If you are the victim, or represent the victim, of an illegal investigation, either of the two gentlemen described below would be glad to discuss the situation with you.

There has recently been a massive increase in the number of illegal investigations. One common reason for an investigation being illegal is that the investigator is not licensed. The record companies (and the RIAA) and the movie companies (and the MPAA) routinely use private investigators based in states which require a private investigator’s license. Surprisingly, the most used investigators by the movie and record industries are not licensed. Using an unlicensed investigator can form the basis for a number of legal claims (negligence per se, negligent supervision, federal computer fraud, violation of the federal Stored Communications Act) and even recovery of attorneys' fees from the investigator. An illegal investigation does not sit well with most judges.

Antonio R. Sarabia II is a licensed private investigator. He has done a variety of investigations over 20 years, including evidence and asset locations and evaluations and intellectual property matters. These investigations have been in connection with non-litigated matters, civil litigation and criminal matters. In addition to performing investigations, he has directed and managed investigations by other investigators and personnel in over a dozen different countries and many different states. He has managed hundreds of investigations of related to civil and criminal matters and tens of thousands of non-litigated matters. He has trained other investigators, attorneys, police and U.S. Customs agents in intellectual property investigations. He is qualified to testify about the generally accepted standards of conduct in the private investigative business. He is also qualified to testify about the generally accepted standards of supervision of private investigators, for example, whether the companies which have hired an investigator have been negligent in their supervision.

Mr. Sarabia may be reached at (310)377-5171; (310)377-5039 (fax); asarabia@cox.net

David Lee Swartzendruber Sr. is a professional licensed investigator who concentrates on management and analysis of intellectual property, and computer Internet investigations. He counsels other investigators and attorneys about investigations and provides expert investigative testimony and advice to law enforcement, such as the U.S. attorneys’ office and others.

Mr. Swartzendruber was an officer with the San Diego Police Department in 1994, with over 23 years of combined law enforcement tenure. Mr. Swartzendruber was recruited by Microsoft Corporation to become the company’s first in-house Anti-Piracy investigator and Senior Manager. He subsequently trained investigators, attorneys, police and U.S. Customs agents in the U.S. regarding intellectual property matters. He has conducted counterfeit recognition training for law enforcement such as police, U.S. Customs agents and foreign government personnel.

Mr. Swartzendruber also has extensive experience as a computer forensics expert in Canada and the United States for a number of high-profile criminal and civil cases. He assisted the U.S. Attorney’s office as a chief government witness in computer forensics resulting in the successful conviction of Ramzi Achmed Yousef, one of the chief architects of the World Trade Center bombing.

Mr. Swartzendruber may be contacted at (425) 235-2171; (425) 271-8134 (fax); dave@daveleepi.com.