Private Investigators are often associated with tracking down errant husbands in shady bars, and in a recent study by top accountancy practice Grant Thornton it was revealed that 49% of UK divorces cases now involve the services of a Private Detective. They however are not usually thought of as people who investigate serious commercial issues on behalf of companies where staff theft and fraud on behalf of disgruntled employers is rife.

For senior managers who feel sufficiently cheated, one of their options is to turn to investigators, such as Jorge Salgado-Reyes and Neil Sheppard.

Jorge is a former senior Loss Prevention Investigator who spent 17 years investigating serious theft and fraud for some very well known high street retailers. Neil was a Royal Air Force Police officer for 13 years before leaving to pursue a career in Loss Prevention management for various commercial companies.

Both Jorge and Neil went on to start their separate successful investigation agencies before embarking on a joint venture partnership and founding Allied Detectives in 2008, which has a strong focus on corporate investigations.

Part of their remit is to help their corporate clients, recoup losses by identifying the sources of shrinkage and advising on loss prevention strategies, in particular, seeking out those employees that are focused on stealing or committing serious fraud within the client company. And, in common with private eyes worldwide, that requires evidence. Jorge said: “My job is to identify the source of the company loss, gather the evidence and interview the employees that are stealing.

Mayor blue chip companies have long used such corporate sleuths. In the corporate world they have dropped the labels of “private investigator” and “detective” and are commonly known as “risk consultants” or “corporate investigators”, but in the UK there are not many agencies that offer a Loss Prevention Department as an outsourced service.

Their bread and butter is Loss Prevention Audits, CV checks, computer safeguards to protect proprietary information and searches through legal records to find out if a person has a dubious past. Coupled with the ability to provide undercover & surveillance operatives throughout the UK and beyond, Allied Detectives is truly a unique agency.

Corporate clients frequently seek corporate investigators to provide pre-employment due diligence for senior management roles. Corporate investigators can go a long way to get answers, seeking out a person’s former colleagues, employees, business partners and acquaintances. But this depends on whether the client is comfortable with that level of investigation – nobody wants the public relations hassle that could result if it became known that a company is paying to search for information on another.

Neil Sheppard, said gathering intelligence was best done cautiously and only to fill holes in the public domain and paper trail, sometimes what is more worrying than the information found is information that does not exist where it should.

The Life of a Private Investigator

Jorge, said the company has safeguards in place, including standard operating procedures and training programs in legal, ethical and compliance issues. These protect Allied Detectives and its clients. “Issues can arise depending on how aggressive the techniques our investigators use are. If there is an invasion of privacy, or if it looks like there is, they could get into trouble.”

Often the work can be mundane but it can yield vital results. Neil Sheppard once had the job of staking out an ex-employee for a well known high street client. The ex-employee had fallen off a ladder at work and was suing the client as a result of his injuries. He was claiming that he was partially paralysed down his left side and had medical reports to prove it.

Neil’s surveillance found that the ex-employee was capable of pushing a broken down vehicle and did not exhibit any paralysis during this amazing feat of strength. Neil’s client saved a £218,000 insurance payout as a result.