Detective Blog of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum
Bochum Detectives Uncover Unauthorised Secondary Employment
In the repeatedly recurring periods of economic crises, rising rents and general increases in the cost of living, but also due to purely personal problems such as maintenance obligations and loan debts or for less noble motives such as sheer greed, many employees feel compelled or tempted to take up a second job alongside their primary employment. In many cases, two jobs can be reconciled with one another; however, there are likewise countless constellations in which the secondary job is either prohibited under collective bargaining law or by the employment contract (for example by a non-competition clause) or in which the additional working hours impair the employee in their main occupation by making them tired and unfocused. If a company’s management requires evidence admissible in court as to whether an employee is pursuing a prohibited secondary activity or not, it brings its suspicion to Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum, which addresses the clarification of this suspicion by means of various investigative methods.
If, for example, an employee of a photography shop uses the skills acquired there (and perhaps even company-owned photographic equipment) at weekends by working as a self-employed wedding, birth or party photographer, this activity may run counter to their employment contract. Employers ultimately wish to prevent their own employees from becoming competitors and taking on assignments that could have been carried out by the employing company itself. If the employment contract contains a non-competition clause or even a post-contractual non-competition agreement and this is violated, the employee faces not only a formal warning but even summary dismissal. Our private detectives from Bochum undertake the gathering of evidence: +49 234 3075 0073.
What Legal Bases Exist For Secondary Employment?
Even in cases in which a secondary activity is neither excluded by the employment contract nor by a collective agreement, there are important basic requirements that must be complied with when exercising a second job. For example, most employers wish to be informed about the commencement of an additional job or even to be asked for permission; this becomes legally binding as soon as the two activities collide with one another or as soon as such a collision is foreseeable. Furthermore, the legally prescribed working hours of a maximum of 8 hours per day – or 10 in exceptional cases – must not be exceeded; in addition, the employee must have at least eleven hours of rest from the end of work until the start of work on the following day, otherwise the second contract becomes void and must be terminated at the insistence of the primary employer. Of course, a secondary activity must also be registered with the tax office, otherwise heavy fines or even criminal prosecution may be imposed.
The investigators of our corporate investigation agency in Bochum have already encountered countless gradations of disregard for these legal principles, often in conjunction with a certain degree of audacity, all of which had the aim of channelling money into one’s own pocket as undisturbed as possible by the tax authorities, employers and often also maintenance creditors or recipients.
Secondary Employment During Holiday Periods
Employees occasionally cover the still necessary additional income with a mini-job of currently up to 450 euros, provided that the weekly working hours and the employment contract of the primary employment relationship permit this. If the employee is on holiday from their primary job, employment law permits additional gainful activity during this holiday period as well, provided that it is not a full-time position, since otherwise the conditions for the recuperative holiday phase would not be met.
Secondary Employment During Incapacity For Work / Sick Leave
While secondary employment during holidays may therefore be permissible under certain circumstances, the employee must under no circumstances work for another employer during a period of sick leave. If an illness is feigned or if the employee fails to comply with their duty to behave in a manner conducive to recovery, this is, as a rule, sufficient grounds for summary dismissal. Our corporate investigators from Bochum have various options at their disposal to uncover such misconduct under employment law: infiltration of the secondary business, creation of legends, for example as an alleged customer, and – most frequently – surveillance of the employee during the period of sick leave.
Establishing Evidence Admissible In Court For Affected Companies
If an employee repeatedly returns to work exhausted and stressed after holidays and weekends, this does not necessarily mean that a second job exists, but it is an indicator which, particularly in combination with other factors such as corresponding information from the workforce or declining work performance, substantiates a suspicion. If, for example, a bank employee pursues another activity as a pizza delivery driver, taxi driver or nightclub bouncer after their regular working hours, fatigue as well as the resulting lack of concentration and inaccuracies in the daytime work can hardly be concealed permanently. Even if the employment contract of the bank clerk in question theoretically permits secondary employment, they must ensure that they fulfil their duties in both employments equally, so that neither of the two employment relationships suffers as a result. A warning is of only limited help here, because, according to the experience of our private detective agency in Bochum, far too many employees exploit the patience and generosity of their superiors without a guilty conscience and simply continue their secondary activities covertly after a warning.
