Detective Blog of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Every Sunday, the Bremen Weser-Kurier includes the supplement "Weser-Strand" with the series "My First Time", in which people from mostly unusual professions describe their first work experiences. In February, the magazine published a corresponding account of the first case of Patrick Kurtz, owner of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen. The newspaper excerpt can be found below (German only).

Notes: The text is a free paraphrase by the article’s author, Katharina Frohne, and has not been verified by the person quoted; it therefore does not represent a direct quote from Patrick Kurtz. Furthermore, Patrick Kurtz neither possesses the additional qualifications required to call himself a psychologist, nor did he aspire to be a detective at the age of twelve. Neither statement was ever claimed by him or by Kurtz Detective Agency. For a better reading experience, we recommend opening and enlarging the image by clicking on it.

Source: Weser-Kurier, Issue of 11.02.2018

Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Hollerallee 26

D-28209 Bremen

Tel.: +49 421 3679 9066

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-bremen.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-bremen

Six-Year-Old Ella Abducted by Her Own Mother – Parents Are the Most Common Perpetrators in Child Removal Cases

For most parents, the thought is almost unbearable: the abduction or unlawful removal of one’s own child by a stranger, the other parent or close relatives. From one moment to the next, you no longer know where your child is or whether he or she is safe and well. Custody disputes are often at the root of such cases, frequently fuelled by fear of losing the bond with the child due to limited access rights or by a perceived threat posed by the other parent and or their new partner. In the case of Ella Z., who went missing in May 2017 from Großenhain in Saxony, the mother did not accept the father’s sole right to determine the child’s place of residence, left on holiday with the six-year-old girl without further agreement and has not been seen since (further information here). The police rely on assistance from the public and accept information via the telephone number 0351 483 22 33. Sadly, cases like these occur in Germany year after year, and far too many are never resolved.

Affected parents understandably grasp at every straw in the hope of being able to hold their children safely in their arms again. It is therefore hardly surprising that the investigators of Kurtz Investigations Bremen have gained considerable experience in this field over the years. When families doubt the success of ongoing police investigations, wish to have further leads pursued and want to exhaust every possible option, turning to experienced detectives is an obvious step. As Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen is networked nationwide, we can take action at short notice at any time – abroad as well, and also for you and your child: +49 421 3679 9066.

Legal Situation in Cases of Child Removal and Child Abduction

The criminal law classification of the removal or withholding of a child from the parents, one parent or a legal guardian is set out in Section 235 of the German Criminal Code (StGB), “Abduction of Minors”. A custodial sentence of up to five years is imposed on anyone who, “by force, by threat of serious harm or by deception”, withholds a minor from their family (subsection 1). The same applies if such withholding is carried out by a person who is not a relative, or if the child is taken abroad (subsection 2). The latter occurs particularly frequently where parents have different nationalities and one parent unilaterally decides to take the child to their home country or to keep the child there after a holiday. Even an attempt is punishable (subsection 3).

Custodial sentences of up to ten years are imposed on anyone who removes a child from their parents for payment and thus for personal gain, who places the child in serious or life-threatening danger, or who causes severe physical or psychological harm (subsection 4). In cases of child removal resulting in death, the sentence is not capped at the upper end; the minimum sentence is three years’ imprisonment (subsection 5).

Child Abduction – An Indescribable Horror for Families

The abduction of one’s own child naturally causes the gravest concern for the child’s wellbeing; hardly anything else plunges a family into such despair as not knowing the whereabouts and health of their beloved child. Precisely for this reason, our private detectives in Bremen approach such cases with particular sensitivity, in order to support the family during this difficult time not only professionally but also on a human level. This includes, among other things, endeavouring to commence investigations as quickly and straightforwardly as possible and not delaying families with lengthy bureaucratic procedures. Unlike the police, we do not have to apply for time-consuming internal authorisations in order, for example, to deploy specialist units such as mantrailing dogs, but can process incoming information immediately and dispatch our experts in the various fields of person searches to the target location at short notice. Through contacts with counselling psychotherapists, pastoral care can also be arranged on request.

In cases of child abduction, it is fundamentally imperative to act quickly, as every lead can go cold over time. Our Bremen detectives pursue every suspicion and every tip from the immediate environment and from outside sources in order to advance the search and return the child to their family as quickly as possible and unharmed. There are no taboos on lines of thought, and it is often precisely the neutral perspective from outside that leads to the recognition of decisive connections – especially when it is the eye of an experienced private investigator.

Special Case: Removal of a Child Abroad – Our Bremen Detectives Also Take Action Here

The search for children who have been taken abroad is particularly challenging. As mentioned, this often occurs in binational families where, following separation, one parent takes the child permanently to their home country against the will of the other. While searching for children within Germany is already a time-consuming and demanding task requiring great tact, the level of difficulty can increase significantly in foreign countries. Not only does the geographical distance complicate the search, but looser registration requirements, inadequate cooperation between authorities and German investigative bodies, language barriers and the frequently observed scepticism towards strangers when it comes to providing information are among the many inhibiting factors.

