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WELCOME TO THE AUSTRALIAN DIVISION OF LYONSWOOD INVESTIGATIONS AND FORENSIC GROUP 
The stories below have been designed to protect the identities of the clients, criminals and victims. They remain the intellectual property of Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group and may not be used or published without the express written permission of Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group.
Operation - Weekend at Bernies | Important announcement | Lyonswood help coppers arrest copper thieves | Operation Mr MUM | Operation Spy-V-Spy | Operation High Roller
OPERATION - WEEKEND AT BERNIES
Date of posting 22nd October 2009
Many of you may not recall the very funny comedy movie ‘Weekend At Bernie’s’ however the story revolved around the misadventures of two young insurance company employees who discovered some fraud and advised their boss who invited them to spend Labour Day weekend at an expensive beach house so that he could murder them as he was the one committing the fraud. When they arrived, Bernie their boss who has been killed by the Mafia. Bernie the host being dead would have spoiled their fun at his home so they continued the lie and to pretend he was alive.
After our discoveries form this investigation we decided it was worthy of the operation name above albeit the story in this case revealed the lie was that Bernie was alive and not dead.
Recently an employer came to us with a request to check the veracity of a claim by an employee that he was unable to attend work for several weeks owing to the death of his father Bernie. The employer was compassionate and gave leave accordingly and even provided financial assistance. The employer became suspicious when the period of grieving exceeded what might be reasonable and instructed Lyonswood to get the truth.
We had an address for the employee but not for his father. We searched for his father’s address which was located in another state and eventually located it however there was no listed telephone number.
We identified the neighbours names and found one of them with a number. Under convincing subterfuge we made contact with the neighbour and obtained a mobile number for Bernie. We found the provision of the number by a neighbour unusual, particularly if he was in fact deceased. We called that mobile number however it continually went to a message service no matter the time we called it and we began to believe that perhaps he was deceased. The possibility existed however that the alleged sick employee had involved his father and told him not to answer his mobile just in case.
Eventually via other clever means we did locate a home number for Bernie. We called this number only to be surprised that it was answered by the same voice we had heard on the mobile phone message, “Bernie speaking!” Had Bernie been resurrected? Was this Bernie the father of our sick employee? Could he be the Messiah? Could this be the second coming?
Further discreet inquiries with Bernie revealed that he was in fact the father of our sick employee.
People go to great lengths to deceive, sometimes even pretending a father had passed away. We found this excuse for sick leave to be the most abhorrent we had ever discovered and thus award this employee the scumbag of the year award…… until of course someone else comes along to take the award away. There will always be someone who will!
Naturally the alleged sick employee received his DCM (Don’t come Monday) from his employer and action is on foot to recover the monies paid to him.
Moral:
You aint dead until you are buried and in this workers case, you can get buried before you die.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
Date of posting 18TH September 2009
ANOTHER ACHIEVEMENT FOR LYONSWOOD INVESTIGATIONS AND FORENSIC GROUP
It is with a great sense of pride and achievement we announce that Lyonswood was recently selected by the NSW State Parliament House Security Manager to provide Investigation and Security Services to the House and Members. It is heartening to know our achievements and diversification within the investigation field are being rewarded. This recognition is once again testimony to the integrity , ability and professionalism of Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group.
Lyonswood is also the Investigation company preferred by the Dept Of Foreign Affairs and often recommended to Nationals and Internationals through Australian, American and British Government Departments and Intelligence agencies.
As a broad based investigation company we not only have a strong skill-set base amongst our licensed investigators, we are able to react to situations promptly and competently, reducing risks and minimising costs and collateral damage.
We take this opportunity to thank all of Lyonswood’s Loyal Staff and operatives.
Warren Mallard
Managing Director
LYONSWOOD HELP COPPERS ARREST COPPER THIEVES
Date of posting 4.09.09
One of Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group’s valued corporate clients is involved in the supply of energy. Because of its core business and because the price of non ferrous metals has soared in recent times, they have become very vulnerable to the theft of copper cabling. So much so that on occasion, the very power lines that drive suburbs have been turned off and cut through with power saws and tons of copper removed and sold. You can just imagine the impact this could have on people who are dependent upon power for life support systems etc.
Our client has a very capable team of security professionals employed and from time to time their preliminary inquiries and feedback from their depots enables them to become acutely aware that they are at risk in certain regions.
Recently the Security Manager became aware of an eminent threat of loss and once again called upon Lyonswood for assistance in the provision of equipment and surveillance cameras. After just two nights of surveillance the trap was sprung. Police had already been alerted that the theft was about to go down and had numerous unmarked cars and plain clothes detectives in close proximity and at the ready.
