Private Detective Zwickau, Germany | Private Investigator in Zwickau – Kurtz Detective Agency Germany*

Third-best detective agency in Germany in the “Wirtschaftswoche” service ranking

Discreet private and corporate investigations at fair rates conducted by the IHK-certified detectives of our detective agency in Zwickau – receive a free and non-binding consultation regarding your case: +49 341 6970 4082.

Still not convinced? Take a look at our references!

Case example from Zwickau: Manipulation of Cash Register Receipts | Embezzlement and Fraud

The owner of an organic supermarket in Zwickau – let us call him Mr Colditz – had long suspected one of his long-time employees of embezzling money from the till. To explain the case to our detective agency in Zwickau in detail, he invited one of our commercial investigators to his home. After a friendly welcome, Mr Colditz reported that the suspect had likely been committing property offences against his business for two to three years, but that only proof admissible in court was missing. To obtain this evidence, he had contacted our private investigators in Zwickau.

Suspected procedure of the perpetrator

The target person was suspected of logging into the till system using his own employee identification or that of colleagues and then committing fraudulent acts in two different ways:

1. Simulating the acceptance of non-existent returnable bottles, i.e. fictitious returns were recorded and the corresponding cash amounts taken from the till.
2. Simulating product returns, meaning allegedly opened groceries and/or cosmetics that customers supposedly returned due to a mistaken purchase. The cash amounts of these fictitious returns were also taken from the till.

To prevent these manipulations from being noticed immediately, a receipt was printed each time to document the cash withdrawal. The target person would then place this withdrawal receipt into the till with the day’s takings. This is why the client of our commercial detective agency in Zwickau did not detect the fraud right away. Only after several internal audits and inventory checks were discrepancies in goods identified.

After the entire matter had been clearly reconstructed and almost completely clarified at the client’s home address, our detective in Zwickau and Mr Colditz decided to immediately begin an observation at the supermarket to document another theft by the target person and provide evidence that would stand up in court. Several attempts or observation days might be necessary to achieve this.

Observation at the till: transactions without customers?

The observation site at the organic market proved unusually favourable: there was a bistro directly next to the store from which our private investigator could watch the till area. Thus, for once, the investigator did not have to spend hours in a car in blazing heat or freezing cold but could sit comfortably at a table in the bistro, order coffee and cake, and discreetly carry out surveillance aimed at proving a case of commercial fraud and embezzlement – an offence that, due to its severity, carries a possible prison sentence of up to ten years (§ 263 of the German Criminal Code, fraud).

Only 20 minutes after the start of the surveillance, our commercial detective in Zwickau observed the target person entering several transactions at the till without any customers present. Not five minutes later, the same occurred again. Mr Colditz and our investigator then agreed, outside the suspect’s field of vision, that the business owner would run a digital till check. If it revealed that transactions had indeed been made without customers, Mr Colditz would discreetly signal this to our detective using a prearranged non-verbal cue.

Confrontation – notarial acknowledgement of debt?

When the agreed non-verbal signal was actually given, Mr Colditz and the commercial investigator confronted the target person with the observed offences. The detective led the conversation, as he had years of experience in interrogation and mediation and therefore often succeeds in obtaining signed notarial acknowledgements of debt. Such a document can be drafted flexibly; typically, the perpetrator is offered exemption from prosecution if they confess and agree to repay the damage.

Thus, our private investigator in Zwickau and the now-exposed employee went through the usual course of a confrontation after a property offence against a business: first denial, then presentation of all the evidence, followed by a clear choice for the perpetrator – either sign the acknowledgement of debt or face criminal charges and a civil lawsuit. In most cases, offenders are sensible enough to choose the former to avoid imprisonment – as in this case. The employee admitted to having stolen amounts between 50 and 150 euros weekly over several years. To conceal the fraud, he falsified receipts for product and bottle returns, printing the corresponding receipts and including them in the daily till reconciliation.

Damage assessment and termination of employment

After the confession, the three present parties analysed several hours’ worth of relevant or suspicious cases from the previous years. The total damage was determined to be 10,000 euros – an outcome that, according to our private investigator in Zwickau, was relatively lenient for the dishonest employee. Finally, the parties agreed on an immediate termination of the target person’s employment contract and imposed a ban from the premises for at least one year.

Notice

To protect the privacy and personal rights of clients and target persons, all names and locations in this case report have been altered beyond recognition.

Examples of locations of operation for our detectives in the district of Zwickau:

•  
• Detective agency for Crimmitschau
• Detective agency for Glauchau
• Detective agency for Hohenstein-Ernstthal
• Detective agency for Kirchberg
• Detective agency for Lichtenstein/Saxony
• Detective agency for Limbach-Oberfrohna
• Detective agency for Meerane
• Detective agency for Mülsen
• Detective agency for Reinsdorf
• Detective agency for Werdau
• Detective agency for Wilkau-Haßlau
•