Private Investigator In Sunderland Tackles Employee Dishonesty

Posted 10:19 6 November 2015

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Our private investigator in Sunderland has been deploying vehicle tracking devices. Why? You ask. Well, let me tell you.

The austerity measures have hit the whole country hard, especially in the North East of England. Our private investigator in Sunderland received a call from the senior manager of a Human Resources team of a well-known local business. She wanted to know how we could help her prove that an employee, who had been with the company for a long time had started to exaggerate his mileage expense claims. It was also thought that he was also spending time when he should be working, at his girlfriend’s house.
Our private investigator in Sunderland offered two choices:

  1. A private investigator could spend 2-3 days following the employee in a car/van. The investigator would note down the locations and timings of stops made by the target vehicle and back this up with video/photographic evidence.
  2. The private investigator could place a hidden hi-tech tracking device on the vehicle. This option could also lower insurance premiums and help recover a vehicle if it is stolen.

Needless to say, the Human Resources manager chose the second option. This meant that for a one off price, the employer could monitor the movement of the vehicle over the course of a week.
The target vehicle was parked in the company premises overnight. After the business had closed for the day, our investigator turned up to hide the vehicle tracking device on the vehicle. After the week was up the investigator returned to remove the vehicle tracking device from the vehicle.
The evidence received showed that the employee had not been at his girlfriend’s house over the weekend. He had however added an extra 90 miles to his expenses claim. The very generous mileage allowance paid by the company meant that the employee had claimed an extra £40.50 in that months wage. If he did that every month it meant the company was losing £486 per year, just from that one employee.
The evidence gathered was used in a disciplinary hearing and when confronted the employee handed in his notice. The employer was so impressed with the quality of the service provided by Alpha 1 Legal Services, that they have decided to engage our private investigator in Sunderland to do regular spot checks on all of their drivers.
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