We received an email request through our web site from a person who asked if we could solve his problem.
Background Information
The gentleman was in his late 70’s, an executive within his organization. He very humbly described his business, of which he built from the ground up. The office building was newly constructed with outside views from large floor-to-ceiling windows. He explained another executive within the organization seemed to know all his confidential business that was conducted within his private office, his executive assistant’s office, and the VP/Treasurer’s office.
Our Initial Investigation
Once the gentleman became our client, his relief was obvious as he had tears in his eyes when he explained who was spying on him.
The suspect spying on our client was his own son.
His son was scheming to takeover the business. By eavesdropping on conversations, undermining his father’s decisions, and pricing to win current clients once loyal to the father, the son was eroding the father’s credibility and making attempts to say the father was senile and incompetent.
The situation first started when the son made a bad decision hiring an incompetent and under-qualified female that he was having an affair with, to a high level position with an equally high salary. This caused havoc with the upper management who have been loyal for years and helped to build the business. A lead salesman was so upset by the incompetency of the newly hired female he resigned. Business within a year was slowly going down. The VP was fired by my client hence causing the son to get upset.
The LEA was called however he was unable to do anything about the son snooping since the crime could not be proven. The LE Officers advised my client to call them if things got violent.
The police were not able to help my client not did they have any interest in investigating further. Unless there is a crime happening right in front of them, they usually don’t take further action. They are simply not equipped or educated for this type of situation.
Our Investigation Revealed
Two of our investigators were brought into the building after business hours to conduct a thorough sweep. Nothing was found and the investigators left before employees started to enter at 8am the next morning.
Disappointed, Michael talked with the client again. This time the executive revealed that his son was always in his office when important meetings were being conducted within the other offices, and with the door closed and locked.
This new information got us thinking more. Our client wanted answers so we set a honey trap for this to happen again.
Our client spread the word of an important meeting to take place and did not invite the son. The trap was for us to observe the son in plain sight through those large windows from the outside parking lot. Sure enough the son was in his office with his door closed. We observed the son take out his PC laptop, open it, attach a device, and pointed the device up toward the overhead venting just slightly over the side of his desk. The son was looking up at the vent.
We suspected the son used an amplification device along with his lap top to record the conversations through the HVAC trunk piping system.
The next day, we accessed the building again. Upon physically walking the entire 14’ open area, proposed for future expansion to the building’s second floor, and looking down at the drop ceiling tile, electrical conduit trunk wiring and air/heat ventilation, we could see the poorly designed main trunk line and feeder piping to all the offices. The system was designed for economical benefits, not security.
The ambient noise could be heard in another office with just a plain ear up near the vent of the son’s office.
TSCM test measurements from the TSCM ‘Acoustic Leakage Probe’ and the TSCM ‘CMA-100 Professional High Gain Audio Amplifier’, proved ambient noise could be heard even from the farthest office.
This was almost a perfect crime with no evidence left behind. Our expertise proved the eavesdropping that police were unable to find.