Thanks to the close-knit network of contacts of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen, we can not only obtain rapid legal assessments of the respective legal situation, for example regarding international extradition agreements and national custody arrangements, but also deploy qualified and locally knowledgeable specialist investigators at short notice. This applies to search assignments within the EU, for example in France or in eastern European member states such as Romania, as well as to assignments in Africa, America, Asia and Australia.

Instructing Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Has a child in your family been abducted by a relative, an unknown person or a known third party, and you do not know where the child is or whether he or she is safe and well? Do you feel that the police could be significantly assisted by additional investigations carried out by independent specialists? Do you want to leave no opportunity unused in order to determine the whereabouts of your child, grandchild or foster child and to bring them back unharmed and healthy, then get in touch with our renowned detective agency in Bremen: by email at kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de or by telephone on +49 421 3679 9066.

Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Hollerallee 26

D-28209 Bremen

Tel.: +49 421 3679 9066

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-bremen.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-bremen

Dream Plot Spotted? Kurtz Investigations Bremen Identifies Owners and Backgrounds

Do you know the situation: you have just moved into a new flat or house and suddenly discover another property (plot, house, flat) that makes your dreams come true? Murphy’s law – anything that can go wrong will go wrong – strikes again and you are left furious. What if you find an unused plot with the perfect dimensions in your desired neighbourhood and are interested in buying it, but you do not know how to contact the owner? There is no letterbox or nameplate anywhere, and the neighbours do not know a contact person either. Our private detectives from Bremen will be happy to help: nationwide (!) we obtain land registry enquiries to identify the owner or owners and the precise ownership structure of the relevant property. But that is not all; where there is a legitimate interest we can also provide a great deal of additional data on request:

• the exact size of the developable area,
• the total plot area,
• any mortgages or charges registered against the property, etc.

With this information you can already form a fairly comprehensive picture and avoid a nasty surprise that many property buyers experience due to false statements by sellers (real estate fraud): undisclosed mortgages, exaggerated area data, co-owners and so on.

If you know the alleged owner of a plot or property and initial purchase talks have already begun, doubts frequently remain regarding reputation and reliability. Through the comprehensive property investigations of Kurtz Corporate Detective Agency Bremen, which on request also include checks on the seller’s background (creditworthiness, criminal record), doubts can be dispelled or confirmed. If the seller, for example, appears unusually hurried in an attempt to dispose of the property as quickly as possible, exercise caution: is the plot perhaps only leased and is he not the lawful owner? Is it even a hereditary leasehold plot that will automatically pass into the hands of another family after a certain period? Is further private building permitted at all, or does the plot lie in a protected conservation area, is it only usable for agricultural or forestry purposes, or is it classified as commercial land? Our Bremen detectives bring all these matters to light and thus prevent you from making a hasty purchase based on false premises and information: +49 421 3679 9066.

Valuation of Real Estate

If you want the value of a property determined so as not to fall prey to a rip-off or fraud, our corporate detectives from Bremen, with their contacts to independent surveyors and appraisers, can mediate assistance. They base their assessments on the so-called Real Estate Valuation Ordinance (ImmoWertV) issued by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), which aims to achieve a proper and comprehensible valuation. ImmoWertV orients the valuation to the conditions of the land market at the time of assessment; future developments (price changes due to infrastructure improvements or deteriorations, planned changes in law, municipal planning, etc.) and foreseeable alternative uses are also taken into account. Location, size, condition, type and extent of structural use, rights and encumbrances on the plot and potential problems for future development (biotopes, conservation areas on the plot, public purpose designation, etc.) are likewise included in the valuation.

Even if the seller makes a friendly, competent and trustworthy impression, without background checks you can never be certain you are not being swindled. If the object of desire is on the market at an unbelievably low purchase price, there is probably a catch. Our investigations in Bremen sometimes reveal that planned extensions such as a terrace or the demolition of non-load-bearing internal walls will in fact never be possible, because the building—conveniently omitted or allegedly inadvertently not mentioned by the seller—is a listed monument. What turns into a disaster after purchase can easily be exposed before you sign the binding purchase contract by engaging our Bremen private detectives: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de.

Indebted Seller = Indebted Plot? Property Purchase and Mortgage Debts

It does not always mean you must forego buying when a property is offered by an indebted seller, because not all debts have to be assumed by the buyer. Since Section 419 of the German Civil Code (BGB) was repealed without replacement by the legislature in 1999, not all debts encumbering a property are transferred with the purchase. Only claims registered in the land register must be assumed. If the mortgages recorded in the land register exceed the purchase price, there can be enforced execution or foreclosure regardless of private agreements between seller and buyer if the new owner cannot service the remaining debts. Should the seller declare insolvency or become in need of care, the newly acquired property could, in the worst case, fall into the insolvency estate and the buyer be left without house and without money.