Extreme, but by no means rare, cases include, as already indicated, feigned illnesses, in which the employee suggests incapacity for work with a sick note obtained by false statements or even forged, yet pursues their secondary employment during the sick leave period in order to collect twice: both the continued payment of wages from one employer and the regular salary from the second job. Such behaviour can hardly be escalated further than by secondary employment with a direct competitor, whereby the company of the primary employment is damaged not only financially but additionally by the illegal disclosure of sensitive internal data. In such cases, too, our Bochum detectives are usually able to obtain evidence admissible in court against the disloyal employees and thus provide affected employers with the means to assert claims for damages and other further consequences (whether through court proceedings or an out-of-court settlement (see also our article on the subject of notarised acknowledgement of debt)).
The evidence obtained is recorded by our detectives in a written investigation report admissible in court; in addition, we document relevant events photographically in compliance with the applicable data protection regulations.
Are You Affected? Our Detective Agency From Bochum Is At Your Service Day And Night – Nationwide And Worldwide
If you have a substantiated suspicion in your company that an employee is pursuing an unauthorised secondary employment or that their second job is negatively affecting the quality of their work, do not hesitate to contact our detective agency in Bochum. By observing the employee in question, our investigators establish whether the employee is in fact violating their employment or collective agreement and thereby causing potentially significant damage to your company. For questions and concerns, please contact our IHK-certified specialist detectives on the following number: +49 234 3075 0073.
Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD
Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum
Kohlenstraße 55
44795 Bochum
Tel.: +49 234 3075 0073
E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bochum.de
02
Jan
Detectives Investigate Illegal Uploaders and Users of Private Photos and Videos
Time and again, one reads in the relevant tabloid magazines about the online distribution of hacked private photos (leaks) of well-known film, television or music personalities, which attract great interest due to their fame. Even when quick action is taken regarding public figures, the damage is usually already done by the time the breach is discovered: websites providing and distributing these images are legally warned by attorneys and remove the photos if the owners can be reached for legal action, yet, as the saying goes, the Internet never forgets; an American star, for example, will have difficulty having their private photos removed from a website based in the Middle East without an imprint.
For private individuals not in the media spotlight, major problems also arise regarding the misuse of their images. The greater difficulty here lies in discovering the platforms distributing them, as no daily newspaper will inform them of the publication. Whether it is an ex-partner posting nude photos of a former partner on social networks or pornographic sites out of revenge, or personal holiday photos suddenly used as advertising on travel portals: the right to one’s own image (§ 22 KunstUrhG) is a protectable right, which the private detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum also defend.
Globalisation as a Challenge for Copyright
Global connectivity has long become a problem for data protection, as people often feel anonymous online and act far more extremely than in everyday life. Publishing photos of a topless ex-girlfriend may seem like a “fun” act of revenge to some, but it is by no means trivial; according to § 201a BGB, it is a criminal offence: “(1) Whoever knowingly makes an authorised image recording available to a third party without consent, thereby violating the highly personal sphere of the person depicted, shall be punished by imprisonment of up to two years or a fine.” Our detectives in Bochum repeatedly investigate cases in which women are publicly exposed online by former partners, leading to major personal damage: reputation and employment suffer, shame and fear of reactions from family, friends, and colleagues affect daily life, and a feeling of insecurity governs interactions with others.
Victims (almost always women) contact the private and corporate detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum (+49 234 3075 0073), hoping to remove the images and have the perpetrators prosecuted. With personal resources alone, little can be achieved in such cases.
An Uncountable Dark Figure
It is also alarming that only very few of those affected even become aware that their photos are circulating on the World Wide Web. How great would the coincidence have to be for the affected person to open precisely the one pornographic website on which her images, uploaded by her ex-partner, appear, if she had not been informed of this in some way? Our private detectives from Bochum assume a very high number of unreported cases of illegally distributed images.
