Posts Tagged ‘Myers Investigative Services’

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Man Passed Driver’s Test While “Catatonic” – Admits to Workers’ Comp Fraud

By Dawn in Crime, Investigations, MSI Detective Services, Private Investigator, scam, Surveillance Services, Theft Investigations at December 7th, 2011 | No comments

Martin Lobatos must be a really good driver, because he passed his driver’s test with an above-average score when he was supposedly on the verge of catatonia.

Lobatos and his wife, Belen Luna Lobatos, have both entered guilty pleas, after being indicted by a grand jury, in what appears to have been over a year long workers’ compensation scam. The couple live in Aurora, Denver. They are accused of stealing $120,000 worth of workers’ compensation funds from Pinnacol Assurance. Eventually, a private investigator was hired and Lobatos was placed under surveillance. However, before this happened, Martin Lobatos led doctors and the insurance company down a road of twists and turns.

Martin was working as a roofer. On September 29, 2008, he fell six to ten feet from a ladder, face first, causing him to briefly lose consciousness — although that’s in dispute. He was taken to Vail Valley Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with a wrist fracture, two broken ribs and a closed head injury that caused a small abrasion and some swelling. A CT scan on his head and neck came back negative, and he was discharged from the medical center the same day he was admitted.

Lobatos filed a workers’ comp claim on September 30. After returning to work full-time on October 21, he began complaining of headaches, dizziness, vertigo, and blurred vision. An MRI on October 28 didn’t show any reason for these symptoms, but he claimed that they persisted. A doctor who examined him in April 2009 couldn’t find any medical reason for his continuing issues. This doctor determined that Lobatos had reached maximum medical improvement (MMI) and assigning him what the indictment describes as a “zero-percent impairment rating.”

Lobatos was terminated from his job that same month (April) and subsequent to him declining to accept a $20,000 settlement from Pinnacol Assurance in September 2009, Lobatos started to complain of new symptoms, including dizziness, memory loss, difficulty recognizing his own children, inability to use stairs without help, pain caused by eating, chewing, bright lights, and the weather. Lobatos was quite convincing and a second physician rejected his predecessor’s findings, determining that the MMI ruling was premature. Read the full article »

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Tracking Software that Locates Your Lost or Stolen Computer

By Dawn in Crime, Investigations, MSI Detective Services, Theft Investigations at October 6th, 2011 | No comments

Every week I find a story about the increase in stolen laptop and desktop computers. Sometimes it’s a story about a stolen company computer that contains personal information about their customers. Sometimes, it’s someone’s personal computer with all of their private information. Thieves can do irreparable damage with this stolen information. Identity theft crimes have also grown exponentially over the years and are often the result of obtaining information from a stolen computer.

Are you doing anything to protect your computer? Did you know there is “theft tracking software” you can install that tracks and locates lost or stolen laptop and desktop computers? Products exist for both PC’s and Mac’s. Follow the above links to check out our programs. They are available at the U-Spy Store at a substantial discount if you order online. Also, feel free to stop into one of our stores and speak with our staff. They are very knowledgable and can offer great advice. We sell both the PC PhoneHome™ and the Mac PhoneHome™ Theft Tracking Software. Special low-cost Enterprise versions of PC PhoneHome™ are available for large-scale deployment for K-12s, Colleges & Universities, Corporations and Government agencies. We also provide a technical support phone number.

Heres how this tracking software works…Every time a protected computer connects to the Internet, a stealth email is sent to a pre-determined email address of the user’s choice and to a worldwide control center. In the event your computer is lost or stolen, you file a theft report with the local police and then notify us. Recovery agents at our Command and Tracking Center will provide you full tracking and recovery support. We work with global ISPs and local police to recover your lost property fast!

A single copy version is priced at only $29.95 for the life of your computer! There are no yearly monitoring fees, no additional charges and no hidden costs – unlike other retailers who charge upfront fees.

Personally, even if my computer was clean of any personal information, if someone stole it, I would still want them to be caught!

 

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What Are the Best Colors and Models for Surveillan​ce Vehicles?

By Dawn in Investigations, MSI Detective Services, Private Investigator at October 4th, 2011 | No comments

We received an inquiry from a law firm that hires private investigators. They asked us what our agency believes to be the current consensus on the best color for vehicles for doing surveillance and if there is a preferred make/model. Well, I believe we can immediately rule out the colors red, orange, white, or any other bright colors.

Back in the late 90s/early 2000s, the local private investigator community of the individual who wrote us with this question said the school of thought was to avoid silver and navy blue. It was also said that some of the darker muted earth tone/natural colors were best in terms of being the most inconspicuous. Also, at that time, the Ford Taurus was such a commonly owned vehicle, that its make/model were recommended.

For surveillance, inconspicuous vehicles, well blended into the area, are used. Currently, the school of thought is gray or any other muted colors are best in terms of being low profile and not attracting attention. Vehicles shouldn’t be too clean, not brand new, not too big, not too small, and have no visible damage. Vans and motor cycles are also used. Professionals will never use flashy cars in loud colors (red, orange, yellow, white, etc.) for surveillance. License plates can be changed, but their number, as a rule, is limited, and eventually they can be figured out. From time to time different vehicles are used.

There are other factors investigators should consider besides the color or type of car they use for surveillance.  An inconspicuous vehicle won’t do you much good if you aren’t careful with your surveillance methods. Read the full article »

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English-Sp​eaking Boy: I lived 5 years in German Woods

By Dawn in Background Checks, Investigations, MSI Detective Services at September 22nd, 2011 | No comments

Police say they’re investigating the story of an English-speaking teenager who appeared in the German capital last week saying he had lived the last five years in the woods with his father.

“The boy speaks English and a little German but we really have no idea where he comes from,” police spokesman Michael Maass told Germany’s ‘The Local’ on Friday.

The boy, who authorities say is in good health and calls himself Ray, showed up in Berlin on Sept. 5 carrying a backpack and sleeping bag, police spokeswoman Miriam Tauchmann told msnbc.com. He said he was 17 and told officials he and his dad were living in tents and huts until his father died recently.

“He has no identity card, no papers, no passport, nothing,” Tauchmann told msnbc.com. “He looked very good — not like a wild man or anything like that. Physically and mentally, everything is OK with him.”

Tauchmann said the boy claimed that he and his father took to the woods after his mother died about five years ago. The boy recalled his mother’s name as Doreen and his father’s as Ryan, but could not remember anything else about his family history, reported The Local.

He and his father were nomads, he said, never staying in one place in the woods for long.

Body covered in stones
He found his father dead two weeks prior to his arrival in Berlin, he told authorities, and buried him in a shallow grave, which he covered with stones, according to The Local.

Read full article@msnbc

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