For precisely this reason, a land registry enquiry by our detectives in Bremen is a worthwhile safeguard to protect you from unwittingly assuming debts.

Do You Need Enquiries Before a Property Purchase?

Are you about to conclude a purchase or sign a long-term tenancy agreement but want to dispel last doubts? Do you find the seller or landlord suspicious? Do you want to ensure that the property is actually sound and that no nasty surprises await you? Then contact our Bremen corporate investigators: +49 421 3679 9066.

Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Hollerallee 26

D-28209 Bremen

Tel.: +49 421 3679 9066

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-bremen.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-bremen

Condemning Detectives Means Protecting Offenders

In the media, private detectives such as the investigators of our detective agency in Bremen are frequently labelled as "snoopers". This derogatory categorisation appears in television productions as well as in audio, print and online media. In recent years, the much-discussed, more or less anonymous user comments under newspaper articles on websites and, of course, in social networks have been added to this. These often not only reveal a great deal about the upbringing of some authors, but also give a quite serious and authentic picture of the public perception of detectives.

The number of those who recognise the usefulness and necessity of detective evidence-gathering is often outweighed by those who see no justification for "snooping" – even when, for example, a notorious malingerer who is causing substantial damage to his employer can only be exposed by the investigations of IHK-certified corporate detectives. The intrusion into privacy is deemed unacceptable and the profession in general labelled as for "Stasi snoopers" who stand under their partners’ slippers at home – such and more can be read. Unfortunately, this perception only illuminates one side of the coin and clearly takes sides – not for the victims (in the example of the malingerer = the employer), but for the perpetrators (the employee)! Why this argument is short-sighted and why qualified private detectives make an important contribution to society is what Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen would like to explain below.

False Expectations: From Real Scandals, Violent TV Detectives and Miraculous Abilities ...

That the detective profession has a disreputable reputation for many people is partly self-inflicted, namely by individuals who harm the reputation of the entire industry. Mostly, however, the standing of the profession is scratched by a number of external factors that impinge on the German investigative sphere. One is politics, which even some 150 years after the founding of the first German detective office in Dresden (by H. L. Römer) still has not managed to create admission requirements for practising as a private investigator. As a result, any citizen with a criminal record certificate that shows no entries can register a detective business – whether qualified or completely clueless. Untrained wannabe investigators are of course unfamiliar with their legal powers, which leads them to accept assignments for which the fundamental legitimate interest does not exist. Moreover, they resort to disproportionate and therefore illegal means in their "investigations". Thus, in 2008 the magazine stern exposed the notorious LIDL scandal, in which the discounter used some of the cheapest private detectives available on the market and paid dearly for it, because these cut-price detectives were, as one might expect, not the crème de la crème of our industry and carried out serious data protection breaches on behalf of the supermarket chain; employees were observed and photographed in their private spheres, bugged and filmed. The scandal detectives even documented the number of toilet visits at work and thereby permanently damaged the profession’s reputation among the public.

Furthermore, the media play a major part in the public perception of detectives. Scripted nonsense shows such as "Privatdetektive im Einsatz" with the acting and overly violent bodybuilder "Carsten Stahl" as the supposed head of a detective agency give viewers an equally preposterous false impression of the reality of detective work as "Die Trovatos", which centres on an embarrassing investigator family that illegally listens to targets with directional microphones, openly takes observation positions twenty metres from the observed persons, plays alleged live video surveillance on a tablet or laptop via Windows Media Player and records Christmas singles at Ballermann level in their free time. That these are not only low points of German television but also deliberate dumbing down of the public is shown by the frequent enquiries to our private detectives in Bremen, in which deceived husbands and desperate mothers of children refer to the dishonest methods of the aforementioned television investigators and demand the same from us.

Not only modern German productions convey a false impression; even quite high-quality media material about the detective profession leads people astray: the familiar clichés from American films about the backyard detective office (hardboiled) with a gruff, armed investigator and a disreputable femme fatale as client belong more to the realm of urban myths, the talent of the eccentric investigator "Monk" from the popular series to solve cases through a kind of vision of the crime borders on supernatural ability, and even the fairly realistic literary detective Sherlock Holmes fuels excessive expectations through the sheer genius of his deductions that hardly any real person can meet, perhaps with the Victorian Joseph Bell as a possible exception.

If the police do nothing and detectives are only snoopers, who is supposed to help victims?

