Unintended consequences of bad law

Bad Law and Unintended Consequences

With the Government agreement with The Greens Party to hold a binding referendum on the legalisation of cannabis a robust debate on the topic is warranted.

Personally I am firmly against a policy change to legalise the drug. Why? Because it is harmful. There is a plethora of medical evidence available to show the active ingredient in cannabis, THC cannot be broken down and disposed of. Instead it accumulates in the fatty tissues of the body: ie the brain. Regular use causes lethargy and results in lack of motivation. Sprouting of communes in the Coromandel and Great Barrier Island among other places during the 1970’s and 80’s is testament to that.

My biggest fear with legalisation is that it would become bad law. Bad law is where unintended consequences occur. One such example is the legalisation of prostitution for over 18 year olds in 2004. I wonder if Parliament would have voted for legalisation if they foresaw the damage caused to neighbourhoods by street prostitution. Just ask business people in Hunters Corner who have to clean up used condoms and worse from their shop doorways most mornings.

One unintended consequence of the legalisation of cannabis is the harm caused to families who have a child with bi-polar. I know one such family in Denver, Colorado where possession and use of cannabis was legalised in 2012. Our dear family friends have rued the day their state legalised the substance.

They have a son I will call Kane who is on the bi-polar scale – between the moderate to serious end. He was 18 at the time they legalised cannabis. At that stage they were challenged by having to manage Kane’s mood swings and occasional violent outbursts. After he started using cannabis daily, his personality and behaviour deteriorated significantly to the extent they were left with no choice but to kick him out. He violently assaulted his mother many times and she lived in her own home in fear. Kane’s Dad arranged accommodation and employment for Kane in another state with a cousin. Today they have no contact with Kane – as much as they still love him and want to maintain a relationship with him.

Kane’s argument with his parents, who are anti-drugs and have a Christian faith is that if the state says using cannabis is OK then that is good enough for him, and should be for them also. It is hardly surprising that this couple do not allow cannabis to be used in their home, nor should they, despite what the state declares in legislation.

My question to the Colorado legislators is this; did you consider the plight of families who have a bi-polar teenager whose condition is exuberated by the use of cannabis? I think not.

These families have enough challenges in raising their child to be caring and contributing members of society without the state legislating bad law with unintended consequences. Let us not allow that to happen in New Zealand. Dave Pizzini 8/11/2017.

Animal instinct & quickest ever jury verdict

A few times in my career I’ve had a gut reaction to a situation.  On at least two occasions this reaction has certainly saved me from serious injury or even death.  I describe it as remarkable chemical reaction that has helped protect humans from imminent and serious danger for 80,000 years.  In today’s world in NZ it’s probably not needed very often.  However, it still lurks in our DNA waiting to drop adrenalin into your system in a nano second, ignore it at your peril. 

Whilst working with some outstanding Detectives, we were tasked with targeting a low level criminal.  It involved following him away from an address and completing a 3T turnover (stop & search) using the Misuse of Drugs Act.  My partner and I waited down the road from his accommodation for a period of time, before we got the word that he was driving away.  We followed him for a short distance and then used our lights and siren to request he park up on the side of the road.  I approached the driver, got him out of the car and spoke to him nearby.  He told me that he would get his driver’s licence from the car and moved towards the front driver’s door to retrieve it. 

This is when the animal instinct kicked in.  Something wasn’t right and I could feel the adrenalin being released into my blood stream.  No build up, no gentle release, just bang full on adrenalin coursing through my veins.  I reacted instantly grabbing the criminal and putting him in a restraining hold, in order to put the handcuffs on him.  He struggled somewhat but a well-practiced manoeuvre soon had him in cuffs.  I then searched the vehicle and within immediate reach of the front driver’s door I found a loaded sawn-off rifle.  That’s what the criminal was going for and his actions caused my instincts to overload me with the life-saving chemical of adrenalin.

Both the low level crim and his girlfriend denied any knowledge of the sawn-off and both were charged with possessing it.  His girlfriend pleaded guilty and got 6 months prison.  He pleaded not guilty and elected jury trial.  It was to be the very first trail for a defence lawyer, whom I’ll call David.  He did a pretty good job for the criminal but was faced with the criminal advising that anyone was allowed to drive his car and anyone could have left the sawn-off rifle in it.

