a strict entry process.  

What would you have felt if you'd come face to face with this bunch of likely lads on a dock side late one night in 1909?

This is an actual photograph of the Metropolitan Police Drugs Squad formed to infiltrate a gang of drug smugglers working at Limehouse docks.

The first team of Met Police "plain clothes" officers started in 1842 with eight officers.

Sir Howard Vincent was the first head of the now famous Criminal Investigation Department ("CID") that was established in 1878 after two fraudsters Harry Benson and Bill Kurr revealed they had for years been bribing four senior detectives at Scotland Yard.

In this months NZ Security magazine, Ron McQuilter gives an insight into the various new tools to assist with fraud investigation.

Data Mining and intelligence charts are no longer the sole domain of the large accounting firms but are now in regular use by PI firms who are computer savvy and quick to take up technology in their efforst to combat business fraud and deliver results for small and medium size business as well as the corporates.

read the article here

Paragon is pleased to announce that Wayne Kiely and Steve Williams have been appointed as Supervising Specialist Investigators ("SSI")

Our Managing Director Ron McQuilter in announcing the appointments paid tribute to the many years of committment and the exceptional results obtained by both men. Our clients have also provided incredible references for Wayne and Steve, with similar letters of commendation from Police officers on the files they have worked.

You can view Wayne's profile here

You can view Steve's profile here

Its big news in New Zealand but the rest of the world wonders what all the fuss is about.

The recent changes to the Private Investigators Act now permits Private Eyes to use a video or camera and voice recorders. The truth is that everyone else in the entire world has, except for PI's in NZ, been able to use the same equipment. Now Kiwi PI's are able to give provide "Best Evidence" and to testify to the same in Court.

After 34 years, and with the changes now in force, the Sunday Star Times today talks to our Managing Director Ron McQuilter about one Kiwi PI who is still being held to account for alleged breaches of the old Act.

Read the Sunday Star Times article here

There has been a flurry of media over the past week in regards to teens, drink and drugs and the tragic loss of life and suffering as a result.

Our Managing Director Ron McQuilter has been mentioned in Todays Herald on Sunday and spoke today on Newstalk ZB about the increase in parents approaching Paragon seeking our assistance.

Private Investigators can give evidential assistance to parents who wish to monitor their childrens activities for their own good and safety.

read the Newstalk ZB coverage here

The cheek of the Nigerian scammers sending this to us.!!! A PI Company that tracks scams

Ron McQuilter received this email today. It's a version of a scam that is being sent all around the world. So f you get this or something similar, then sorry, it's a hoax.

See the scam page here.

Hello,

My name is Jennifer Grant; I work with A & N Consultants Limited in England.

This is a standard process investigation concerning a client who shares the same name with you and the circumstances surrounding investments made by this client.

The aforementioned client had investments with The Royal Bank of Scotland, unfortunately, he died intestate.

The purpose of this communication with you is to inquire about the following;

1 - Do you have any relative whose last known contact address was Zurich, Switzerland?

2 - If yes, are you aware of any investment of considerable value made by such a person at The Royal Bank of Scotland?

3 - If yes to both of the above, can you establish beyond reasonable doubt your eligibility to assume status of next of kin to the deceased?

It is pertinent that you inform us whether or not you are familiar with this personality to enable us conclude our investigation.Thank you for accommodating our inquiries.

Yours sincerely,

Jennifer Grant

A & N Consultants Limited.

In today's Herald on Sunday our Managing Director demonstrates to reporter Jo Knowsley how times have changed, even since 2006.

When Jo was a reporter in UK in 2006, a media rival spent an entire weekend trying to background her.

Ron McQuilter found out in June 2011 more about her in less than an hour that the rival did over three days in 2006.

The article gives an insight to some of the information found (not all) and explains just how scary things are nowadays.

Read the article here.

Today's Sunday Star Times reports how easy it is to obtain listening devices, even here in NZ.

One on-line trader even advertises that they have an installer available who is a licensed private investigator (I think not !!) even though every investigator worth their salt would know that it illegal to record any conversation that you are not party to.

Bugging is a Crime punishable by imprisonment and would be taken very seriously by any Court, make no mistake about that.

Whilst technology today has evolved into SIM bugs and on-line sales as pointed out by the Sunday Star Times article has seen a rapid growth in overseas availability on the Net, anyone even buying these for the purpose of spying should think again as "intent" could be enough to secure a conviction.

Our Managing Director Ron McQuilter is quoted in the article as saying he has only ever found one listening device, which is correct. Here's hoping that common sense or the thought of jail will prevail.

Government Defence Chief Scientist, Immigration Boss, Head of Maori TV and now even a Hawkes Bay school principal has admitted to cheating on her CV.

The Herald on Sunday has reported more cases where proper background checks have failed to be performed read here

The problem we see with all this is that it's not rocket science (no pun intended Mr Wilce) to make these enquiries. Check out Paragon's vetting service here

PI's are the real "Grey Men" of business crime.

Fraudsters and thieves caught out in their offending are often quick to claim that the investigator being paid to do their job has a bias towards their client.

Certainly, we are out to protect our clients's business and their staff's job security and we seek out those bad apples in the workplace Click here , the bad apples who destroy everything the business strives to achieve.

