HCEO
The police have said it is a civil matter
You reported it and got a crime number, or nothing at all. I write the file the police did not, so that it can go back to them or on to a solicitor.
A crime number means the report has been logged, and not much more. Civil matter usually means the officer on the desk saw a dispute about money and stopped there.
I write the file they did not: what happened, when, who did it, what the evidence is and where it sits. Built properly, that file can go back to the police in a form they have to read, to a solicitor for civil recovery, or to a private prosecutor, and once the file exists you can choose between those routes.
Investigations
- Theft or fraud inside a business
Stock, cash, a supplier nobody has met, a bookkeeper who never takes a holiday. I find out what has gone and who knew before anyone is tipped off.
- A partner or a director gone
Fallen out, fallen ill, or died, and the business still has to trade. I carry it through the weeks that matter on the directors' instructions.
- Checking who you are dealing with
A partner, a buyer, a supplier or a senior hire. The public record checked against the story, and a short note on what I would ask.
- Police liaison
A written request to the police, on HCEO LTD letterhead, in the form an investigator recognises, addressed to the right desk.