Private investigators must be intimately familiar with the Protection of Privacy Law. This law forbids the execution of investigations or the pursuit of a person that may harass the subject. Private investigators must remember that the publication of a person’s photograph which may humiliate or disgrace this person, especially if the photograph is widely published - is forbidden by law.
Private investigators must remember that any publication relating to the privacy of someone’s personal life is also forbidden. Private investigators acting in violation of the aforementioned law will be convicted and can anticipate a punishment of up until one year imprisonment.
Investigation of Divorce Cases:
During a divorce conflict between spouses, every spouse wants to reveal their partner’s hidden secrets. Often times the services of an investigation agency are hired. The husband (for example) many understand that he may be forced to pay extremely high alimony payments, for several years. The thought of this makes him restless.
The husband hires private investigators and explains the situation to them. The desire to avoid high alimony payments at all costs causes a person to forget or ignore the law. Private investigators come across a variety of interesting investigations over the course of their work. For example:
Eran, a 35 year old man, has been married to Nurit for five years, works as a car mechanic, and owns a small garage in south Tel Aviv. He works from early in the morning until the evening, and sometimes works on Fridays as well. He met his wife on the beach, and the two wed a short time after they met. Eran blindly loved Nurit. During the time before their wedding, their love was intense. A few minutes after the marriage ceremony, Eran signed a ketubah (marriage document) worth 1.5 million shekels.
Everything seemed meaningless then. After the wedding and the honeymoon, Eran and Nurit both resumed their life routines. Eran returned to work for several hours a day and his wife was a student at Tel Aviv University. The relationship started to deteriorate after approximately two years. Eran suspected that his wife was being unfaithful, but chose to turn a blind eye.
Eran could not fall asleep for entire nights, despite the fact that he had to go to work during the early morning hours. He tossed and turned restlessly, as he was filled with disturbing thoughts. Eran loved his wife and let go of his suspicions. He convinced himself that it was all in his head - there was no chance that Nurit was cheating on him. Days, weeks, months, and years passed.
One evening when he came home from work, he saw his wife waiting for him in the kitchen. “Eran,” she said, “I want a divorce. I’m not happy with you. Here’s a divorce agreement, sign it and we can separate”. Eran saw that in the divorce settlement Nurit had asked for half of his property, their apartment, monthly support payments, and the full sum written in the ketubah - 1.5 million shekels. “Your demands are unreasonable… there’s no way I’m signing this document”, he told Nurit and left the house.
That evening, on the advice of a friend, Eran approached an investigation agency. Eran told the investigators about his suspicion that Nurit was being unfaithful, and told them that he wanted to install concealed cameras throughout the apartment. Eran mentioned to the investigators that he would notify his wife that he would be living with his parents until matters were settled between them. He thought that during this time he would be able to film his wife with other men, in the apartment.
The investigators hurried to coordinate the installation of the cameras the next morning, when Nurit was studying. The next morning two investigators arrived at the apartment and installed six concealed cameras, one in each of the rooms (including the bedroom and the kitchen). Ten days later they returned to the apartment and took down the photographic equipment.
After examining the video footage that was collected on a computer disk, the investigators quickly contacted Eran in order to inform him that his wife had met with four different men over the course of ten days. The tapes provided indisputable evidence that Nurit had had sexual intercourse with three of the men in the kitchen, living room, and bedroom.
These were high quality tapings, of a definitively unambiguous nature. Eran arrived at the investigation agency offices and collected two copies of the taped footage from the investigators. His next stop was a young lawyer, recommended to him by a close friend. “He won’t rip you off,” the friend had said.
The lawyer watched the tapes and smiled. “Don’t worry,” he told Eran. “You’re all set… approaching the private investigators was a smart move… the video footage from the concealed cameras will save you a lot of money.”
A few months later, a divorce proceeding discussion was held in a rabbinical court. Eran arrived at the court accompanied by a young, talented lawyer and a “winning” video tape. The case was resolved with great speed. No monthly support payments and no ketubah! