Author name: Robert Mann

At Worldwide Intelligence Network we  received a call from a very concerned mother about her daughter who was a young adult. The mother explained that her daughter had been receiving very graphic, violent and disturbing text messages and emails from an anonymous person. The daughter lived with her significant other (a female) and they both appeared terrified by the verbiage in the texts and emails. They knew and understood the need for a private investigator for the situation. They were so scared that that they eventually resigned from their soccer ball team and never returned to the practice field which was something they enjoyed doing each week. That was one of the few enjoyments they shared after work. The reason they discontinued going to play soccer was due to the text messages actually providing glues that one of their teammates was the one sending the messages . Private Investigator Recap Our take on this private investigation was that the clues were simply too obvious and we thought we should look elsewhere other than one of the teammates. We then learned after asking to see the text messages and emails on the victims’ cell phone that the victim’s text messages and emails suspiciously disappeared from her cell phone without her deleting them. It was at this time the private investigator knew it had to be someone very close to the victim who was deleting the messages. The one person who would have constant access to the victim’s phone was her significant other. With the significant other’s permission we interviewed her and during the interview she revealed certain aspects of her life which included a Court Ordered Retraining Order and a host of other women she lived with prior to the victim. After conducting a Superior Court record search and finding the Court Ordered Restraining Order we, along with the private investigator, then set out to find the person who filed that Restraining Order which was successful. After interviewing that victim, we began see a frightening parallel between the actions of the significant other and the victim she terrorized while living with her. The actions of the significant other were identical to those both victims. All of our evidence lead us to the significant other as the perpetrator who was clearly mentally disturbed. When given all the evidence we gathered and our client’s daughter packed up all of her belongings and immediately severed all ties to her significant other. This was a case that was very difficult to handle because the victim was in love with her significant other and she had a very difficult time trying to understand how a person who professes to loving you can be so hateful and vicious. This is far from a typical stalker investigation but it is one that should be told for the benefit of others who might be experiencing a like scenario. Investigated by Robert Mann and Desi Riley Senior Investigators.

Private Investigator for Infidelity Assignments Robert Mann of Worldwide Intelligence Network has been conducting infidelity investigations as a Beverly Hills, CA private investigator for over 23 years. In infidelity assignments, our clients are either spouses or significant others who have been involved in fairly long-term relationships.  What usually promulgates an infidelity investigation is one of the parties in the relationship experience an intuitive feeling that something has changed within their relationship and that odd behavior has interrupted what used to be the norm. As a couple they once enjoyed everything together then, all of a sudden one tells the other they have to work late far too many times or they have to leave town on business with no prior discussion. The Signs of a Cheating Spouse As a private investigator, we are most often told by a client that their sexual interaction with their spouse or significant other has diminished or stopped altogether. Cheating can be discovered in many ways, among the most foolish is the unfamiliar perfume found on clothing or lipstick on a shirt collar. Among the most egregious mistakes are leaving text messages and emails from a lover on your phone or laptop where they declare how much in love they are your other half.  There are hardly any words that can describe the pain, disappointment, betrayal and anguish one feels when they have learned that the trust they had in their significant other is in jeopardy or has been lost completely. Losing trust in one another is a very traumatic experience and a horrible lonely feeling. When it becomes apparent that evidence of an affair is required we enter the picture as private investigators. So many people over the past 23 years seem to smirk when they learn what we do for a living. Seems Private Investigators are most often associated with following cheating husbands and wives and people think that is so cool to be out there catching a cheater. Here’s a reality check, its not cool at all and it is at times heartbreaking to see someone’s world fall apart and especially when there are children involved in the relationship. Divorce is very destructive to a family with children but to stay in a marriage for the sake of the children can at times be even more destructive to thee family. We have seen couples  overcome this very emotionally charged experience by working things out and reconciling. We’ve seen the most abusive cases somehow overcome their lack of trust and reunite. Unfortunately, cheating is usually a deathblow to a relationship and when we evidence cheating we’re not pleased about it. Our job is to bring truth to the issue at hand while making sure we treat the victim of unfaithfulness gently and with a great amount of understanding and compassion.  Robert Mann, Director of Worldwide Intelligence Network.

Billions of dollars in premiums are collected by insurance companies that provide Workers’ Compensation Insurance coverage to businesses and municipalities of all sizes. Premiums are predicated upon the risk within a specific category of work being performed.  As an example, a clerk would not be considered a high risk while a construction worker who works on high rise buildings would be a high risk.  In other words the more likely to be injured on the job the higher the premium.  However, that is not the problem within the Workers’ Compensation Insurance industry. The problem lies with fraud. The Beginning of Workers’ Compensation Fraud Investigations Back in 1991 our CEO Robert Mann of Worldwide Intelligence Network first started to investigate alleged fraudulent Workers’ Compensation cases the insurance industry in California was burdened with thousands of claims.  Employees were filing claims to collect a check every month without having to work for living. Stress was the most frequent claim and all an employee had to do back then was say they were too stressed to work and then they would find themselves an attorney to file their claim for them and offer to give the attorney a percentage of what they collected. Then the attorneys would refer these fraudulent claimants to doctors that would verify that the claimant was simply too ill to return to work due to stress on the job.  The claims back then were off the wall and at that time, Hughes Aircraft was the largest employer in the state of California. Hughes lobbied Sacramento heavily to have the legislature pass a law that quantified what constitutes an actual work related stress claim that realistically was actually caused by an employee’s work environment. A new law was passed that rid the claimants’ ability to simply claim stress due to their work place. Once the new law was passed medical clinics that specialized in Workers Compensation medical claims were shut down all across the State as were the law firms that perpetrated fraudulent stress claims with the Workers Compensation Appeals Boards up and down the state. District attorneys were called upon to form a special division to prosecute those who were perpetrating fraud upon the State’s insurance companies. Claims went from 85% to 5% within a year and eventually the insurance industry was able to reduce the Workers’ Compensation insurance premiums to business owners and municipalities and businesses grew exponentially.   Here we are in 2013 and it appears that we are nearly right back to where we were in 1991. Claims are being filed like crazy because so many employees have been laid off or fired due to the economy and they fear their unemployment insurance won’t be able to sustain them until they find gainful employment.  Our job here at Worldwide Intelligence Network is to fairly investigate suspected fraudulent claims and report our findings back to our clients, the Workers’ Compensation insurance companies. It’s a never ending battle between the good and bad in this country. When businesses are forced to pay increased premiums while struggling through surviving a very difficult an economy it slows the growth of our economy not only here in the USA but around the world.  We actually need much stricter laws dealing with fraudulent claims.

Worldwide Intelligence Network aka Robert Mann wincor, has been in business for 23 years. I have enjoyed a fabulous career as a Private Investigator and Personal Protection Specialist.  Sometimes I’m asked “what is it about your profession that you enjoy.” The answer is simple, although we contend with a significant amount of sadness and tragedy, fixing someone’s problem satisfactorily is very rewarding. Each and every case is a challenge and each and every case brings with it a new learning experience. What did we know about Counterfeiting in China or Internet Identity Theft, or Infidelity and Criminal Defense prior to becoming a Private Investigator, the answer; little to nothing. We studied each task, we worked hours on end researching and eventually we learned what had to be done and we did it with a fervent desire to help our clients. Now 23 years later we are very proud to be recognized throughout the USA and around the world as one of the very best, trusted Investigation and Personal Protection firms.  So many clients have written us letters thanking us for our assistance in their time of despair and need. Multiple law firms across the USA have repeatedly ask us to assist them with their complex litigated matters. Honesty and integrity is what we believe in and we refuse to accept any case that we do not feel we can resolve to our client’s satisfaction. It is a great feeling to wake up in the morning with a clear conscience and to look forward to helping someone who needs us.  All we ever want to do, is our very best. Please visit us at www.wincor.com which is Worldwide Intelligence Network’s website.

A story of finding a lost child. A day before Memorial Day we received a call from a father of a missing child. The father explained that his son hadn’t be heard from in over 48 hours and he asked if we would help find. He told us that his son was 18 years old and that he lived alone in Santa Monica, California with no relatives, girlfriend or friends the father could call upon. The young man’s father told us that he had tried calling his son’s cell phone but it constantly went to voicemail. Within 48 hours we located his son through the use of very proprietary and sophisticated technology. The young man was located just on the outskirts of San Diego, California which is nearly a two and a half hours drive from Santa Monica. San Diego is very close to the Mexican border and we were concerned that if he went into Mexico he might be kidnapped. There was no way we could make it to San Diego either by plane or car in time to place his location in at the motel under surveillance. We reached out to our associates in San Diego and explained the situation. We asked them to assign someone they trusted to commence an immediate surveillance of the young man. They had one of their private investigators on site within the  hour and as we drove to San Diego, we were in constant contact with the private investigator who was maintaining the surveillance for us until we arrived. By the time we pulled into the parking lot of the motel where the young man was staying he had just pulled into a space in front of one the guest rooms. The only way to handle this situation was to simply walk up to the young man and identify ourselves. Since he was over eighteen years old and considered an adult we could not force him to come with us. He had to want us to help him and he had to want to return home to his parents. We explained we were retained to find him by his father and that we were not going to abduct him. We further explained that he had an option to speak with us or not to speak to us. The young man was clearly shocked we found him and he was also very depressed and lonely. We consoled him and explained to him how frightened his family was and how much they loved him and wanted to speak with him. He agreed to speak only with his sister at first and later on with his mother and father. His mother flew out from Ft. Lee, Florida the following day while we maintained a twenty-four hour surveillance of him outside of his room. When we asked the young man what he would like to do while we waited for his mother to arrive, he replied that he had planned on going to the San Diego Zoo. We took him there and he had a wonderful time. The reason he chose to disappear was because he had dropped out of college due to unsatisfactory grades and he had not told his parents who were supporting him while thinking he was still enrolled in college. He felt guilty and unworthy but in our view he was worthy and a fine young man who really needed then to be with his family back home. He departed San Diego with his mother being a great deal happier than when we located him. Great ending to a terrific successful private investigation by Worldwide Intelligence Network.

A victim of a crime called us very disturbed about the failure of law enforcement to act upon his US Post Office mail box being broken into and as a result his mail was stolen that contained newly issued credit cards. The client retained us to find out who broke into his Post Office Box. Since his credit cards were stolen fraudulent charges were made into the thousands of dollars. To add insult to injury his 1099’s were also stolen and that enabled the thieves to acquire his and his wife’s social security numbers. Law enforcement at the state and federal levels were notified but hadn’t done anything. Inside of three weeks, we identified the suspects, then located their place of residence. We brought all of that information and documented evidence plus a videos that was taken  of the suspects inside the stores where they used the stolen credit cards to a United States Postal Inspector. Further investigation revealed that the same suspects had been breaking into US Post Offices Boxes throughout two Counties in Southern California and had subsequently charged hundreds of thousands of dollars on stolen credit cards. They even applied for new credit cards in the name of their victims but requested they be mailed to their own Post Office Boxes. Who were they? The ring leader had just been paroled out of a Federal Prison for the exact same crime we caught him for. He brought his wife and adopted adult daughter into his scheme along with with his daughter’s  heroine addicted boyfriend. Within a week the US Attorney issued Federal Search and Arrest Warrants on all of the suspects and found nearly all the loot in their home. End result, those bad guys are going away for a very long time.

Nothing pains us more than to receive a call from a frantic parent saying their child ran away. Such was the case with a young boy eleven years old in Northern California. The parents knew their son made friends and liked to hang around with a male adult who lived close to their home. How the boy met the man was unclear when we commenced the investigation but the parents were absolutely convinced the man was harboring their son. Some of you may not know that law enforcement has no legal right to inspect a home of a person who might allow a child to stay with them unless that person gives them permission to enter their residence. However, if there is reasonable cause to obtain a search warrant the officers will do that. Remember, the parents knew that their child was not abducted and that if he was at the man’s home he went there on his own. In this particular case the police were given permission by the adult male to search his residence and they did not find the child. In fact they went twice to the same residence but on the second visit one of our investigators went inside the residence with the officers. Our investigator is a retired San Francisco Police Detective. Prior to the officers being called to the residence this second time, our investigator interviewed several neighbors who claimed that they had seen the child on a couple of occasions in the complex but they had not seen him enter the residence or leave the residence of the adult suspected of harboring the child. That information was sufficient for us to initiate surveillance on the townhouse complex and our investigator was about 75% certain he had seen the child come out the back door of the townhouse but he did not have a perfect view of the back door. We asked the boy’s parent to call the police again and when officers arrived they were again given permission to enter the townhouse. Just as the officers were about to leave the townhouse our investigator noticed that there was an attic door in the ceiling above the second floor. He asked the officers to look in the attic and behold, the child was there. By law they could not arrest the man for harboring the child and he had no prior criminal record. The child was taken back to his parents who were thrilled to have their son back home. We suggested that the parents seek counseling to learn why the child ran away in the first place. Nice ending. For sure!