If the victim is aware of the image theft or misuse, or at least harbours a suspicion, the detectives of the Kurtz Private Detective Agency Bochum become active: working closely with our IT specialists, we identify the distribution channels and – where possible – the IP addresses of the uploaders, in order to prove the direct involvement of specific individuals, for example the ex-partner’s best friend or a colleague, etc. The fact that the photographs were intended only for the former couple significantly narrows down the circle of perpetrators, apart of course from cases in which, as described above with celebrities, photos are hacked from a computer and disseminated by uninvolved third parties.
Nude images and videos that find their way into the public domain without authorisation; unknown men masturbating to illegally distributed images of private individuals – for almost every woman a horrific idea, and for some even traumatic.
Other Forms of Unauthorised Dissemination of Images
Of course, there are also other cases of unlawfully distributed private photos beyond those described above. Particularly through the disclosure of the most personal details on social networks and the public sharing of holiday photographs, users of social media themselves facilitate making their images available to the web; even the supposed “security guidelines” of these networks often turn out to be a joke. Companies frequently use holiday or party photos of private individuals – primarily from other countries, if not even other continents – for their own corporate websites in order to suggest a special closeness to customers and to save on usage fees charged by major photo agencies. One client of the Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum was shocked when, during his summer holiday hiking through Thailand, he recognised his own face on an advertising billboard for coconut milk: it showed Franz T. from Bochum smiling with friends on a beach near the Danish coastal town of Skagen, where he had spent his holiday three years earlier. Our private detectives from Bochum established that the advertising agency behind this coconut milk campaign had not only searched Franz T.’s Facebook profile and misappropriated photos from it, but had even used private images from European and North American network profiles in a large proportion of its produced advertisements.
Through the evidence provided by our detectives proving that the right to the image lay with Franz T., the advertising agency was forced into an out-of-court compensation payment in order to avoid being drawn into a lengthy legal dispute. Whether it has since completely refrained from using unwilling advertising faces is open to doubt, because here too the rule applies: what I do not know does not bother me. As long as those affected do not complain, their photos will continue to be used without permission and misappropriated for advertising purposes. And where there is no suspicion, our IT specialists from Bochum are, of course, unable to provide assistance.
My Personal Photos Have Been Disseminated – What Now?
If you yourself or a member of your family has become a victim of such unlawful dissemination or unauthorised use of private images, contact the Kurtz Detective Agency in Bochum directly. Our detectives identify the perpetrators, obtain court-admissible evidence and, where necessary, also assist you as witnesses in court in order to bring the offenders before the judiciary and secure your compensation and your rights. If you merely suspect a possible misuse of your private images, our corporate detectives can work together with IT experts to investigate whether images of you are indeed circulating without authorisation. Should your images have been used commercially without your consent, our Bochum private detectives will endeavour to achieve a swift and smooth resolution of your case; in such circumstances, in addition to a claim for damages (§ 97 BGB), you are entitled either to a proportion of the profits generated using your image (§ 252 BGB) or to an appropriate licence fee.
All names and locations have, of course, been altered to ensure complete anonymity.
Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD
Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum
Kohlenstraße 55
44795 Bochum
Tel.: +49 234 3075 0073
E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bochum.de
09
Mai
Studies Show a Balanced Gender Distribution
Many statistics published for years with remarkable regularity and great media impact in Germany’s highest-circulation daily newspapers and magazines show that the topics of infidelity, adultery and cheating affect both genders equally, often revealing high percentages of unfaithful men and women. Certainly, statistics on this topic must be treated with caution, since adultery is hardly something people proudly advertise and many men and women are likely to conceal affairs even in an anonymous survey. Nevertheless, despite their number, these studies often report surprisingly similar results. In a 2013 investigation both men and women admitted to cheating or having cheated, women even a little more often than men (38.9 percent versus 37.1 percent), which roughly accords with the experience of the detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bochum in observations of both genders.
