Private Investigator News and Information

By Jose Jesus Zaragoza

SOUTH BAY — They came in the veil of darkness looking for a quick refueling and left in handcuffs. According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, two would-be fuel thieves were caught red-handed by a private investigator as they made their way to a 3,000-gallon fuel tank to stock up on free fuel.

Possibly inspired by two successful hits last month, police say the duo tried their chances again, this time overlooking a nearby car watching their every move.

According to detectives, the arrest is simply the latest in a line of captures aimed at reducing similar types of theft in farms throughout the area.

The thefts have plagued local farms for years.

In the past year, Okeelanta itself has lost 9,000 gallons to sneaky thieves who make their way to the fueling stations when no one is looking. Other farms near South Bay and several between West Palm Beach and Belle Glade have experienced similar crimes.

Sugar Farms counted itself as one more of the victims, until recently.

Responding to the thefts, Sugar Farms put the sheriff’s office on alert, hiring an investigator to come in at night and stake out the area for criminals.

On Nov. 30, the extra vigilance paid off.

That’s when detectives say a 1998 Kenworth Semi pulled onto the Sugar Farms property, about 19 miles south of South Bay on Hwy. 27. Heading straight to the 3,000-gallon capacity tank, the rig pulled up in complete darkness.

Detectives say the two were ready to fill up the rig with the red fuel when they spotted the investigator’s car nearby. Then they fled, turning north on Hwy. 27, toward South Bay.

Deputies caught up with the two before they got away, placing Jose Dia Gonzalez, 29, and Rafael Vazquez Diaz, 33, both of Miami, under arrest for the initial charge of trespassing. They didn’t manage to take any fuel with them. According to the sheriff’s office, the state attorney will be seeking to increase those charges to grand theft.

The criminals utilize custom equipment that continues to impress detectives. One arrest recently turned up a compendium of hoses, cranks and containers by one group, which was clearly ready for the job. The team of criminals siphoned 300 gallons in a matter of mere minutes with the equipment — a feat detectives could hardly believe.

“It was like they had their own little fire department,” said Detective Michael Fincannon, who used the equipment to pump the fuel back into the tank, surprised at how quickly the gear refueled the tank.

The sheriff’s office monitors the situation. Through some investigative work, detectives with the sheriff’s AG crimes unit say they believe there is a network of thieves involved. Taking with them hundreds of gallons, they turn around and sell the fuel at maybe a dollar a gallon to dump truck drivers and others who prefer the cheap fuel over paying two or three dollars per gallon of fuel.

“I’m sure there’s a little clique in Miami,” said Detective Fincannon. “They know where they can get diesel for a dollar.”

Businesses are utilizing methods of discouraging thieves to steal the fuel, though none has worked very well, detectives say. Locking up the fuel stations only guarantees that somebody will break through the locks to gain access and other methods don’t have much more success.

With a limited force covering such a wide-reaching area, it becomes difficult to catch the thieves at work, but detectives are hopeful that surveillance equipment and good old-fashioned vigilance will lead to more arrests and hopefully a decrease in crime.

If anything, the Miami connection might have caught wind of the arrests.

That’s a good thing, according to Detective Fincannon, who admits that, short of flooding the area with police, catching criminals is an almost impossible task. “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack,” he said.

06 December 2005 13:36

Stephen Hayes has first-hand experience of how to identify fraudulent sickness claims

January can be a hard month to get through. The glitz of Christmas is over and summer is a long way away – and this can bring out the worst in people. Surveillance research shows that sickness claims are more often found to be dishonest in January than in any other month.

With an ever-deteriorating compensation culture throughout society, HR managers are increasingly aware of employees who are on long-term sick leave.

They have to consider the possibility that staff could be dishonestly abusing a caring employer, without forgetting that they could be dealing with a loyal employee in a difficult situation. So how can you tell?

Don’t write off the igea of using a commercial private detective agency as a fanciful idea from the movies – it can be an effective method of exposing false claims of sickness or confirming that an employee is ill.

Handle with care
Investigating your employees is a sensitive matter and it should be handled professionally and on well-grounded indications that something might be inaccurate. A healthy suspicion might save your company a lot of money.

Dishonesty comes in many forms and can include simple fabrications such as a falling accident at work, which can then translate into a long-term sickness claim. Over the past 12 months there has been press coverage of filmed evidence of so-called paraplegics playing golf, relatives stealing from one another and even one ‘employee of the month’ working covertly for a competitor.

But it is not always an excuse to take extra holiday. Spurious claims are often made to hide the fact that the individual is taking casual paid employment elsewhere.

How do investigations work?
Investigators need to be subtle but persistent in their approach, to avoid upsetting honest employees.

With fast cars and hidden cameras, surveillance operatives are trained about court procedures and how to produce filmed exhibits. An effective surveillance exercise involves interchanging vehicles and pedestrian personnel to get a clear film of the subject.

Following any investigation the employer will receive a written report detailing every aspect witnessed, and the film corroborating this. Legally, the content cannot be disputed and the operatives cannot be accused of bias towards their client, since the camera does not lie. Such evidence is often used in court or at employment tribunals.

Stephen Hayes is an independent surveillance consultant at Quantum Enquiries and Surveillance