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Gosling added asking "I wonder if SOCA is somehow part of the organized crime themselves, if it is not doing anything about this?"

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Quote:Blagger's manual' leaked: UK authorities concealed private investigators' tactics?

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Published time: July 21, 2013 02:58
Edited time: July 21, 2013 04:02

Reuters / Toru Hanai






An unpublished report by the Benefits Agency and Inland Revenue Data project (BAIRD), obtained by the Independent, exposes the extent of private data trading market in the UK.One of the Britain's leading law enforcement bureaus has known about but ignored massive misconduct and corruption for over a decade by private investigators who use illegal surveillance techniques for the benefit of financial services sector.
Part of the report includes a so-called "blaggers manual," that was discovered during an Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) raid in 2001, as part of BAIRD investigation, and has been in the possession of the authorities since then.
The manual revealed the methods and best practices which "blaggers" use to extract personal data. Just one of the tactics used by private spooks hired by insurance companies, finance firms and solicitors, resulted in "hundreds of thousands" of fake calls having been made to get hold of private information from government agencies such as the NHS, Customs & Excise and Social Security.

The manual's authorship is unknown but entire departments of investigators have reportedly been using it.
The Baird Report listed the illegal conduct of some private agencies involved in blagging and also revealed several methods in the manual that have been applied in real cases. It also discloses a series of cases in which blaggers were used by the finance sector.
Payday loan or cash advancement lenders used the services of tracers to collect debts. Documents obtained show that one of the first victim of such activity was a young mother who was pursued by private investigators to a woman's refuge where she was met on the doorstep.
"What they are doing is posing as private investigators, hacking into lots of databases, mostly government databases where people give information to government agencies, obviously in confidence,"Tony Gosling, an investigative journalist told RT. "All [the authorities] have been doing, is counting and collecting this information but they are not persecuting," Gosling added asking "I wonder if SOCA is somehow part of the organized crime themselves, if it is not doing anything about this?"


Blagging firms also targeted prisoners who "were able to obtain information capable of persuading witnesses to change their evidence against them or nobbling' juries," according a report by Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is also a part of Baird investigation.
In another case, investigated by the ICO, an investigative agency was being suspected of organizing a robbery of the relative of a target to obtain phone contacts needed to trace the individual. During the assault, the female victim was bitten by her attacker. Contacts from the stolen phone were used to make bogus calls to several people listed in the contacts files.


Saturday's disclosures became the latest twist of events into the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) scandal. Earlier it has been revealed that SOCA is refusing to identify the companies that hired corrupt investigators to conduct illegal activities, despite demands from the parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee.
"We need to make sure SOCA and the Metropolitan Police should be able to follow the evidence wherever it leads... to uncover the truth about what has been happening," Head of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Keith Vaz told the Independent. He has also urged those responsible to come clean and tell"precisely why they sought information and what they have done with it."
Sir Ian Andrews, SOCA's chairman, said that disclosing the list would "substantially undermine the financial viability of major organizations by tainting them with public association with criminality."

Magda Hassan Wrote:Gosling added asking "I wonder if SOCA is somehow part of the organized crime themselves, if it is not doing anything about this?"

Inquiring minds want to know......

Cut-out.

Definition: In espionage parlance, a cut-out is a mutually trusted intermediary, method or channel of communication, facilitating the exchange of information between agents. Cutouts usually only know the source and destination of the information to be transmitted, but are unaware of the identities of any other persons involved in the espionage process. Thus, a captured cutout cannot be used to identify members of an espionage cell.

More.

It is very hard to conceive of a legitimate reason for the Serious & Organised Crime Agency to suppress this material and Leveson to decide "not to consider it".

The dossier was finally handed to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday evening.

But, to the fury of MPs, Soca is insisting that it must be kept locked in a safe and elected representatives will not be allowed to discuss its contents.