The psychologist Dr Ragnar Beer of the Georg-August-University Göttingen attributes this slightly higher percentage, in an interview with the fitness magazine Fit for Fun, to the fact that women today must reckon with fewer social consequences than in earlier years; divorce is no longer regarded as a social stigma and the increased and normalized employment of women means they can provide for themselves and are no longer solely dependent on a husband — which formerly was an important deterrent to affairs and to their exposure. The emancipation of women in terms of sexual self-determination therefore goes hand in hand with the financial and social freedom to commission our private detectives in Bochum to investigate unfaithful male partners.
Private Detective Agencies Uncover Infidelity And Affairs
If a first basic mistrust exists and one no longer feels secure about the partner’s fidelity, it is possible to engage the detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum to either confirm an initial suspicion or, by means of an observation of the partner, to establish that despite initial doubts one can still trust them. What is important in such an assignment, however, is the legally required legitimate interest, because in Germany protection of privacy enjoys very high priority. In long-term relationships, in de facto marital cohabitation or in cases of a shared household or common children, this legitimate interest exists and may, in the case of an observation, outweigh the privacy rights of the person under surveillance.
If, however, a relationship is comparatively young — for example only one year in duration — and the partners live in two separate flats and households, the private and corporate detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bochum may not act, because the preservation of the privacy of the potentially unfaithful partner takes precedence over the interest in clarifying an affair. Of the partners of the 3,334 men and women surveyed in the adultery study by the aforementioned psychologist Dr Beer, only one in four men and one in three women admitted the affair to their partner, which means 44 percent of men and 46 percent of women have to discover their partner’s affair themselves. In investigations into affairs and adultery, our detectives in Bochum, throughout the Ruhr area and across Germany are therefore always available to help create clarity for the suspicious partner and provide them with certainty: +49 234 3075 0073.
Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum Identifies Lovers From Friend And Colleague Circles
Furthermore, Dr Beer’s study found that a large proportion of affairs and adulterous encounters do not arise from fleeting acquaintances in bars, restaurants, clubs or cafés, but rather begin directly with people from the victim’s own circle of friends (31 percent of unfaithful women and 24 percent of men), colleagues (26 percent/24 percent) or even mutual friends (20 percent/15 percent). The detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bochum repeatedly experience that the betrayed partners often personally know their partner’s lovers and are thus hit even harder by a double betrayal. By means of observations and photographic documentation of the unfaithful partners after work, during leisure time or on business trips, our detectives from Bochum repeatedly succeed in proving affairs, adultery and trysts and thereby give the betrayed partners — albeit sometimes with sad consequences — an important certainty.
The ever-better networking and technologization of the world also makes it easier to uncover infidelity, affairs, flirts and trysts oneself, whether via social networks such as Facebook and the like, communication programmes, dating portals or even so-called spy apps that can be installed on smartphones and then forward all communication and GPS data to the suspicious partner. Accordingly, many men and women therefore know about their partner’s affairs: in a Statista survey, for example, of 1,134 men surveyed, 62 percent stated that they were aware of an affair by their current partner, and 14 percent of men reported more than three affairs.
Many people who suspect they have been cheated on resort to spy apps to trace their partner’s movements. In doing so they not only risk criminal liability, but simple knowledge of whereabouts does not constitute complete proof.
Attentive — And Suspicious — Partners Often Discover Affairs Themselves
Interestingly, Dr Beer’s team also found that more than half of the men (51 percent) and women (58 percent) who had already suspected infidelity by their partner ultimately did discover the affair — whether independently or with the help of a detective. These figures therefore rise considerably compared with the above percentages of 44 percent and 46 percent who discovered affairs themselves, when an initial suspicion already existed. As a result, fewer than one in five unfaithful partners confessed the affair after the betrayed party’s first suspicion. Understandably, betrayed partners are correspondingly less willing to trust the unfaithful partner again if they discovered the infidelity themselves, than if the “perpetrators” had confessed their affairs of their own accord.
If, however, the possibilities to actually establish and prove an affair are exhausted or limited, the private and corporate detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum are always flexibly deployable to remove any doubt about the current and factual status of the relationship — and the partner’s fidelity: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bochum.de.
Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD
Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum
Kohlenstraße 55
44795 Bochum
Tel.: +49 234 3075 0073
E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bochum.de
15
Apr
Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum was recently consulted by Sat.1 NRW for expert commentary on the topic of fraud in car purchases. One of our private detectives in Bochum commented in the short TV segment as follows:
Sale of Stolen Vehicles by Fraudsters
Presenter: "A man cheated Björn from Witten out of €25,000. The fraudster had sold him a stolen car. Björn is now publicly searching for the criminal via a Facebook post. This is his only chance to get the money back."
Lawyer Arndt Kempgens: "If I buy something that is stolen, I cannot acquire it in good faith, which means I have to return it and the money is gone."
Presenter: "In front of the alleged residential building in Cologne, Björn had the seller’s identity card shown to him. It looked deceptively genuine, just like the forged registration papers and the overall behaviour of the fraudster."
Prevention Measure I: Check Registration
Presenter: "Holger is a private detective in Bochum and knows this method. We want to know how to protect oneself. The first tip: check the registration."
Detective from Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum: "Photograph the vehicle registration certificate, even if it is perfectly forged, for example with your mobile phone, in order to then consult with the police or, if necessary, our detectives in Bochum and ask: I would like to buy this car, are all the papers in order?"
Before buying a car, the authenticity of the registration documents should be checked. Our corporate detectives at Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum are happy to assist.
Prevention Measure II: Verify Residence
Presenter: "As a second tip, the private detective from Bochum recommends: check the seller’s residence."
Detective from Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum: "You should really complete the purchase contract inside the house, by telling the seller: Can we handle the contractual details inside the house? I don’t want to do this here on the street with the money and so on. Then go inside with him and see if he actually has an apartment there and really lives there."
Prevention Measure III: Payment by Bank Transfer
Presenter: "Lawyer Arndt Kempgens from Gelsenkirchen knows that the payment process can also be crucial. The third tip: no cash payments."
Arndt Kempgens: "If you do not give the money in cash, but transfer it, then the seller receives the money immediately. But then you actually have a bank-verified name and account connection."
Presenter: "After Björn’s Facebook post, numerous people came forward who had been deceived by the same person. It is likely a criminal gang. Police investigations are ongoing, and not only Björn hopes that this man will be caught quickly."
Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum
Kohlenstraße 55
44795 Bochum
Tel.: +49 234 3075 0073
E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bochum.de
09
Nov
Search for Daughter Abandoned in Infancy
Mr Bungert is searching for his daughter – 21 years after her birth, 20 years after he separated from his then-wife and last saw his daughter. "I am getting old," he tells the private detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum, "and one begins to remember what is important in life, regretting the mistakes made – at least the major ones." Mr Bungert now wants to finally meet his daughter before it may be too late. With the help of a lawyer friend, he initially obtained an extended registration office report, which indicated that the daughter in question lived in Herne in the Ruhr area. However, the post was returned, and the neighbours stated that Mr Bungert’s ex-wife, along with her current husband, the daughter, and two other children, had moved away years ago.
Online Search | Database Checks | Account Verification | Tracking Through Former Landlords
An initial online search produced numerous results for the names of the persons sought, but these were so unspecific and opaque due to common name combinations that no conclusion could be reached without additional exclusion criteria. The Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum therefore switched to other investigative methods: From previous maintenance payments, Mr Bungert knew of a bank account belonging to his ex-wife, which was checked by our Bochum detectives on the evening of the assignment. However, as there had been no account activity for over three years, no current address could be determined this way. Our economic investigators initiated an automated database search through our affiliated partners, which typically takes a few days to a few weeks. Consequently, the following day our private detectives investigated the current tenants of the last known address in Herne – a commercial property. The proprietor informed them by phone that he had worked in the building for many years and that many tenants had come and gone in the upstairs flat. While the names of the target persons were unknown to him, he recalled a woman matching the description with a daughter of that age. Unfortunately, he could do no more. Our detective asked if he would kindly provide the landlord’s contact details, as he might still have records of the target persons.