We have dedicated ourselves to neutralizing the concerns of our clients for the past twenty one years. Each investigative assignment undertaken by us contains a series of challenges and a continuing education that contributes to our knowledge base. Over these years we have and continue to work with some of the finest lawyers in America all of whom have enhanced our ability to provide legal investigative services with our private investigators that culminate in successful outcomes. Clients seek to retain us when they find themselves in a precarious situation or when they are in a troubled state of mind because they are uninformed. We listen very carefully to the concerns of our clients and then we determine if we want to accept their case. Many people attempt to utilize the services of Private Investigators to gather information they have no legal right to have and should we suspect something is amiss we will refuse their request for our services. Unlike PI’s portrayed in the movies and on TV we don’t sit in dimly lit smoked filled offices. We have a light and bright atmosphere with a great view of the city and we’re not desperately waiting for our next assignment with no regard for what kind of case it is Our Blog was created to enlighten the public as to the reality of what it is like to be a Private Investigator and a Personal Protection Specialist also referred to as a Bodyguard. PROLOGUE The Real World of a Private Investigator We are inviting you into the real world of a private investigator’s life on any given day so you can become familiar with the reality of what it is like to conduct private investigations. Folks ask us all the time what it’s like to be a PI. We hope this blog illustrates that for you. We welcome your comments, suggestions and questions. We receive investigative requests from all over the world. There are times when we nearly fall off our chairs when we’re asked to perform an investigative task that someone saw on a CSI show. TV’s CSI is a very successful and entertaining show and we’re not out to disparage or discourage your viewing of the show. Due to the requests we receive from time to time we thought you should be given some education about what is real and what is fiction. For example; not all of the technologies portrayed on CSI are real they are at times fictitious and they simply do not exist in the real world of Crime Scene Investigations. Some of the other fiction portrayed on CSI is; CSI personnel do not carry weapons they carry the forensic tools of their trade. CSI personnel do not interview suspects, police officers and detectives conduct interviews or interrogations of suspects. CSI personnel collect forensic evidence that they examine under specific guidelines established by the Forensic Science Community and State and Federal Prosecutors. Our staff wishes we could solve our cases within the 35 minutes CSI solve theirs (we subtracted commercial time). Another show we wish we could duplicate is “Criminal Minds.” Yes there is an FBI Division that studies criminal behavior with several Private Investigators. They have become an essential group of experts who have contributed significantly to solving crimes. For those of you who are interested, here is a excerpt from the FBI website regarding profilers; Question: “17. I want to be an FBI “Profiler” – where do I begin the application process? You first need to realize the FBI does not have a job called “Profiler.” The tasks commonly associated with “profiling” are performed by Supervisory Special Agents assigned to the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) at Quantico, Virginia. Despite popular depictions, these FBI Special Agents don’t get “vibes” or experience “psychic flashes” while walking around fresh crime scenes. It is an exciting world of investigation and research — a world of inductive and deductive reasoning; crime-solving experience; and knowledge of criminal behavior, facts, and statistical probabilities.” What we wouldn’t give to have a “Garcia” from Criminal Minds working for us. She types faster than a speeding bullet and she’s able to find out everything about anyone in less than a minute including the size of their socks LOL. Reality Check time, Garcia is a fictional character who is very entertaining but also a great private investigator. Most of the information she’s asked to find on her computers does not exist in reality. If it did exist we would be nearly a crime free country and we would be living under a totalitarian government and wouldn’t have a strong need for private investigators. Wikipedia describes Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) as a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible. Totalitarian regimes stay in political power through an all-encompassing propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, a single party that is often marked by personality cultism, control over the economy, regulation and restriction of speech, mass surveillance, and widespread use of terror. Have you been watching “A Person of Interest” now there is a Private Investigator’s and law enforcement’s dream come true. To know about a crime before it happens and to jump on the investigation before it becomes a crime. My goodness, how delightful. In our world there are no handbooks on how to find a runaway child or catch a cheating spouse or to save an innocent person from going to prison. Here is a case history about one such investigation we conducted that prevented an innocent man from going to prison through the help of our private investigator. The client was an extremely successful businessman in Los Angeles where he had over three hundred employees working for him in a five hundred thousand square foot warehouse. He was in the freight forwarding business. His trucks would pickup goods arriving at the docks in Los Angeles and then transport them to his warehouse for temporary storage. Eventually he