Serious investigators such as our detectives from Bremen deliver court-admissible evidence. Who needs evidence? Victims. Should victims be protected? This question needs no answer. Who do detectives’ investigations harm? Perpetrators and, with very, very large reservations, wrongly suspected persons. Should perpetrators be protected? Certainly not from the disclosure of their criminal acts. The crucial issue here is the question of offender protection versus victim protection. Should one differentiate? Our private and corporate detective agency from Bremen must certainly do so, because the choice of investigative methods and the extent of surveillance depend largely on the suspected offence. The rule here is: actio equals reactio. We do not act in order to coerce law-abiding citizens into committing offences; rather, we observe criminal acts (whether legally or morally) to help the victims of these offences assert their rights. Incidentally, German case law sees it the same way, because detective costs incurred to expose an offender are recoverable.

Of course it happens that a client unjustly suspects a target person. That is why we try to interfere as little as possible with the personality rights of the person under observation during our surveillance. Whom should a deceived wife turn to if she is continually betrayed by her husband? Should she simply put up with it? That would certainly please some adulterers, and following their exposure there can sometimes be threats of violence against our "snoopers". But who is to blame: the one who commits the offence, or the one who observes it?

The same applies to cases of domestic violence, sexual abuse or maintenance fraud. Here, citizens become victims of offences where the competent authority was unable to help them (otherwise they would not turn to our private detective agency in Bremen). Without "snoopers", Mrs Müller would be beaten by her husband day after day. Without "snoopers", Mrs Meier’s daughter would cry herself to sleep night after night after "Dad" was sexually abusive again. Without "snoopers", Mrs Werner would not know how to pay for her children’s schoolbooks because the Porsche-driving father successfully claims in court to have no income. Without "snoopers", Mr Fischer would never see his only son again, as he is missing and cannot be found by anyone. These clients see no other way out of their misery than to commission our agency. Such an assignment by a victim is neither immoral, nor is a detective acting reprehensibly when taking on these cases and thus helping people in distress.

The same goes for our corporate detectives in Bremen: did you know that over half of all economic offences against German companies are committed by their own employees? As managing director of Schmidt Logistik GmbH, must you tolerate continuous theft of your property by your delivery drivers? Must the owner of the ambulatory care service Schneider accept that his carer on the road prefers to go to the casino rather than to his clients in need of care? Must the tax advisor Hoffmann stand by and watch while his employees are constantly overloaded and cannot complete their work on time because a colleague is permanently on sick leave? In a just world, hardly.

Detective Agencies Are Private Auxiliary Organs of the Rule of Law

Investigations, in particular surveillance, are interventions in the personality rights of the target person(s) – our Bremen agency can no more avoid this than any other investigative service, including the police, customs and tax investigators. However, our tasks include keeping these intrusions as minor as possible and only to the extent necessary. The proportionality of the means plays a just as decisive a role as the weighing up of the legitimate interest in an investigation. For example, it is almost always disproportionate to peep into a private dwelling; only a few exceptions relieve one from this rule, for example a concrete suspicion of an ongoing violent crime. The assessment of these legal particularities cannot be made reliably by laypersons. Good legal training is urgently required. That is why our private detectives in Bremen are IHK-certified professionals who have completed training as detectives. If you are looking for an investigator, do not be tempted by particularly low prices, but rather focus on the qualification of the personnel. Naturally, detective agencies can hardly provide references, because just like you our other clients wish to remain anonymous; distributing personal client data to prospective clients would be an unforgivable breach of trust.

The aim of every investigation is to obtain information, the human need for certainty. Law can only be administered if the injured party can substantiate their claims in a comprehensible way. By collecting court-admissible evidence, not only do the detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bremen help their clients to obtain their rights, but so do several hundred other reputable professional colleagues across Germany. The detective today is at once a celebrated pop star and figurehead (Sherlock Holmes), a cynically exploited marketing figure (various German TV productions) and a disreputable scandal-maker (untrustworthy amateur detectives). Above all, however, the modern private detective stands for decisive assistance in the enforcement of German law, for the support of victims and for the last straw for people in distressing life situations – Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen stands for that with its name: +49 421 3679 9066.

Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Hollerallee 26

D-28209 Bremen

Tel.: +49 421 3679 9066

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-bremen.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-bremen

Almost all missing persons cases are eventually resolved – but “eventually” often means too late.

According to statistics from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), between 250 and 300 people are reported missing every day. Although around half of these missing persons cases are resolved within one week, 80 per cent within the first month and an astonishing 97 per cent within the first year after the missing person report, not all cases can naturally be concluded positively. This may be because the persons concerned wish to disappear, or because they are meant to disappear in cases of murder, abduction or life insurance fraud – and particularly in the latter constellation, urgency is of course required. Despite the high clearance rates of the BKA, the private and corporate detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bremen are comparatively often approached with requests to clarify the disappearance of beloved family members and friends, because in these cases time can save lives.