Lyonswood’s surveillance operative was in a discreet position closest to the scene of the expected theft and signalled to the security and police resources that the two suspects were dragging copper cabling across a field towards a hatch back vehicle. The location, description of the vehicle and registration number was conveyed to them and as soon as they commenced to load the copper cabling into their vehicle the police, security and Lyonswood’s operative were on the scene within seconds. Attempts by the two suspected thieves to escape were thwarted and they were soon handcuffed and placed on the ground whilst the vehicle examination took place.
These photos below , taken from the video paint the picture. Both arrested persons seen here handcuffed and face down on the road and grass verge will appear in court on charges of stealing. The cable in the rear of the vehicle weighed 100’s of kgs.
Our client who was at the scene of the arrest soon recognised the two arrested persons as being those that had been previously arrested for the same offences at another of the clients depots.
It’s a pleasure to work with a well organised and pro active client. This particular investigation is testimony to planning and working corroboratively with as many law enforcement professionals as you can to bring about swift retribution and cap losses. Police and the private sector should work together like this more often.
Our valued client’s excellent technical and physical security and recognition of Lyonswood’s capabilities has demonstrated time and time again the value of Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group in the detection and prevention of corporate crime. I would like to think that these arrests would send a message to other would be thieves however I suspect that this pair will again appear in the Lyonswood ‘Hall Of Shame’.
Date of posting 17.08.09
The name given to this investigation arose out of our clients husband’s role as the primary career of their 7 year old child. Together they decided that the child needed a parent at home and because the mother’s wage was more than double that of the father, it was agreed the father would remain at home caring for the child and the household chores.
Over the next couple of years, the marriage started to break down and the relationship between the parents dissolved to one that brought concerns by the mother that her husband may have been having an affair, was depressed or perhaps that some other thing that had manifested in his life and dramatically changed him. Many of the things that had been agreed about what the father would provide in the marriage had either diminished or completely vanished. The house work was never done, he failed to shop adequately and she required answers. He refused to discuss these issues and the situation was allowed to fester to a point where she approached Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group to assist to discreetly get the answers.
What were our options? What could he be doing with his time? Could it be some other woman or was it some other obsession?
Upon further questioning of our client it was revealed that he spent a great deal of time on his computer and one day our client was looking through family photos and discovered a photo of young pre-pubescent children in a bathtub. When she questioned her husband regarding this photo he explained it away by saying that a mate had sent it to him as a joke and he had forgotten to delete it. In fact it had been deliberately saved in a file.
Lyonswood initially decided to gather some intelligence through surveillance. “It is better to know than to guess” Mark Twain . Initial surveillance revealed that there was no evidence to suspect an affair however his pattern of shopping left some unexplained questions. Why was he attending a local shopping centre but not shopping? Why did he attend this shopping centre at times when young children might be in attendance and why did he pay them so much attention?
After further consultation with our client and with her permission and because she purchased the home computer and it was her rightful property we decided to forensically acquire the hard drive of that computer for analysis at our forensic computer laboratory. Prior consultations by our client with police revealed that they currently had an 18 month backlog in forensic acquisition of data. There were real concerns about the safety of a child that were paramount in our prioritisation and thus we could not wait and take such long term risks. At the same time, and after perusing the ‘Telecommunications Interceptions Act’ and taking some preliminary legal advice we also placed key stroke logging software on that computer to capture her husband’s daily activities on that computer. Our primary concern was the safety of the child and if in the event this very grey area of law was breached in the tracking of his computer activities, then we would face those consequences down the track.
The forensic investigations undertaken by Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group’s forensic technician revealed sickening evidence of repeated access to graphic, distressing child pornography. This access was repeated and over a lengthy period of time. These discoveries were reported to local police detectives and the police later forensically examined our evidence and acquired further evidence of their own and laid charges against the husband for accessing child pornography. These charges were upheld and recently he was convicted after changing his not guilty plea to a guilty plea on the date of hearing. He is yet to be sentenced. Lyonswood understands that his details will be placed on the child sex offenders register.
Ironically and because our client mother was the only income earner in the household, she was compelled to provide supervision for the father’s access to the child of the marriage at her own expense during the time between our discovery of the evidence and the date of hearing which took almost a year.
We are hopeful that our client can get her life back on track and that the real and inherent risks to her child and the children of others are better placed because of her courage and the work of Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group.
Moral
‘ Justice can prevail when all else fails’
Date of posting 16th August 2009
This investigation was very close to home for Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group. In fact it went right to the very core of what makes a good investigator and the overriding requirement for an investigator to be of high moral standing and integrity. This investigation involve the theft and publication of Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Groups own intellectual property, the contents of its website www.investigators.net.au
Whilst compiling further information for my website, a site that had been evolving for over ten years, I became aware of the existence of a competitor whose apparent rise to prominence was far more expeditious than the age and ability of this investigator would suggest was possible. The name of the company suggested a one- service-business engaged in catching cheating spouses. Whilst that of itself was not a concern nor a threat to Lyonswood’s diverse range of services, expertise and client base, after reading the contents of that website, there was a familiar ring to the words being used in the text of that site. Was I reading my own words, Or had I been at the computer too long?