A few minutes later, the investigating researcher of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum had the landlord on the line. The target persons had lived in the property for only a few months. The landlord said he would check his records for a forwarding address. Fifteen minutes later, he called the Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum (+49 234 3075 0073) to report that the target persons and the partner of Mr Bungert’s ex-wife had lived with him for four months in 2002 before moving to another district of Herne and shortly thereafter to nearby Witten. The specific forwarding addresses were no longer known to the landlord. However, he recalled that Mr Bungert’s ex-wife had been pregnant in her final period in Herne (circa 2003) and provided our Bochum detective with the name and telephone number of the subsequent landlord, who also lived in Herne and remembered the family well, though he had discarded the forwarding address years ago. He only knew that all three had moved from Herne to Witten.
Address Check in Hagen – Possible False Address?
Meanwhile, the database search results arrived, revealing a series of further addresses in the Bochum–Hagen–Iserlohn–Dortmund area from 2003 to 2014. The most recent address was from October 2014 in Hagen. One of our Bochum detectives visited the location to verify it on site: the property comprised two buildings, a front building with a medical practice, and a small rear bungalow. No names of the persons sought were found on doorbells or letterboxes. The investigator entered the practice and inquired with the staff about the target persons – the names were entirely unknown. Even the postman, who our Bochum detective happened to meet leaving the practice, could not recognise the names despite delivering in the area for years. Since postal workers usually know the residents’ names very well, it was assumed that the target persons had either lived there very briefly or had used it as a fictitious registration address.
Our private investigator returned to the bungalow at the rear and rang the doorbell. An unknown male answered, and after a plausibly explained introduction, the detective asked if he knew the target persons. He did not. The previous tenant had been an older single man. On request, he willingly provided our Bochum private detective with the landlord’s contact details, who was immediately reachable by phone. The target persons were known to her. Contracts had almost been finalised, but shortly before moving in, the target persons withdrew and cancelled the tenancy. The landlord did not know why or where they had gone.
Somewhat Recent Lead Through Obituary in Herdecke
Given the long list of previously unknown residential addresses dating back to the early 2000s, the Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum repeated the initial online search using updated parameters. The investigators found a hit: a 2012 obituary in Herdecke created by a person with the name of the sought daughter. The deceased bore the name of the daughter’s grandfather, i.e., the former father-in-law of the client of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum. A coincidental name match could almost certainly be ruled out.
Although the lead was not extremely fresh, it was reasonably current. Further examination of the obituaries revealed a connection to a person with the name of Mr Bungert’s ex-wife. Looking at preceding years, our investigators found another hit: the death notice of Mr Bungert’s former mother-in-law from 2010 – again created by the daughter and signed by the ex-wife. Any remaining doubts about a name mix-up were thus eliminated.
Investigative Breakthrough via Social Media
With the newly acquired information, the private detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum now knew that the target persons must have lived in Herdecke at least between 2010 and 2012. Following this lead, the investigators located a highly informative social media profile of the sought daughter. They were able to inform Mr Bungert that he is the grandfather of a granddaughter. Current photos of the daughter revealed a strong resemblance to Mr Bungert, the client of our Bochum detectives. Further research uncovered a profile of Mr Bungert’s ex-wife, revealing her current name following remarriage. Her new husband also had a profile with a phone number listed – a preliminary check call by our investigators failed, as the number was no longer in service.
Using the above profiles, Facebook accounts for all three persons – daughter, ex-wife, and new husband – were identified, providing additional information. Our Bochum detectives learned that the ex-wife works as a hairdresser and then called all hair salons listed in Herdecke directories – unfortunately without success. The new husband’s Facebook profile referenced a sole proprietorship, with the imprint listing a telephone number and address in Herdecke. An associated eBay seller profile matched this imprint. The Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum attempted several times during the same day to contact the proprietor at the listed number, but no answer was received during normal business hours. Only after 8 p.m. did the business owner pick up the phone, indicating he runs the business part-time alongside another occupation, returning home just then. This suggested that the telephone number belonged to the family’s private line, allowing our Bochum detectives to pinpoint their current location.
