KOCHI: Gone are the days when private detectives sneaked into your neighbourhood to do pre-marriage background checks and employee verification. They have now graduated to professional units that verify investors’ assets, do corporate partners’ profile check and mole planting in corporate firms’ corridors to keep a close watch on its top-level officers.
For the past few days, men from Kochi-based Southern Detective Agency Pvt Ltd have been scouting the city’s supermarkets to find out their floor area, revenue, employee strength and salary. The task, being handled for a Singapore-based NRK businessman who wants to launch a supermarket in Kochi, is one of the several assignments they have on hand at the moment.
There are five leading private agencies in the state and all of them have been focusing mainly on assignments on asset verification, financial liabilities, investment deals and corporate verification. “The private detective sector has undergone a transformation in the past couple of years. Banks, corporates and investors are our main clients even though we’re still asked to do pre-marriage checks and spouse whereabout tracking. Investors have much faith in our investigation,” said Southern Detective’s general manager C J Babu.
“There’s an increase in the number of financial frauds in which companies and individuals end up as victims. Corporates are more careful than before about the deals and partnerships they make. As per our clients’ requirement, we prepare a detailed report with evidence to solve a range of issues including financial cheating and embezzlement of fund,” said Babu, whose firm handles an average of 40 to 50 such files a month.
“Individuals also seek our services in divorce cases, accidents, personal injury suits and other kinds of civil suits,” added Babu.Former state police chief Jacob Punnoose said the relevance of private agencies has increased in Kerala in the last couple of years with more people coming forward to make investment in different verticals.
“With financial frauds on the rise, people don’t want to take risk when it comes to entering into a partnership with third parties and making investment in new firms. It’s natural for them to employ such investigators to get accurate details,” said Punnoose.A top executive of Globe Detective Agency said, “There have been a spurt in clients seeking our services in asset verification and corporate verification.”