Come the end of a one day hearing the jury were sent out to reach a verdict.  I walked back with the crown prosecutor to the crown room expecting to have to wait for at least an hour for the verdict.  As we got into the crown room the telephone was ringing.  It was the court registrar advising that we had a verdict.  I could hear puzzlement in the crown prosecutors voice as he asked “are you sure?”  We turned around and went back into the court room.  Not even 3 minutes had passed since we left it.  The jury returned a guilty verdict and the crim was sent away for a sentencing date.  (He got 9 months imprisonment). 

David our defence counsel looked crestfallen.  His first ever trial was over in the blink of an eye.  The shortest ever time for a jury verdict – 3 minutes.  I invited him to join me for a beer at the Shakespeare Inn for him to commiserate or in my case gloat a little.  

We duly arrived at the pub and whilst David shouted the beers (only fair after a loss like that) I went over to another table which most of the jury members were sitting around.  The foreman of the jury shook my hand and told me what had happened. 

It turned out that the jury had an arms dealer on it.  When they got back to the jury room the dealer picked up the rifle, check to see if it was unloaded and then said “this is only good for sticking in someone’s gut and pulling the trigger, what does everyone think.”  Each member of the jury said “he’s guilty” and then they spent the next minute debating whether they wanted to wait in the jury room with a cup of tea or go straight out for a beer.  The beer won, hence the quickest verdict I’ve ever been involved with.  

Occasional humour in dark times by Dave Pizzini

Every now and then police officers have a laugh at offender’s expense. One such occasion was during the Ambury Park gang rape investigation while I was a young detective based at Otahuhu. This crime made national headlines after the city Council granted the Mongrel Mob (MM) a license to hold a convention at the Park soon after denying the Scouts such a license.

Patched MM members from around the country converged on Ambury Park for a weekend. Another local gang wanted to attend the convention one night. To ensure their admission they abducted an 18 year old woman walking in a nearby street and took her with them to hand over to the MM. After surviving an all-night ordeal which included being urinated on and having petrol pored over her she contacted police who promptly dispatched a large team to the Park only to find everyone had left.

Police south of Auckland set up check points to intercept MM vehicles returning home. MM members were ‘turned over’ and photographed, including photos of their patches. Their vehicles were searched for cameras. Films from those cameras provided evidence that eventually convicted nine of the eleven charged. Leather gang patches are like fingerprints. They all have fold lines across them that make each unique. Photographs taken during the rapes showed various offender’s patches which were later forensically compared and matched with actual patches on jackets seized at arrest.   

Michael Te Whaiti was one of the first to be arrested and held in custody. He escaped from Mt Eden Prison. I was tasked with another detective to locate him and his brother Eddie who had been identified but not yet arrested. They came from Pirinoa in South Wairarapa. Masterton CIB provided us intelligence and manpower support.

We timed our raid on the Te Whaiti family home just before daybreak. Our plan was to surround the house under the cover of darkness. The house and out buildings were located down a long driveway. Unfortunately the gate was pad locked. They saw us coming. Michael and Eddie legged it out the back for the bush clad hills with me and my partner in hot pursuit. At the same time we were being chased by a couple of wild horses. I didn’t relish the thought of spending the rest of the day searching the bush for them, even if we survived a possible attack from the horses.

After some quick thinking I yelled out to them; “Stop NOW - or we’ll set the dogs onto you”. With that they promptly stopped and raised their hands. My colleague and I handcuffed and walked them back to the vehicles. As we approached the convoy Eddie asked me; “Hey Boss, where’s the dog van?” I replied; “In Upper Hutt”. The look on their faces was priceless.

After a long day and while enjoying a beer we had a few laughs at their expense.

Edward and Michael were found guilty along with their brother Ben and six others. Michael was sentenced to 7 years six months and the other two to 7 years imprisonment. Edward and Ben had their sentences increased to 10 years after the Crown appealed. Had minimum parole periods applied at the time they would have served significantly longer sentences.   

Are lies as good as a confession in criminal cases

Every detective loves a good confession.  On one such occasion I took Detective Inspector Steve Rutherford with me on an early morning search warrant.  We both knew the target and Steve asked me what I thought his reaction would be to our visit.  I told Steve that I thought he would confess his crimes to me.

When we arrived at the address the target came to the front door and asked why we had both turned up.  I replied, “When Steve Rutherford and I turn up on your doorstop at 6am with a search warrant, your day is probably not going to end well!”

We were invited inside this typical South Auckland home and I went through the formalities of persons under search warrants including outlining our reasons for the search.  I followed it up with a simple question – “Did you do it?”  The target replied “I’ve got too much respect for you to lie, yes I did”. 