Soca's explanation for not publishing the list of private firms and individuals it knew to be embroiled with private investigators is that it could cause them commercial damage and breach their human rights.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Quote:How banks and drug giants 'hired rogue detectives': Blue chip firms among 102 named in crime agency dossier

Banks and pharmaceutical companies included on the Soca dossier
The list was suppressed by Soca and not considered at Leveson Inquiry
Dossier fuels concern that actions of businesses haven't been investigated

By James Slack and Jack Doyle

PUBLISHED: 01:55, 25 July 2013 | UPDATED: 01:55, 25 July 2013

Daily Mail

Banks and pharmaceutical companies are included on an explosive list of blue-chip businesses that employed private detectives who acted unlawfully.

They feature prominently in the dossier of 102 private firms and individuals, which was compiled by the UK's leading crime fighting agency as long ago as 2008.

The document was suppressed by the Serious Organised Crime Agency and not considered as evidence by the Leveson Inquiry into Press standards and practice, which looked at phone hacking.

Hidden: The dossier was kept under wraps by SOCA and not considered as evidence by the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking

The revelation will fuel concerns that law enforcement agencies failed to investigate big business properly as well as law firms while turning savagely on the Press.

Banking and pharmaceuticals are two of the largest sectors of the UK economy. Last night Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, which has finally been handed the list by Soca on condition of secrecy, said: This affects all manner of organisations.'

It comes as ministers, unimpressed by Soca's handling of the secret' hacking scandal, prepare to ban the shady private detectives who have been unlawfully supplying businesses with sensitive personal information.

The Mail can reveal that ministers will shortly unveil the first ever statutory licensing regime for private detectives.

PROBE INTO SOCA BOSS
Sir Ian Andrews - Chair (Non-Executive of SOCA)

The head of the Serious Organised Crime Agency faces an investigation into an alleged conflict of interest over his wife's role in a private security firm, it emerged last night.

Sir Ian Andrews, the chairman of Soca, has refused to publish a list of private firms and individuals who hired corrupt private investigators.

On Tuesday it emerged that his wife Moira is a senior figure at the Good Governance Group (G3) a global security and investigations firm.

The matter had been referred by Home Secretary Theresa May to her most senior mandarin, who is responsible for issues of propriety and ethics' within the department.

Sir Ian failed to disclose his wife's job when giving evidence about private investigators to a MPs last month.

Soca said he did not consider there to be a conflict of interest'.

At present, there is nothing in law to distinguish companies that pursue legitimate business activities from corrupt operatives'.

The new regime is being hammered out by officials, and will be unveiled by ministers shortly.

But anybody wishing to carry out detective work is expected to be forced to pass a fit and proper' test. Those with criminal convictions would be screened out.

Investigators would also have to prove they had the skills to do the job properly, and understood the law.

Private investigators will be subject to a strict code of conduct. Anybody breaching data protection laws would be struck off.

Law firms and insurers would then have no excuse for using an investigator who was not licensed.

The law will be written to exclude legitimate investigative work by journalists from the new rules. The revelations come amid mounting anger at Westminster over the way Soca has dealt with its dossier.

Senior officials failed to pass the details of the widespread malpractice on to ministers deciding the terms of the Leveson Inquiry.

Yesterday Damian Green, the policing minister, revealed he had still not seen the confidential report despite it being compiled by Soca in 2008.

Officials later confirmed no serving minister had seen the report.

The dossier was finally handed to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday evening.

But, to the fury of MPs, Soca is insisting that it must be kept locked in a safe and elected representatives will not be allowed to discuss its contents.

Soca's explanation for not publishing the list of private firms and individuals it knew to be embroiled with private investigators is that it could cause them commercial damage and breach their human rights.

Investigators say the firms would not necessarily have known that the private eyes were going to break the law on their behalf.

But this has sparked incredulity among some MPs. They say that law firms, in particular, should have questioned where the information they were receiving was coming from.

Concern: Last night Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, which has finally been handed the list by Soca on condition of secrecy, said: ¿This affects all manner of organisations'

Mark Lewis, the lawyer who represents the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose phone was hacked by News of the World journalists, said: Consistency demands that the same rules apply to all, whether you run a newspaper, a pharmaceutical company or a law firm.

As soon as you depart from the equal applicability of law to all, then the law really does become an ass.'

Tory MP James Clappison, who sits on the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: This vast intrusion into peoples' lives is unacceptable.

'It appears to be worse than the phone-hacking scandal, yet nothing has been done about it.

