Investigative Services
Surveillance/Sub Rosa
All of our surveillance agents are experienced and fully-equipped to conduct discrete video surveillance, both stationary and moving. If appropriate, subject's address can be confirmed before surveillance is scheduled and a pre-surveillance site survey can be conducted to determine the most discrete surveillance positions, subject's probable travel routes and whether or not more than one surveillance agent will be required to cover all possible exits the subject could take.
Once the surveillance is completed, client will be provided a detailed written report as well as video in the client's preferred media format. There is no extra charge for after-hours or weekend investigations.
Asset Searches
Owens & Associates Investigations can search for bank or brokerage accounts for an individual or a business entity but, in order to conduct these searches, we must have a copy of the judgment against the defendant, as well as the defendant’s federal tax identification number. Some of the other most common asset searches we conduct are for real property and business ownership.
All of our asset searches are compliant with the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Federal Graham-Leach-Bliley Act and the CA Financial Information Privacy Act.
Due Diligence/Background Investigations
It is important to understand that, since no two people or companies have the same background, what is appropriate in an investigation will vary with each situation. Prepackaged investigations for a flat fee simply cannot provide the flexibility necessary to conduct a thorough investigation.
There are, however, certain types of information most commonly used for due diligence and background investigations and there are two different methods normally used to access that information: onsite searches and computer searches.
When conducting employment-related investigations, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires, among other things, that the most current information available be used. That means that, in most counties, onsite searches have to be used instead of database searches. Owens & Associates Investigations has associates in every county in the nation to conduct onsite searches, thereby eliminating the need to pay an investigator to travel.
Locates
Whether locating witnesses, missing persons or long lost loved ones, the techniques are the same. We generally start with searching public record computer databases but, in those instances where the person we are trying to locate is not leaving the normal paper trail that most of us leave, we have investigators onsite in every county in the nation to conduct on-the-street investigation.
Subpoena Service
Most of our clients ask us to serve subpoenas on subjects that have evaded service attempts by attorney service firms that charge a flat rate per attempt or by local law enforcement. We normally conduct appropriate investigation to confirm subject's current residence or business address then conduct surveillance and serve the subject as they leave or arrive at one of those locations.
Fraud Investigations
We specialize in the investigation of white collar fraud, including internal theft and embezzlement, bank fraud, fraud against the government and hidden assets.
Forensic Accounting
Forensic Accounting, simply put, is accounting that is suitable for legal review and that offers the highest level of assurance that the quality of the analysis will be sustainable in an adversarial legal proceeding. Forensic accounting is focused on detecting evidence of economic transactions in an accounting system that establishes accountability or valuation.
OAI’s Forensic Accountant Associates have the requisite educational background, as well as years of training and experience obtained in law enforcement.
Corporate Security and Executive Protection
Whether the concern is human resources (pre-employment background investigations, violence in the workplace or kidnapping), illegal financial acts (theft or embezzlement) or threats to physical assets (terrorism), our world-wide network of former law enforcement officers can provide the relevant expertise needed.
Computer Forensics
Recovery of electronically-stored information has become a necessary tool in our technology-driven world and our law-enforcement trained technicians have the expertise to find, interpret and present the facts clearly in written reports or in oral testimony.
Environmental Investigations
Environmental investigations involve obtaining information on manufacturing and waste disposal practices, developing a detailed history or property uses and ownership, acquiring and analyzing information from appropriate regulatory agencies, locating and interviewing individuals with direct knowledge of the site’s operations, identifying potentially responsible parties and assisting in site selection in multiple-site cases.
Polygraph
Interview technique and structuring proper questions are as important to the success of a polygraph examination as the quality of the equipment used and the ability to use it. Owens & Associates Investigations’ polygraph examiners have both the law enforcement experience and the most recent polygraph equipment available to ensure the highest probability of success.
Fingerprinting
Getting the cooperation of the subject whose fingerprints are being taken is critical to the fingerprinting process. Owens & Associates Investigations’ fingerprint examiners have both the law enforcement training to take and examine the prints, as well as the interviewing expertise to get the cooperation of the subject being printed.
Public Record Searches
There are two methods of searching public records: computer databases and sending an investigator to the courts or agencies that maintain the records to conduct the research onsite. Owens & Associates Investigations provides both methods of searching by subscribing to numerous public record vendors that provide information that is not available to the general public and by having investigators in every county in the nation to conduct onsite searches when the information needed is not available by computer.
Examples of Commonly Used Database Searches
- Bankruptcies, Liens and Judgments
- Business Affiliations
- Company Profiles
- Consumer & Commercial Credit Reports
- Corporate Filings
- DMV Records
- Dun & Bradstreet/Standard & Poor's
- History of Names and Addresses Used
- Identification of Email Addresses
- Media Search
- Professional Licenses
- Real Property Ownership
- Social Network Media
- UCC Filings
Examples of Commonly Used Onsite Searches
- Criminal Convictions
- Civil Litigation
- Real Property Ownership
- Marriage Records
- Divorce Records
- Death Records
