The Deed
“Hi, come on in! Make yourself at home” – this is a standard greeting that you have probably used countless times, showing your trust to those visiting your home. But despite the desire to be welcoming, inviting someone across the threshold of your doorway will always assume a certain level of respect and honesty. Unfortunately, that level of respect and honesty isn’t always displayed.
This lack of respect and honesty became a reality not too long ago when an employee (and friend) of mine discovered that two checks from his disabled daughter’s trust fund had been written and mysteriously cashed. He found himself reviewing the list of persons that he had allowed into his home, second guessing his decisions, regretting his friendliness, and he was unsure of who could be trusted. Because of his daughter’s disability, they had many nurses from various institutions in their home within the last month.
The Duty
Desperate for assistance, my colleague contacted his local enforcement agency, but due to a lack of evidence (and interest); he was left with no answers. Disappointed with that response, he contacted his bank expecting them to eagerly pursue the fraud; but to his dismay he received an almost dismissive response. The bank did reimburse the stolen funds, but they would not investigate, as the amount that was stolen wasn’t enough to make it worth their while; leaving him still stuck not knowing who had betrayed their trust. The organizations that he had anticipated would be the most cooperative in fact did nothing but leave him discouraged and without answers or recourse.
When he came into the office and filled me in, I gladly offered to help. Bosco is a family owned and operated business and we try to treat our employee’s like family. Anyone who knows us, knows not to mess with “the family”. I was hesitant to make any promises, because all we had to go off of was the canceled check and a phone number on the back of the check, which is pretty thin, but told him that I would do my best.
Utilizing several advanced investigative techniques, I was able to not only identify the person who had cashed the check, but I was also able to tie his friendship to one of the nurses who were known to have recently been at the residence through a Social Media Investigation. Additional investigation revealed that both of these individuals were unsavory characters and had been experiencing serious financial trouble. Therefore, the probability that this in-house nurse had co-conspired with the man who cashed the checks was undeniable. My employee finally had the closure he needed and was ready to remedy the situation.
The Dismissal
Not only did my employee receive overwhelmingly convincing evidence of who had broken his trust, but he received irrefutable documentation of the evidence as well. With his pride restored, armed with a compilation of credible metadata, documentation, and an expert report, he was able to dismiss this woman from her employment and expel her from his home immediately.
Additionally, due to the newfound evidence, local criminal lawyer rhalaw.com has gladly accepted the case and is pursuing criminal charges against both of the thieves with an enhancement of the charges due to his daughter being disabled.
In an unfortunate situation of betrayal, when conventional resources initially proved to be helpless, a Social Media Investigation helped uncover the evidence needed to solve the case.
As our expertise and exposure in Social Media Investigations has continued to grow, I’m reminded almost daily how SMI can help almost any case type. While the “bread and butter” cases we deal with most often revolve around personal injury cases, we have had enormous success in finding relevant content in defense law, employment and business disputes, defamation, insurance fraud, wrongful death, and now criminal.
For more information on SMI click here or to book a speaking engagement for your organization click here.