It was almost a ‘fair cop guv’ type of answer and proved me right in my assessment of the target.  But what happens when the crook lies?  In my experience lies from a criminal are better than a confession, particularly when they are played out in front of a jury.

For a starter, with confessions the defence case becomes focussed on muddying the waters by playing the man and not the ball.  This often means defence attack the detective’s credibility trying to portray the criminal as a victim of the nasty policeman, thus confessing.  Secondly, with confessions detectives place reliance on them and if they are later ruled inadmissible it can dent the crown case.  Lastly confessions often become a factor in appeals after the criminal’s conviction. 

I loved it when the criminal would think he was much smarter than he actually was, and tell lies.  The thing about lies is that they have a way of unravelling, particularly when challenged in court by corroborated evidence.  On one such occasion I arrested a drug dealer after finding drugs in a brief case which found in a garage on his property. At interview, the drug dealer denied the brief case was his and furthermore advised the garage was used by a wide variety of people as a doss house for indigent relatives.  Ergo the briefcase (and drugs it contained) could belong to anyone. 

There was an inconvenient truth that he had not remembered, the briefcase also contained a diary which contained notations relating to his brother’s death and unveiling and the birthdays of his children.  At a jury trial he maintained his innocence and had to give evidence to back up his assertion that the briefcase was not his.  

After his evidence in chief the crown prosecutor asked him to view the diary and he swore again that he had never seen it before in his life.  He was asked “did you have a brother Peter, who died?”  “Yes”, he replied.  “On what date did he die?”  “20th April came the reply….” “A year later did you have an unveiling for Peter?” the crown asked.  “Yes” was the reply.  “Please open the diary and turn to the date of 20 April, he was asked.  “What is the notation in the diary?”  “Please read it out loud so the jury can hear it”.  You could see the sweat forming on this man’s brow at 50 paces.  The criminal read from the diary “Peter’s unveiling held at ...”.  The crown went onto cross examine this bright spark about the names and dates of birth for his three children.  The diary had all three children’s names and dates of birth noted on correct dates.   These and other facts in the diary related to this criminal, led to his being found guilty by the jury.

Such lies when proven to be so by corroborated evidence are better than a confession.  They are never attacked by defence counsel who are normally too embarrassed about their client’s idiocy to raise concerns.   An accused person’s lies make them look silly and with something to hide.  Lastly they always provide plenty of anticipatory mirth by detectives who know what’s coming when the lie unravels before the jury.  Juries don’t let themselves look stupid by accepting the lies either. 

In my opinion, a criminal’s lies are better than a confession and undoubtedly lead to more convictions at trials than often challenged confessions.    

Mark of a good mentor - by Dave Pizzini

The Mark of a Good Mentor

One of my mentors as a budding young detective was my first Detective Senior Sergeant; the late John Hughes. He became a household name in 1989 as the officer who led Operation Stockholm, the investigation into the disappearance and murders of Swedish backpackers Heidi Paakkonen and Urban Hoglin. Two things he taught me were; “if you do the basics and do them well you will get the right result” and “ATD – Attention to Detail”.

One case where these principles served me well was the investigation into the abduction and rape of a young women taken from her bed in a Papatoetoe street during the early hours of a Sunday morning. Both the victim and her boyfriend were assaulted, gagged and tied up, and she was driven away by the two assailants to a beach at Weymouth. The offenders discussed the disposal of her body. Thankfully the victim was able to escape. Her car was found burnt out next to an alleyway in Manurewa. Accelerants were used.

The enquiry was set up under homicide investigation protocols. My team was called in a few days later. We were assigned “General Enquiries”. Evidence gathered during the first 24 hours of such an investigation forms the basis of further enquiry phases. One area of focus for us was a party on the night of the abduction in the same street; and another was collecting CCTV footage of small purchases of petrol from local service stations.

While my team pursued those phases I sought to review the crime scene evidence to see what other phases should be considered. Paper work for the abduction scene examination had not been submitted, so I asked the detective concerned whether he found anything of interest. He opened his desk drawer, pulled out an envelope and showed me the head of a men’s watch found on the victim’s bedroom floor. He said it did not belong to the Victim’s partner. Nothing else of interest was found, so I was told.

I arranged access to the house and completed my own scene examination. In the garden under the window used by the offenders to gain entry I found several remnants of Steinlager labels and cigarette butts. Inside I crawled under the bed and found two pins; the sort that connects the head of a watch to its strap.  