Some investigative assignments of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum are resolved quickly and straightforwardly, while others require patience and perseverance – a café crème and a pipe help.
Phone Call with the Ex-Wife | Reunion with the Daughter
After a brief conversation with the new husband, he handed the phone to Mr Bungert’s ex-wife. She confirmed she resides at the address listed in the imprint of the sole proprietorship. The investigator explained the purpose of his call and asked if he could pass her contact details to the client of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum so that he could contact her regarding their daughter. She swallowed audibly, paused for a few seconds, and finally consented. Mr Bungert was informed of the results the next morning. A few days later, he reported that he had already made contact with his daughter and arranged a meeting.
All names and locations have, of course, been altered to ensure complete anonymity.
Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum
Kohlenstraße 55
44795 Bochum
Tel.: +49 234 3075 0073
E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bochum.de
22
Jul
For 30 years, Mrs F. has been in a relationship with her partner, as she stated during her conversation with the private detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bochum. Although they never decided to marry and instead liked to grant each other personal freedoms, it had nevertheless always been a harmonious and loving relationship. Mr K., the said partner, has now fallen ill with cancer and the prognoses allow him only a very limited remaining life expectancy. After the diagnosis, Mr K.’s behaviour changed significantly, he increasingly neglected the joint medical practice with Mrs F., and the relationship itself also began to suffer. “I simply wanted to be there for him during this difficult phase, but he suddenly kept me at a distance,” Mrs F. told our Bochum private detectives. “First he stopped coming to the practice, then he stayed away from home for days at a time. I did not want to overwhelm him with reproaches in this difficult situation, but it is not easy for me either!”
One day, the client of the Kurtz Private Detective Agency Bochum finally confronted Mr K. openly and accused him of turning away from her for another woman – not in the form of sexual infidelity within the partnership, but through an active emotional bond with another woman. Mr K. admitted that he had met a woman and was spending a lot of time with her in her small flat in Wuppertal. How the situation would develop, he said, he did not yet know.
“He has become a completely different person since then,” Mrs F. reports to our Bochum private investigators. “He was always so meticulous. But now everything seems to be irrelevant to him. I feel like a foolish schoolgirl pining after a wonderful man. This woman lures him to her with promises and talks to him about the future. But what kind of future can they possibly have? He is going to die, that is certain. And within the next two years. How can anyone talk about a future in such circumstances? On top of that, she is supposed to be much younger than him. And because of his therapy, he is no longer even capable of sexual activity. What could she possibly want from him? I simply cannot believe that he has suddenly found some kind of new Mother Teresa.”
What Mrs F. is implying becomes obvious to the private investigators of Kurtz Investigations Bochum very quickly: Mr K.’s new girlfriend could be an inheritance scammer, possibly also a marriage swindler. The investigations conducted by our Bochum private detectives are intended to clarify the situation.
Initially, not even the woman’s address is known, only her name and her place of residence (Wuppertal). Following Mr K. by means of mobile surveillance by our vehicle operatives from Bochum is not possible, as Mrs F. knows nothing about his whereabouts. Every time she met him over the past weeks, the target person had “terrorised” Mr K. on the phone and urged him to end the conversation with Mrs F. as quickly as possible in order to come to her in Wuppertal. Commencing surveillance would therefore not be possible in any case, as there is no point of departure.
Based on the name of “the other woman” (verbatim wording used by Mrs F.), the detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bochum are able to research an email address on a dog breeders’ website which can be attributed to the target person with a high degree of certainty. Under the legend that one is the said dog breeder and, due to a tax audit, must disclose all transactions of the last five years but has unfortunately moved and no longer has the target person’s address, the target person is contacted and asked for assistance. This approach is not unlawful; however, should this investigative method become known, the dog breeder could demand that we cease and desist pursuant to Section 12 of the German Civil Code. A few hours later, the target person replies and kindly provides her current address. Kurtz Investigations Bochum prepares to commence surveillance.