If the police and Soca aren't going to pursue the matter, the committee should ensure openness and transparency and make this information available to the public.'

Jan Klimkowski Wrote:

Soca's explanation for not publishing the list of private firms and individuals it knew to be embroiled with private investigators is that it could cause them commercial damage and breach their human rights.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

But the private firms and individuals weren't breaching the human rights of those individuals and private firms they hacked, obviously.

One rule for them, another for everyone else. Also known as the same rule but to be used as they see fit.

Lovely to see democracy in action. hutup:

David Guyatt Wrote:

Jan Klimkowski Wrote:

Soca's explanation for not publishing the list of private firms and individuals it knew to be embroiled with private investigators is that it could cause them commercial damage and breach their human rights.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

But the private firms and individuals weren't breaching the human rights of those individuals and private firms they hacked, obviously.

One rule for them, another for everyone else. Also known as the same rule but to be used as they see fit.

Lovely to see democracy in action. hutup:

Yup.

We've entered Kafka's Castle and 95% of the population thinks nothing has changed....

The tip of the iceberg:

Quote:'I am private eye who spied for financiers protected by police': Jailed detective breaks silence as pressure grows to investigate companies on secret list given to MPs

Graham Freeman was jailed for stealing confidential information for firms
He says publication of the names of the companies would rock the City
Says police are reluctant to release details of businesses
It would expose failure to investigate serious fraud allegations, he claims

By Robert Verkaik

PUBLISHED: 01:36, 28 July 2013 | UPDATED: 01:37, 28 July 2013
Daily Mail

Worrying: Graham Freeman says publication of the names of the companies would rock the City and lead to high-profile prosecutions

A private investigator at the centre of a row over a secret list of blue-chip companies that hired corrupt private detectives has claimed they are being protected by the police.

Graham Freeman, one of four private detectives jailed last year for stealing confidential information on behalf of big business clients, says publication of the names of the companies would rock the City and lead to high-profile prosecutions.

He claims the police and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) are also reluctant to release the details because it would expose their own failure to investigate serious fraud allegations over years.

Last year's case prompted SOCA secretly to compile a list of 102 names of well-known financial institutions, law firms and insurance companies all linked to the corrupt investigators.

Freeman is the first of the four detectives to break his silence about SOCA's controversial list and the extent of the alleged conspiracy.

His revelations will add to concerns that while Lord Justice Leveson has dealt with some newspapers' use of criminal private detectives, nothing has been done to tackle the much greater use of them in the City.

Freeman told The Mail on Sunday last night that City clients sometimes turned to private investigators because the police failed to investigate claims of property and investment fraud.

Freeman, who lives in Spain and now works on maritime security, was jailed for six months last year for conspiring to defraud by blagging' or stealing personal information through phone calls to banks and companies.

The investigation was led by SOCA and codenamed Millipede because its legs' connected so many financial institutions, firms and high- profile figures to the work of corrupt private investigators (PIs).

But before the trial started, SOCA and the Crown Prosecution Service took the decision not to let the names of the PI clients become public knowledge. None of the clients' names was read out in court as would have been customary.

Instead, SOCA, often described as Britain's version of the FBI, secretly compiled a list of many of the country's best-known financial institutions, law firms and insurance companies linked to the four PIs convicted in the case.

It is this list that was finally surrendered to Parliament by SOCA last week, but only on the strict condition that it was kept under lock and key and not shown to the public.

SOCA claimed names could not be released because of human rights concerns or the risk of harm to the companies' commercial interests. MPs now want to know which companies on the list behaved illegally.
Speaking out: Freeman, who was released from Wandsworth Prison, pictured, in London after just eight weeks, warns that the SOCA list is a ¿Pandora¿s Box¿

Speaking out: Freeman, who was released from Wandsworth Prison, pictured, in London after just eight weeks, warns that the SOCA list is a 'Pandora's Box'

Freeman, who was released from Wandsworth Prison in London after just eight weeks, warns that the SOCA list is a Pandora's Box' which, once opened, will bring about a criminal investigation that will end in the jailing of dozens of bankers, lawyers and boardroom executives.