By this time my team had interviewed the party hosts. They reported two gate-crashers who drank Steinlager and caused trouble. One guest commented about their habit of peeling off labels. We got a lucky break. The gate-crashers were shown in photographs taken by guests.

Our enquiries at a service station also produced fruit. We had CCTV footage of a man buying a tin of petrol at right time who bore a remarkable resemblance to one of the party gate-crashers and his clothing. Further enquiries identified this person and his mate.

We executed search warrants on their homes. I was in charge of searching one of our suspect’s home located 50 metres from the other end of the alleyway where the victim’s car was found. While the team were searching and interviewing family members I flicked through the family photograph album in the lounge. In it were photographs taken of the suspect’s father displaying watches he bought as gifts for his sons at a street market in Glasgow while visiting his mother for her 80th birthday. 

I later met the suspect’s father who made a statement identifying the watch as one he gave his son upon returning from his trip to Scotland. He was a decent and honourable man knowing the significance of his testimony.

Both offenders pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and received minimum non-parole sentences of 11 and 13 years imprisonment. By doing so they spared victim the ordeal of testifying.

Criminal investigations and trials are often referred to as jig saw puzzles. It is the task of detectives to find the pieces for a jury to later fit together. This can only be achieved by doing the basics, such as examining scenes and doing those basic enquiry phases well. More often than not this is painstaking and meticulous work. In the end our evidence was so over whelming a jury was not required. Nor was DNA analysis of the cigarette butts.

There were many times during my career that I reflected on the mentoring advice I received from John Hughes and others of his generation. They taught us well in the art and practice of investigating serious crime. My hope is that I was able to pass on similar wise counsel to the next generation of investigators.

Dave Pizzini   

Sensing murder and direct line to heaven

Sensing murder or dead set useless….. (direct line to heaven)

There will always be people in society who want to believe in psychics. No amount of rational discussion, facts or other evidence will change their minds.  I’ve learnt over the years to appreciate and embrace the differences that a diverse population brings to us all.   

Last week the NZ Herald led with an article about a television programme - Sensing Murder.  The essence of the article was that the programme had run 39 times and never found a useful piece of evidence. 

Over the years in police I have been involved in many homicide investigations.  As an investigative tool, psychics are dead set useless.  From a personal perspective, I found this programme to be overly dramatized and very boring.

As Officer in Charge of various homicides my name would be in the media frequently.  As a result I would regularly receive letters from a number of different psychics who would profess to know where the bodies were buried or a location that had compelling evidence to help solve the case.

One such psychic contacted me quite regularly by post.  I would never give these people oxygen by replying to them.  During one such investigation the psychic wrote to me about the murder and provided some guidance to solving it.  Of course it was nonsense and the ideas from the psychic had nothing whatsoever to do with the evidence or any facts related to the investigation.   What was of more interest was that the psychic had been in touch with my mother – on the other side.  My mother apparently wanted me to know that she was fine and looking out for me and my brother. 

On this occasion I was tempted to reply and let the psychic know that if I wanted to get in touch with my mother, I would just pick up the phone and speak to her.  And no I didn’t have a direct line to heaven.  Common sense prevailed and this letter, along with the many others I had received over my career, all went the same way.

Mental Health and Preventative Policing

Mental health and prevention

In our Westminster system of governance and law, police are bound to prevent crime (and if that fails), investigate and prosecute offences.  The prevention of crime is a fundamental part of policing which goes all the way back to Sir Robert Peel in 1829.

Sir Robert Peel's   Principles of Law Enforcement 1829

1.The basic mission for which police exist is to prevent crime and disorder as an alternative to the repression of crime and disorder by military force and severity of legal punishment.

Policing is the only 24/7 social agency prepared to deal with anything it encounters. How does a modern-day police officer cope with persons who are mentally unwell but not committing any offences (yet). The following are actual events which took place a few years ago in South Auckland and highlights issues faced by police then and now, particularly with prevention in mind.

Night shift, winter and called to deal with a domestic incident in a residential address.  A 20 something heavily built man was living with his grandmother as his parents could not cope with him.  The reason his parents couldn’t cope were many, but included schizophrenia brought on by drug and alcohol abuse.  By all accounts he was a gentle person when sober.  This particular night he wasn’t either.  His grandmother was afraid of him.  He was exhibiting unusual behaviour which bordered on being aggressive. 