The residential address turns out to be a prefabricated apartment block in Wuppertal-Barmen, consisting exclusively of social housing. Tenancies here require a housing entitlement certificate. The target building is in urgent need of renovation and is almost entirely vacant. Of the 16 flats assigned to the target person’s stairwell, only three are still occupied. The rear door is open day and night, the basement smells of urine, and judging by the background noise, there is a rather large dog in the target person’s flat.
“In such a filthy dump he is supposed to be living?” the client of Kurtz Investigations Bochum later asks in disbelief during a conversation. “He has always been so cleanly! And he hates dogs, he is even allergic – that cannot be true!” Yet it is true, because Mr K.’s vehicle (Mercedes, year of manufacture 2011) is parked outside the building – a bold choice given the social environment.
By means of a rather elaborate legend, one of our Bochum private detectives seeks direct contact with the target person in order to obtain further information in this way. However, this measure is hampered by the target person’s lack of willingness to cooperate. Nevertheless, our Bochum investigator succeeds in obtaining self-disclosed information regarding the target person’s profession, income situation and vocational training: unemployed, receiving unemployment benefit II, no completed vocational training. In addition, the investigator is able to gain a personal impression of the target person at close range: she appears abrasive in her manner, but by no means unintelligent, outwardly very unkempt and unattractive. She cannot have made Mr K. compliant through female charms, as there is an obvious lack of such attributes.
Mr K. and the target person are subsequently placed under surveillance on three consecutive working days. During this period, they rarely leave the house; during control checks, a loudly running television can constantly be heard inside the flat. Even the dog is only taken outside extremely rarely and for very short periods. The target person is, in all likelihood, not in employment (see also self-disclosure), which provides a clear motive in support of the suspicions held by the client of our Bochum private detectives.
A few days later, the detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bochum also receive the results of an occupational background investigation conducted via databases, which had been initiated in parallel with the surveillance measures: it confirms the investigators’ existing impression that the target person is likely to be unemployed. At the same time, the target person’s date of birth is established. Based on this, further research into previous marriages can be carried out. Through contacts that must remain undisclosed, three name changes, a very large number of address changes and five marriages of the target person can be proven. Further investigations by our Bochum detectives reveal that only one of these former husbands is still alive (the first). All others died within a period ranging from two months to four years after the respective marriage. The corresponding extended residents’ registration records, which are required as evidence, can be issued after a criminal complaint has been filed, based on the overwhelming circumstantial evidence. What remains unclear is why the target person continues to live in comparatively poor conditions. Has she concealed the money elsewhere?
The sad part is this: despite these clear indications, Mr K. is still unwilling to end his relationship with the target person. Kurtz Investigations Bochum can only wish Mrs F. all the best and hope that her happy memories of the relationship with Mr K. will not be overly tainted by these events after his death. The work of our Bochum detectives is concluded at this point.
All names and locations have, of course, been altered to ensure complete anonymity.
Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum
Kohlenstraße 55
44795 Bochum
Tel.: +49 234 3075 0073
E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bochum.de
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Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum
Kohlenstraße 55
44795 Bochum
Tel.: +49 234 3075 0073
E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bochum.de
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With Legal Certainty and Discretion to Success: Certified Professional Detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bochum
Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum
Kohlenstraße 51
44795 Bochum
Tel.: +49 234 3075 0073
kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bochum.de
Monday–Friday: 08:00–20:00
Since 2016, Kurtz Investigations has continuously supported the well:fair Neven Subotic Foundation, which provides children in underprivileged regions with access to clean water and education.
*Note: All assignments of Kurtz Investigations Bochum are carried out and billed from Kohlenstraße in Bochum. Other deployment locations or regions advertised on this domain are not local branches or business premises of Kurtz Detective Agency, unless explicitly stated otherwise. We conduct investigations nationwide, across Europe and worldwide — either in cooperation with qualified, vetted local experts from our extensive contact network or by dispatching our own specialists. Further information on fees can be found here and on deployment locations here.
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