Among other things, because the BKA discontinues its searches for missing persons after a maximum of 30 years, relatives and friends are often left with no other option thereafter than to turn to detective agencies if, at such a late point in time, there is still hope of locating the person concerned or at least the possibility of finally learning the truth. However, even persons who have only recently disappeared often puzzle the police and the BKA, which is why relatives turn to our private detectives in Bremen at an early stage in order to obtain help and achieve the location of the missing person: +49 421 3679 9066.

When Is Someone Considered “Missing” and When “Missing and Presumed Dead”?

The term “missing”, in contrast to so-called “missing and presumed dead” (official status designation), is a rather vaguely defined term. “Missing” is a term used in common language, but not legally exploitable, for something or someone who has disappeared, without the term defining this disappearance in more detail. Under German law, a person is deemed missing and presumed dead if no sign of life has been received from them for ten years (or five years for persons over 80 years of age); exceptions apply to missing soldiers (one year after the end of a war), aircraft and ship disasters (six and three months respectively). Classification as missing and presumed dead entails a declaration of death of the missing person under German law, whereas a missing person is not necessarily declared dead.

The classification as missing or missing and presumed dead plays no role in the deployability of our detectives in Bremen, as they are committed in any case to locating the disappeared persons.

Criminal Police and Detective Agencies in the Search for Missing Persons

Missing persons cases as dealt with in many different early evening formats of private television channels are not included in the missing persons statistics published by the BKA, but almost always – with the exception of a few individual cases – constitute a small part of person searches that are intended to bring about a rediscovery after loss of contact with the help of said television formats or indeed Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen. Truly missing persons who disappear from one moment to the next from their home, school, workplace or while travelling, often suggesting a criminal offence or a deliberate running away, are, by contrast, an everyday component of the investigations of the BKA and private and corporate detective agencies.

Even though the disappearance of children and adolescents – particularly during rebellious phases – can often be clarified quickly (frequently within a week or just a few days), a positive result cannot always be achieved. Rare individual cases, which ultimately conceal abductions, murders or cover-up actions such as life insurance fraud cases, require special sensitivity and specialist knowledge, which our trained corporate detectives from Bremen possess. While the criminal police, due to the sheer number of cases combined with chronic staff shortages, are often, if not always, overstretched and frequently cannot contribute in a timely manner to clarifying the disappearance of persons, detectives intervene where a case may no longer be given the necessary attention or important details remain unnoticed or are dismissed as insignificant.

Child Abduction or Child Abduction by a Parent?

While, for example, in 2012, of 6,319 cases of missing children (up to and including 13 years of age), fortunately 6,300 cases and thus almost 100 per cent could be clarified by the BKA, it is apparent that the remaining 19 cases (which may in some instances date back up to 30 years) are largely attributable to child abductions by one of the holders of custody rights and so-called “unaccompanied refugee children”. In order to ensure the safety of the children and further (criminal) police investigations, even in known cases of child abduction the term “missing persons case” is used as long as a risk to the child cannot be ruled out. In the 852 cases that, since the first registration of missing children in 1951, have not been resolved to this day, it must be feared that the children became victims of a criminal offence or an accident, that they are dead or that they are in a so-called “situation of helplessness” (BKA designation).

The Versatile Deployment of Detectives in Missing Persons Cases

The figures for missing adults largely resemble those for missing children, meaning that although an enormous proportion of missing persons cases can be resolved, there are still individual cases in which the investigative work of Kurtz Investigations Bremen decisively complements or even surpasses that of the criminal police. Regardless of the type of missing persons case presented to us, our detectives from Bremen are equally committed and not only assist with long-awaited family reunions and with locating sought-after friends from childhood days, but also with child abductions by one parent, suspected abductions and in all cases of other suspected criminal offences. Private detectives have different scopes of action than the authorities and are staffed to devote the necessary attention to the case.

A valuable tool of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen for locating missing persons are mantrailer dogs, which use organic scent traces of the missing person for a highly precise tracking search and achieve an impressive hit and clearance rate. Those affected can contact the IHK-certified detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bremen at any time during our business hours to discuss, plan and ultimately carry out the detailed procedure in their specific case: +49 421 3679 9066 or kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de.

Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Hollerallee 26

D-28209 Bremen

Tel.: +49 421 3679 9066

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-bremen.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-bremen

Undisclosed Defects in the Rental Property

For many people, there is only one truly important place in life: home, a place where one can feel comfortable and recover from the stresses of the working week. Finding such a home is often made difficult not only by housing shortages or steadily rising rental and purchase prices but also by fraudulent, seemingly competent real estate agents or landlords who often sour the experience for prospective tenants. The detectives of the Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen are frequently commissioned to investigate both small- and large-scale real estate fraud and face an almost limitless willingness to commit criminal acts within the property sector.

