Law firms linked to convicted PIs

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 31 Juli 2013 | 15.36

31 July 2013 Last updated at 03:32 ET

Twenty-two law firms used private investigators convicted of illegally obtaining information, MPs have said.

Celebrities, eight financial services firms and 10 insurance companies were also identified as clients of the private investigators by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

The four investigators concerned were given jail sentences last year.

The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) has refused to name the rogue operators' clients.

Private data

The private investigators specialised in illegally obtaining private information from organisations like banks, utility companies and HM Revenue and Customs.

Because Soca says the list of clients is confidential, the committee has not named them but instead breaks it down by business sector.

The list suggested that private investigators often subcontract work to each other - 16 clients were other private investigation agencies.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: "The committee remains concerned that it holds a list that Soca has classified as secret, even though it is evidence given as part of our inquiry."

But the Labour MP added: "This is an important step forward in establishing the facts."

Computers seized

The list summarises clients identified by Operation Millipede, which led to the convictions of Philip Campbell-Smith and Graham Freeman who ran an agency called Brookmans International, and retired Metropolitan Police detective Adam Spears who worked alone.

A fourth defendant, Daniel Summers, was subcontracted by the others to carry out the so-called blagging of private information.

Soca seized computers during raids on the private investigators in 2009.

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The committee remains concerned that it holds a list that Soca has classified as secret, even though it is evidence given as part of our inquiry"

End Quote Keith Vaz Home Affairs Select Committee chairman

Evidence from these machines is now being used in another police investigation, Operation Tuleta, which is examining the illegal accessing of private information by journalists and companies.

Soca has refused to name the clients in the Millipede case because it said that could disrupt the ongoing Tuleta inquiry.

The Metropolitan Police said it would not support the naming of suspects in such circumstances.

Soca also maintained there was no proof the clients acted illegally.

BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds said proving that the clients commissioned work knowing it would breach the data protection act - the most likely charge they might face - could be difficult.

One of the clients, a solicitor, told the BBC she hired Brookmans International to track down a fraudster but insisted she did not break the law.

She said she put in writing her request to the private detectives that they do not do anything illegal.

Vital work

Much of the work of private investigators involves finding out where fraudsters have hidden stolen money or tracking down people who owe money so that civil litigation can begin.

Another law firm which uses private investigators said such work was vital because often police will not go after fraudsters.

The client categories published by the committee does not appear to contain media companies.

Our correspondent said critics of Soca argued it had failed to act on the corporate use of private investigators, while journalists who allegedly obtained private information by the breaking the law were subjected to several major police investigations.

The Millipede case is not one of the five detailed in a widely leaked report compiled by Soca in 2008 which warned of the risk of rogue private investigators.

The report was an analysis of cases that all reached their conclusion before it was written.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Theresa May is shortly expected to announce proposals that will require private detectives to have a licence to operate, barring anyone found guilty of hacking or blagging - obtaining information by using a false identity.

The Met Police said it supported the "strong regulation of the private investigation industry and a system that allows for a client to perform due diligence checks on the individual or company they wish to hire".


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