I had called mental health services, who refused to attend as he was under the influence of drugs. Other agencies weren't interested.  No one including parents and friends would take him in for the night.  They knew his history for assaulting people when in this state.  His behaviour hadn’t stepped over the mark into anything criminal.  He starred at his grandmother and used aggressive language towards her.  Grandma was scared and didn’t want him in the house overnight.  He was refusing to leave as it was his home.  What would you do? 

Front line policing is all about managing risks. Whilst in his dwelling, his language was insufficient to enact Summary Offences Act 1981 (SOA) as we were not in or within hearing of a public place. I got him to turn his attentions to me and made a couple of remarks which wound him up a little.  He became fixated on me and followed me out onto the road.  He was now in a public place and subject to the SOA language provisions which I promptly arrested him for.  He needed care and attention that night, as did his grandmother.

The following day, mental health services were called and did attend as he was no longer under the influence of drugs.  This young man then got the treatment he needed.  I knew full well that there were risks in using this strategy, but when societies mental health services refuse to deal with this, there is little choice for frontline officers.  

Until society takes a more open, pragmatic, preventative approach to mental health issues, situations like this will continue to occur around NZ.  It is a health issue that no-one wants to deal with so police have to by default, as they must do everything in their powers to prevent offending. 

Thanks to Tim Marshall and Unsplash for the photo

Americas Cup '95 & Dave Pizzini (Part ll)

Reflections on San Diego 1994/95 – Part Two

Last week I reflected on my time with TNZ as a security specialist in San Diego. In this item I will comment on some of the security aspects. In any challenge for the America’s Cup security is an important component. It is well documented that some syndicates have engaged in espionage tactics to gain an advantage by finding out rival’s technology innovations. We all remember images of boats being lifted from the water with skirts to prevent prying eyes seeing the underwater appendages. During 1991 challenge TNZ shore crew caught red handed an ex-navy seal diver hired by a rival syndicate photographing the keel. He was hauled from the water, relieved of his camera and some summary justice ensued. What resulted was protracted and expensive civil litigation in the California Courts.

Sir Peter Blake hired a security consultant to complete a risk analysis and recruit two off duty New Zealand Police Officers. We were part of the first tranche of TNZ members to arrive to set up base for the arrival of NZL32 and 38. TNZ leased a boat builder’s yard and workshop in Point Loma. We spent our first week undertaking a reconnaissance, purchasing and installing equipment and materials to ensure the compound was fit for purpose and secure. Sir Peter provided us security parameters and bottom lines and he approved our plans prior to installation. We maintained a presence at the base six nights each week and members of the sailing team were rostered to cover our night off. We worked a week about roster of six hour late shifts and 7 hour night shifts.

Before the challenger series started and between round robins the team were busy with two boat testing trials. I was often asked to make up the numbers on deck; usually in a grinding position. Having no previous sailing experience this was a real learning curve for me. The power and speed of NZL 32 and 38 in the light San Diego breezes was hugely impressive. What also impressed me was the teamwork and skill of the sailors and the on board leadership of Russell Coutts, Ed Baird, Brad Butterworth and Murray Jones.

We had no serious security breaches to deal with. Only the occasional minor one like nosy Kiwi fans peering over the perimeter fence.

Off duty we enjoyed the region and the mild winter climate. On the rare occasion the sailing team had a day off one of their favourite activities was golf. I sometimes made up a four with Russell, Brad and Ed; all mad keen golfers and very competitive! We were spoilt for choice with golf courses in the area. The nearby flood lit 9 hole course came in handy for the occasional hit after a hard day on the water.

While on duty we interacted closely with most of the team. Without exception I was struck by the commitment, determination and single-minded focus to win. The team worked incredibly long hours with few days off. For example, the sailing team started every day with aerobic fitness circuit training before we finished our nightshifts. They never left the compound until all the sailing equipment was checked and cleaned; minimum 12 hour work days. Another thing they were good at was celebrating success. We consumed the sponsor’s product during end of round robin parties, then everyone was back to hard work the next day.

This campaign was an experience I will always treasure. I learnt much from our fellow team members about leadership, teamwork, dedication and commitment, and having a winning focus. These are the qualities seen in many other NZ teams including Emirate’s TNZ in Bermuda and these are the qualities that set New Zealand teams apart on the world sporting stage.

Dave Pizzini, Director: VI     

Americas Cup '95 & Dave Pizzini

Reflections on San Diego ‘94/95

As New Zealanders celebrated the home coming of the America’s Cup these last two weeks I reminisced on Team New Zealand’s (TNZ) victory in the 1994/95 campaign. I was one of two New Zealand police officers recruited by Sir Peter Blake to look after security at the team compound in Point Loma. This week I will discuss the points of difference that I think contributed to that famous win against the odds. In my next blog I will discuss some aspects of the security operation at Point Loma.