Often, new tenants moving into their dream apartment in the centre of Bremen or other major cities encounter significant problems upon moving in, suddenly faced with major rental defects that were deliberately concealed or even covered up by the agent or property owner – ranging from mould on walls to rotting ceilings or floors, or well-disguised structural defects. Bremen private detectives are deployed in such cases to support disadvantaged tenants by documenting the defects and the deliberate concealment, observing the perpetrators if necessary, researching further similar offences, and establishing professional cover stories to obtain court-admissible evidence, with the combined aim of exposing the fraudsters: +49 421 3679 9066.

Extreme Case: Double Rental by an Unauthorized Party

A particularly serious case confronted the detectives of the Kurtz Corporate Detective Agency Bremen when our clients had seemingly legally rented an apartment, only to discover shortly after moving in that they were not the sole tenants. They had paid rent and a deposit to a fraudster who had no authority to offer the apartment at all. Fraudulent (pseudo-)landlords and supposed agents present properties as their own, provide prospective tenants with the necessary documents, and claim to be the legitimate owners or authorised representatives, while the property in fact belongs to someone else and is not on the market. For tenants, this is naturally both a financial and logistical disaster, which is why some resourceful victims engage a detective agency like Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen to pursue the perpetrators, secure compensation, and protect future tenants from similar issues.

Thanks to their wide range of investigative methods and extensive experience, our private and corporate detectives from Bremen are usually able to uncover these criminal agents or landlords and bring them to justice.

Tenants Become Fraudsters – Defrauding Other Tenants

According to the property portal "immowelt.de," there are various adaptations of the landlord fraud described above, in which our Bremen private detectives have been involved. Holiday rental platforms such as AirBnB, which offer apartments for short periods, often just for the duration of a holiday, are particularly exploited for this scam: private individuals rent out their own apartment to supposed holidaymakers, who then advertise the seemingly vacant, furnished property as available for long-term rental, conducting viewings for prospective tenants – well-dressed and well-prepared. The interested parties sign a lease, pay a deposit, a commission, and the first month’s rent. By the time the actual residents realise what has happened, the fraudulent "holidaymaker"/"agent" has long disappeared with the payments.

Depositing Deposits in Cash Before Signing the Contract?

It is almost routine in German, and especially in foreign, major cities to demand significantly more than two months’ rent as a deposit and even insist on cash payment. Prospective tenants without citizenship in the relevant country are often duped in this way. Therefore, the more a broker, landlord, or property owner insists on cash payment instead of a transfer without good reason, the more unprofessional and questionable their methods appear. In Bremen, our detectives recently uncovered the activities of a property manager who legally rented out apartments of others but significantly increased the deposits demanded by the owners, kept the excess cash for themselves, and even withheld the deposit after tenants moved out under dubious pretences. By using Bremen detectives as decoys, the manager was finally confronted with their wrongdoing, leading the property owners to become aware of the fraud and take legal action.

Such a positive outcome is not always guaranteed; for instance, if the perpetrator is no longer traceable in Germany (debtor flight) and their attachable accounts are abroad. If the police cannot pursue the usually existing traces further, affected tenants have little option but to obtain evidence themselves, often by commissioning the Kurtz Private Detective Agency Bremen to produce court-admissible documentation of the fraud. To avoid such cases from the outset, tenants should always pay deposits only after signing a rental contract – although this does not guarantee an honest arrangement.

I Have Fallen Victim to a Fraudster – What Now?

Regardless of the type of fraud you have experienced, our private detectives in Bremen are always available and capable of advising victims of such property fraud on their options. Depending on the situation, we can initiate surveillance in consultation with you, conduct research and undercover interviews, set traps for the perpetrators, and much more.

Of course, our investigators are happy to present the evidence obtained in any court proceedings and will remain at your side even after the case concludes. You can also help reduce detective costs by organising and providing all documents, files, emails, and other materials related to the fraud. Even seemingly insignificant documents can be useful for the Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen in later investigations and contribute to exposing the perpetrator. For instance, if it concerns the concealment of rental defects, you should photograph all defects immediately with a date stamp (modern smartphones make this easy). Our IHK-certified detectives in Bremen will then take care of the rest: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de.

Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Hollerallee 26

D-28209 Bremen

Tel.: +49 421 3679 9066

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-bremen.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-bremen

As we saw not only in Part 1 of our series “Detectives and Pipes” but also in a review of typical detective clichés, detective characters cultivate the enjoyment of pipe smoking not only in literature and film but also in real life – at least some of the private investigators at Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen. Among fictional pipe-smoking detectives, Sherlock Holmes is probably the most famous, but even Inspector Maigret is always described with a pipe, and in modern times, many book covers of Jacques Berndorf’s Eifel crime novels feature the favourite accessory of his murder-solving protagonist Siggi Baumeister.

While the pipe-smoking investigator in fiction is often portrayed as light-footed and elegant, the production of a pipe is in reality a very long and painstaking process. Fewer and fewer people master this craft, and Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen would like to draw special attention to one of them here: Poul Winsløw.