However, unlike the adverserial system of justice that exists in the Police and criminal sectors we are truly independent and well able to remain in the grey area with a sole focus to determine facts and let the evidence speak for itself.

In the case where a PI is dealing with a fraud or theft issue, a client can be assured they will get the simple truth and the client, and only the client can determine if this is an issue that needs to go further or not.  

This independent, unbiased and professional attitude is an attribute I am pleased to promote to the extent I commissioned the painting shown and have displayed it in my office since 1994,

Ron McQuilter

Today sees the introduction of the new Code of Conduct for PI's.

Our Managing Director, Ron McQuilter, the current Chairman of the New Zealand Institute of Professional Investigators said that the code, a long time in coming now means that private investigators will now be able to provide "Best Evidence" to clients and to protect those who have been wrongfully accused.

The Code will regulate how we conduct surveillance and will ensure that a persons privacy is still protected. If you have a reasonable expectation of privacy then we must respect that, and that's great.

View TV3's article here http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/national/48683.html

Paragon was quoted in Sunday's NZ Herald Article on Scott Guy.

What a tragegy this killing is and of course psychic's are always quick to claim they know who did it.

See the article here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10715187

That was the question we hoped the traffic department would not ask this week when we drove away from a shop selling stolen T shirts.

Photo shows the car outside our office before the shirts were sorted, exhibited and delivered to Police.

This is our "bread and butter" and if you think you have a staff theft problem then please give us a call.

It has become common for insurers to offer a discount if a homeowner has a monitored alarm system and certainly there is no arguing the benefits of having a good system, in proper working order being monitored.

This particular insured had some money issues and one of the first things to get cut was their monitoring costs, so they contacted their provider and cancelled the monthly fee.

A few months later they claimed to their insurer that their home was burgled whilst they were out for only a short time. They arrived home to the sound of their alarm and discovered a large amount of property missing, the home had been ransacked and jewellery taken as well.

Unfortunately though, the investigator on finding the alarm had a monitoring facility decided to check with the monitoring company. Imagine the surprise to find out that whilst the contract might have been terminated, the monitoring itself had never actually been cut.

 An alarm specialist soon determined that the alarm had indeed been set as claimed, but then first triggered from a PIR in an internal room within seconds of being set and before the car could even have left the property.

The entire burglary had been staged.   

Paragon are proud to have sponsored the IBANZ Investigator of the year and in November, Ron McQuilter, our Managing Director (pictured left) awarded the trophy to Russell Joseph of Corporate Risks at the IBANZ award nights.

This award is a testament to Russell's ability, not just in the past year, which is the criteria for the award but his long standing committment and work as a top class investigator.

Ron was the winner the previous year and commented that he felt honoured to be on stage with Russell, a true legend in the business.

Reported in todays NZ Herald is an article on just how Cybercrime is growing with the abilty to take your money from the other end of the world.  read the article here.

The problem is that when you fall victim, it then takes you an enormous amount of effot to prove yourself clean, which is the exact opposite of every other scenario.    

The growing use of the internet to buy goods on-line and people's attitude to puting their personal details on social networking sites just means that the hunting ground is getting bigger and bigger for these low lifes.

Be careful what you do on-line and always keep an eye on your credit card. 

Incredible as it might seem, New Zealand is the only place in the entire world that prohibits PI's from taking or using photographs and this has been the case since 1974 (36 years).

The old Act is so ridiculous that even when investigating a "missing" loved one, a PI cannot use a photograh of the person without their written consent - Yip, that's right, we need to ask the missing person if we can use their photo to find them!!

After a round of submissions to the Select Committe in which our Managing Director, Ron McQuilter appeared to present the case for the entire members of the New Zealand Institiute of Professional Investigators ("NZIPI") at last, the government of the day, despite strong oppositon has seen fit to remove the nonsense and when the new Act comes into force in April next, PI's will have the same power as every other citizen, not more, just the very same.

What this means though is that we can now use best evidence to combat fraud and theft, working within the Privacy Act Principles and the many other laws that govern our conduct. It might seem a simple fix but trust me PI's are applauding the government.

Thanks also goes to Glenda Hughes for her assistance in preparing the submissions, the NZSA, the then Registrar of Investigators, the Insurance sector and many others who all presented with a united voice.

True story.. shortened significantly..., Airline staff kept complaining their property was being stolen from a particular hotel and the hotel security people had failed to establish how this was occurring. The Hotel CEO asked us to help. If possible he did not want the airline to know they had a problem and change hotels.

Posing as airline crew, we hired a uniform and joined the next crew that arrived, just behind them as they checked in. The only person who knew who we were was the Manager who was sworn to secrecy to tell no-one.

We set up the bait room, using hidden cameras and left. The next morning the mini bar man came in and after checking the bar, was seen rifling through the goods. Watching from the next room, we sprung him in the corridor with the stolen property.

After a full confession and the Police being called, few nibbles and beers with the Manager followed, ordered by us from Room Service. The Manager went off duty and our agent later went to check out, only to be confronted with a large bill for the food and drink, money that he did not have in his possession.

No worries, he said, I will be back in a moment and then was chased by security as he legged it out the back door into a waiting car.