He says any of the PI clients that requested the information could be charged with the same conspiracy for which he and the three other detectives were jailed.

He said: If they were to name our clients, on the evidence we were charged on, our clients would be open to the same conspiracy [charges].'

In 2011, Freeman, 52, Daniel Summers, 33, Philip Campbell Smith, 54, and former policeman Adam John Spears, 73, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud. Freeman, who received the shortest sentence, says he was working for three major clients at the time a law firm in the south of England, an international foreign exchange company and a third unidentified company.

His detective agency, Brookmans International, was at the centre of the trade in personal information blagged', or stolen, from banks and Government agencies.

Action: MPs are now keen to know which companies have behaved illegally

Freeman and business partner Campbell Smith, a former Army intelligence officer, used Summers, who specialised in blagging' private data by calling banks, phone companies and other organisations and impersonating targets' or pretending to be an employee to obtain confidential details.

Freeman, who was a co-director of Brookmans and has also provided personal security for celebrities including Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, still refuses to name his clients because he says he doesn't want to go through any more court proceedings.

But he told The Mail on Sunday: SOCA doesn't want to give up the Millipede names because if they did, they would be forced to investigate them and charge them for conspiracy to defraud as they did us. On that list are the names of law firms, banks and insurance companies who all used private detectives for all sorts of reasons.'

He said many of the cases he was involved with were driven by a police refusal to act and commit resources to investigate fraud.

One solicitor who hired me had 35 clients who had lost millions in a property scam. The police didn't want to know, so she resorted to private investigators,' he said.

A SOCA spokesman said that while further investigations were on-going, the information provided to MPs does not allege that the individuals and companies named in it .  .  . have or even may have committed a criminal offence.'

He added: Evidence chosen to be presented to the court is a matter for the CPS.'

Quote:Graham Freeman, one of four private detectives jailed last year for stealing confidential information on behalf of big business clients, says publication of the names of the companies would rock the City and lead to high-profile prosecutions.

Well, get on with it...what are they/he/we waiting for?!?!? Let the cow chips fall where they may.....

I'd love to see the Corporation of London 'rock' and 'roll'!

Jan Klimkowski Wrote:A SOCA spokesman said that while further investigations were on-going, the information provided to MPs does not allege that the individuals and companies named in it .  .  . have or even may have committed a criminal offence.'

Which, of course, doesn't mean that a properly conducted investigation would result in criminal charges being brought. It's just that they don;t want to do that because numerous top executives would face prison sentences, and the corporations would suffer reputational damage.

And it might even open up more smelly connections for the police who have been so thoroughly tarnished in recent years, it will take a decade or more to recover from.

Business as usual in other words.

Peter Lemkin Wrote:

Quote:Graham Freeman, one of four private detectives jailed last year for stealing confidential information on behalf of big business clients, says publication of the names of the companies would rock the City and lead to high-profile prosecutions.

Well, get on with it...what are they/he/we waiting for?!?!? Let the cow chips fall where they may.....

I'd love to see the Corporation of London 'rock' and 'roll'!

What! And open Pandora's box! Most of what passes for London's high society would be in the slammer. And most of the upper echelons of the police and legal system too since they have been part of this and also provided protection.

In Sydney we used to have (and probably do still) a police department called the Armed Robbery squad. There was, and possibly still is, a time when there was no armed robbery in NSW conducted with out their okay. The chosen franchisees could do what they liked as long as they ran it past the squad for a cut of the proceeds. Freelancers were hunted down and killed. Sounds like SOCA or sections of it are running a similar scam but just further up the food chain.

Magda Hassan Wrote:[

In Sydney we used to have (and probably do still) a police department called the Armed Robbery squad. There was, and possibly still is, a time when there was no armed robbery in NSW conducted with out their okay. The chosen franchisees could do what they liked as long as they ran it past the squad for a cut of the proceeds. Freelancers were hunted down and killed. Sounds like SOCA or sections of it are running a similar scam but just further up the food chain.

The same thing used to happen here too. In one case I remember being told about a copper in the City of London police who helped bank robbing villains choose what was a good target and what wasn't, and even drove the get-away car afterwards.

Evening all....

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