Winsløw’s Beginnings as a Pupil of Preben Holm

The stronghold of pipe smoking has long been, not England, but Denmark, so it is no surprise that the most famous pipe makers come from this small country north of Schleswig-Holstein – including Poul Winsløw. Born in 1951, he initially trained as a chemigraph, a now-extinct profession in the printing industry. Even as a teenager, Winsløw had a great passion for pipes, and at 17 he decided to leave his apprenticeship and become a pupil of one of the best and most renowned pipe makers of his time, Preben Holm. There he learned the craft from the ground up.

As he himself says, he “must have done quite well” in his work, because after a short time the apprentice was allowed to give the pipes more and more of his own touch and ideas, rather than just sweeping the floor and performing minor tasks. Preben Holm held his new pupil in high regard, and Winsløw quickly rose to become the chief assistant. Even when Winsløw was called up for military service, Holm offered to continue paying one-third of his salary during this period to ensure he would return – which Winsløw gladly did, later even taking responsibility for the entire production. Unfortunately, Holm, Winsløw’s friend and mentor, became seriously ill some time later and had to close his pipe workshop in 1985.

Popularity Boost as Live Pipe Maker for Stanwell

Suddenly unemployed, Winsløw seized the opportunity to become self-employed. His small workshop in his home in Hvidovre, a suburb of Copenhagen, ran well, but as our detectives from Bremen know, it is always difficult to establish oneself in a business. Help came from Stanwell, still Denmark’s largest pipe and tobacco manufacturer. The company took Winsløw to trade fairs, where he finished pipes live in front of an audience – an attraction then as now, and a good opportunity to make contacts. Although he was not allowed to sell his own pipes during these events for Stanwell, he nevertheless established himself over time as a top-quality pipe maker who repeatedly adds his own touch and a good dose of individuality to his creations. He still cannot resist “spicing up” otherwise rather classic-looking pipes with coloured inlays or metal elements, often silver or acrylic. Critics have thus described his pipes as being made for snobs or eccentric collectors with a taste for quirky design, as the extra work and effort is reflected in correspondingly high prices, usually several hundred euros.

In truth, however, Poul Winsløw is a pipe maker out of passion, and as such would never consider reserving his pipes for a small, exclusive circle. For a long time, “more classic” pipes with a subtler look and lower price range have also been part of his repertoire. These pipes, sold under the label “Crown”, now make up the majority of the roughly 7,000 pipes that leave his workshop annually – which is still located in small Hvidovre. This is an impressive number for a pipe maker who still works by hand; nevertheless, each classic Poul Winsløw pipe remains a unique piece. He is assisted by a small number of employees, allowing him at least a little leisure time and enabling him to indulge his interest in colours and patterns in another field – as besides being a pipe maker, Winsløw is now also a passionate painter.

Many Private Detectives Are Pipe Enthusiasts

So whether the keen pipe enthusiast is enjoying a smoke as a private detective in Bremen after a successful surveillance or in private, without having spent the day on private investigations or cases of corporate fraud: it is a pleasant feeling to hold a piece of traditional craftsmanship in one’s hand. Of course, it does not have to be a pipe by Poul Winsløw – but it will always remain something very special!

Author: Gerrit Koehler

Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Hollerallee 26

D-28209 Bremen

Tel.: +49 421 3679 9066

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-bremen.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-bremen

Address Research for Family Reunification

Joe R. from the USA contacts Kurtz Investigations Bremen by email at kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de. He claims to be searching for his uncle, who moved to Germany at a young age and with whom he now wishes to re-establish contact. Joe provides our Bremen detectives with an old registered address of the target person, as well as the name and date of birth. The registered address is in Bremerhaven, and the target person’s date of birth is three years later than Joe R.’s. As this constellation is not impossible but at least unusual, our private detectives in Bremen enquire how this came about. The answer is simple: Joe R. says he was born to his mother at the age of 16, while his grandmother did not have the uncle until her mid-forties. The detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bremen believe Joe and commence the investigation into the target person’s address.

Numerous Registered Addresses, None Current – Target Person of Our Bremen Detectives Moved Abroad

As standard procedure, our private detectives initially conduct a database search via our partners. This reveals several former registered addresses, as the known address in Bremerhaven dated back to the 1980s. Since then, the target person had lived for extended periods in Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and again in Bremen. In 2011, he finally moved abroad without leaving a forwarding address. Consequently, he would no longer be traceable for our Bremen detectives via German registers.

This information is passed on by operations management to Joe R., while at the same time outlining further research options abroad. Joe R. expands his original assignment to include address research in Europe, which under the billing model of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen incurs approximately three times the cost of a search limited to Germany. This is somewhat surprising, as the objective is “only” the search for an uncle whom the client has never met.