After reading through the competitors site thoroughly, it became apparent that the words being used were mine. After cutting and pasting them and comparing them over the top of my text, they were in fact identical. It became immediately apparent that this competitor was passing off my text as his and profiting from it. There are laws in Australia that prevent the intellectual property of another being converted to or used by third parties. I made contact with this ambitious young investigator via email and asked him to immediately take down my text from his site and if he did not, threatened legal action.
Further perusal of his site revealed that he had not only stolen the name of his company from an existing USA company of the same name, he had also stolen the text of three other investigation companies and an author of a book. I immediately made all of these parties aware of my discoveries and actions. As I did not receive a response to my e-mail and the text belonging to me was still being promoted for his gain upon his site, I commenced legal action. My lawyers wrote him a letter threatening legal action and action for compensation and costs however, again he decided to ignore these requests and threats of action.
To cut a long story short, he was eventually served with legal documents and despite an ability for him to withdraw the text and save costs, he declined. Eventually after being ordered by the District Court to take down my text from his site, again he declined to do so. Now he was exposed to being in contempt of court and the court duly warned him of this through his legal representative. He failed to appear in court on three occasions and even his representative lawyer could not attend as directed.
When my competitor saw himself backed into a corner and saw that he was not going to get any sympathy from the court he asked me for a copy of the text that belonged to me so that he could identify and remove it. You see, he had stolen intellectual property from so many sources he was confused about which of his text belonged to who?
This clown that called himself an investigator, eventually decided that to continue through the courts in this manner was madness and he paid Lyonswood’s considerable legal costs and damages in the tens of thousands of dollars.
At the end of this matter and after some consideration and not believing that holding grudges resolves anything, I called him and invited him to lunch with me to discuss what had occurred with a view to perhaps getting to know him and he me so that any animosity could be buried and so we could both learn from the experience and move on. I invited him to join an industry representative association and offered myself as a nominator. I paid for the lunch.
Some months after my meeting with this investigator I learned that he had been arrested and charged with impersonating a Law Enforcement Officer in a matter where he had clearly represented himself in written correspondence to an old lady to intimidate her. He was duly convicted before a Magistrate and sentenced to 12 months goal. Upon appeal he was lucky to have escaped gaol and receive a bond to be of good behaviour. He was immediately struck off the register of licensed private investigators.
Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group will protect its intellectual property to the limits of the law just as it will with the intellectual property and confidentiality of its clients.
Moral
‘Leopards rarely change their spots’
Footnote
Information provided to Lyonswood has revealed that this investigator although being struck off as an investigator is still undertaking the work of an investigator. We are pursuing this matter with the authorities. Watch this space for the next episode of stupidity.
Date of posting: 14th August 2009
The operational name of this investigation was born out of the allegation by our clients former husband that he had allegedly gambled away the sum of two million dollars after he and she agreed to divorce and sell all their assets and amicably split the proceeds. The problem was that after their assets were sold and the money was placed into a joint bank account, the money mysteriously vanished from their joint bank account. Upon further questioning, the estranged husband alleged that he had gambled it all away because he was depressed. Naturally our client was not convinced that he was being truthful and nor was the Family Law Court. Alas, without evidence to the contrary, it was going to be difficult for our client to counter her estranged husband’s claims.
Lyonswood immediately set about planning a surveillance investigation and on the first day of surveillance one of Lyonswood’s skilled and since commended surveillance operatives followed the male target to a bank where the target former husband made inquiries with a bank employee. During this discussion our surveillance operative made pretext inquiries with another bank employee allowing him to remain close by and overhear the conversation being had between the target former husband and the female bank staff member.
It was learned from that conversation that the target male had two large containers in a branch of that bank in another state and was about to move them to yet another branch of that bank thus we immediately contacted our client and requested an urgent conference with her legal counsel. This conference resulted in our preparation of a sworn affidavit , urgent court orders and seizure of the two containers which were revealed to contain the missing money allegedly gambled away by the former husband.
Added bonus
“The only thing that can be guaranteed from an investigation is the unexpected.” Warren Mallard
Sometimes Karma catches up with these fraudsters. Found within the same containers was a large quantity of jewellery, the very same jewellery that our female client, his former wife had lost in an alleged burglary some 15 months prior. It seems that the male target had not only plotted to greedily steal all the assets of the marriage but he had also orchestrated a bogus robbery and stolen his wife’s jewellery.
Footnote
The matter is still to come to court and it will be interesting to see just how the courts deal with this deliberate and malevolent former husband. It appears that he has perjured himself, stolen the assets of the marriage and fraudulently arranged the theft of her personal jewellery.
Moral
‘Diamonds ARE a girl’s best friend’ or perhaps ‘ Do unto others before they do unto you’