Every winning team in any endeavour needs a good leader to steer the course. That leader in San Diego was Sir Peter Blake. Like Grant Dalton, Sir Peter secured sponsorship to fund the campaign. “The Family of Five” contributed the $35M budget, a fraction of the budgets of our competitors. Sir Peter oversaw expenditure by personally authorising every invoice over $100US. His criteria was: ‘will this make the boat go faster?’ If the answer was yes, it was approved; if no, the money wasn’t spent. Sir Peter commanded so much respect that every team member was prepared to go the extra mile for him. We avoided hiring local contractors because all works for setting up our compound was completed by skilled Team NZ members; builders, electricians, engineers etc. Every team member mucked in which only contributed to the team spirit.

Team loyalty was another important factor. The vast majority of the team were New Zealanders and the few foreign nationals were personally known by senior team members. There was heightened sensitivity over design innovation intellectual property and the collective loyalty and trust within the team safe guarded that.  

Sir Peter established a flat organisational structure. The syndicate was made up of seven teams. Each team leader reported directly to Sir Peter. This meant he heard of any issues as they arose and was able to nip them in the bud.  He was also one of the 17 crew members on race days which also helped with the two way communication within the structure. One issue that arose during the two boat testing phase was friction between the design team and boat builders. An optimal winged keel configuration remained constant on one boat, while the keel configuration of the other was changed every night and performance data collected on the water was analysed for performance and speed gains. Some configuration changes took most of the night to complete and the boat builders worked long arduous hours and things got a bit testy. Sir Peter learnt of this early on and he quickly resolved it by meeting with both team leaders. His mantra being: ‘We’ve come here to win the cup – let’s keep our focus on that together’.

Like Bermuda we were the last syndicate to arrive in San Diego. When we arrived there was a deliberate strategy to spread a rumour that our boats were “dogs” in terms of speed. Funny thing was most other syndicates heard this rumour and believed it. This kept us under the radar, including that of the media.

One major point of difference for TNZ was the support we received from home. It was often said that we were a team of four million. The Red Socks campaign was another clever idea from our leader. As the campaign progressed our mail bag bulged to the extend we ran out of wall space to display the messages of support. This really buoyed the team along and focused our minds on being the cup home.

PJ Montgomery’s call “The America’s Cup is now New Zealand’s Cup” on the 10th of May 1995 will forever remained engraved in the memories of Kiwi sports fans. Like Bermuda, this was another chapter in our rich history of punching above our weight in world sports. Long may that continue!

Ethics and the last shower

Ethics and the last shower

A few weeks ago Veritas Investigations Ltd received a website based enquiry regarding a background check on a celebrity.  This was followed up with an email to the sender, requesting contact details so that we could know our customer and understand their requirements. The details of the email exchanges are below for those interested.

There is an ethical duty as an investigator to know your customer to ensure their requirements are sound and with the right motivations.  After requesting contact details including a phone number the enquirer replied that they didn’t have a phone number and wanted to do business via emails only.

At this point it was clear that we could not establish the who the client was nor their motives for this request.  Ultimately this made our decision very easy to not take the matter further. 

Of course being investigators we were curious as to who would make contact in this manner using a blatantly false ruse that they did not possess a phone with which to make contact.  Using investigative skills assisted by some IT knowledge I have tracked the initiator of this enquiry to an Auckland inner city address which has a business listed there.  The business name is not far away from being an anagram of the email address.    

In our estimation the enquiry came from a bored teen or business rival testing our ethics.  Either way Dave and I did not come down in the last shower.  It would be interesting to know if any of the readers of this blog know who this person is and their motives.  If so please respond to the email address: Info@veritas.nz in complete confidence of course

Name: West ***

Email Address: west***04@########

Subject: Background check

Discretion: In the interest of your security please tell us the best time and contact details to receive a phone call: I need a background check done on a celebrity can you help?

__________________________________________________________________________________

"richard" <richard@veritas.nz> wrote:

Hi Max.  

If you give me your phone number and the best time to contact tomorrow I'll give you a call to discuss this. 

Richard

Director Veritas Investigations

0223967869

https://Veritas.nz/

From: West
Sent: Wednesday, 10:20 PM
To: richard
Subject: Re: Query- back ground check

Don't have a phone sorry and don't got a landline email is fine though if that's fine with you?