Locating the Target Person by Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen: Chief Executive of a Medium-Sized Group

With the assistance of several cooperation partners in Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe, our detectives from Bremen are finally able to identify the target person: he is the Chief Executive Officer of a medium-sized company based in the United Kingdom. His professional biography lists numerous senior roles at other significant companies. Alarm bells begin to ring for the investigating private detectives from Bremen. With considerable effort, the target person’s secretary can be contacted, and with even greater effort we persuade her to connect us to her superior. The detectives outline their request and provide him with the name of the client. The person located reacts with little enthusiasm, states that he knows no one by that name, has no connection to the region from which he is allegedly supposed to originate, and has no idea what our enquiry is about. Despite the rather brusque tone of the target person, the detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen thank him for the information and end the call.

Termination of the Address Investigation by Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Naturally, our private detectives confront Joe R. with the statements of the target person. To this day, however, despite multiple attempts at contact after describing the events by email, there has been no response from the alleged nephew. It is therefore highly likely that our detective services were engaged for illegal motives and that the information obtained by us was intended to be misused for improper purposes. Kurtz Investigations Bremen is still awaiting settlement of the invoice; however, the necessary civil law steps to recover the outstanding amount have been initiated, as we are in possession of the client’s identification.

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

Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Hollerallee 26

D-28209 Bremen

Tel.: +49 421 3679 9066

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-bremen.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-bremen

The operators of company xy, which runs an entertainment centre in Bremen, recently contacted the detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen in desperation. They were on the brink of insolvency and would have to lay off staff at short notice, as company profits had sharply declined over the past two years. This could not be reasonably explained, as customers continued to frequent the business as usual. Consequently, someone from the relatively small staff must have been embezzling, and this is where the commercial detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen were called in.

Employee Thorsten D. had joined the company two years earlier and had since worked daily at the cash register. He is a young student seeking to supplement his student income at the affected entertainment centre. As the first discrepancies in the cash register were traced to just three weeks after Thorsten D.’s employment began, he was considered the prime suspect at the start of our Bremen private detectives’ investigation.

Consequently, the loyalty of Thorsten D., whom the clients of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen had trusted despite lacking references, was tested by our detectives. Initially, the pre-installed surveillance camera at Thorsten D.’s workstation was checked, revealing that a specific sequence of movements made it possible to pocket customer payments without being recorded. To cover the camera’s restricted angle, which had been installed with the employees’ knowledge, the tactical positioning of the first observer was determined. A second detective from our Bremen private and commercial detective agency was assigned the role of decoy. Under the pretext of purchasing a day ticket for the client’s sports area, he handed Thorsten D. two marked banknotes. Later, video recordings clearly showed Thorsten D. using exactly the trick rehearsed by the investigators, pocketing the marked notes while returning change – thus causing double harm to his employer.

The detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen monitored this procedure closely. The decoy detective repeated the money handover twice: each time, the suspect Thorsten D. literally pocketed the marked bills.

At 22:00, Thorsten D. closed the business. Suddenly, he saw the decoy of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen in front of him:

• “You know why I’m here.”
• Silence.
• “You have two options: either you tell me everything or you tell the police. I might be willing to go easy on you; the police certainly won’t.”

Wordlessly, Thorsten D. reopened the business, walked with his head down to his locker, and retrieved an envelope containing banknotes. Our Bremen detective counted and checked the notes, totalling approximately 600 euros.

• “I told you, you had two options. I see 600 euros here, including one marked note. But today I gave you four marked notes – where’s the rest?”
• Thorsten D. visibly slumped: “Sorry, sorry, I really didn’t mean it! Believe me! I still have some in my pocket. I lost track…”
• “Now we will sit down and talk about everything. Your boss and their lawyer are waiting at the back. What you tell me now may help you. If you are honest, we can go easy on you.”

Subsequently, Thorsten D. confessed to having stolen approximately 100,000 euros, possibly more, from his employer’s cash register since starting work. He could no longer accurately estimate the total, stating that he had spent some of the money on his studies and to help friends, with a significant portion still in cash at his apartment. Thorsten D. agreed to lead our Bremen investigators and his employer to the hiding place of the stolen sum and immediately hand over the remaining cash. The group, consisting of the employer, lawyer and our Bremen detectives, followed him as agreed and secured over 36,000 euros in cash. During further questioning, Thorsten D. disclosed additional hiding places, handing over a total of over 41,000 euros, which our Bremen private detectives were able to secure.

By a fortunate coincidence for the clients of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen, Thorsten D. is the son of a reasonably prominent member of Bremen’s political scene. As a result, the following working day, an agreement was quickly reached with a notary to settle the outstanding balance of approximately 60,000 euros from Thorsten D.’s thefts.

The clients of Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen were thus spared from staff layoffs and imminent insolvency through our investigations.

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

Kurtz Detective Agency Bremen

Hollerallee 26

D-28209 Bremen

Tel.: +49 421 3679 9066

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bremen.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-bremen.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-bremen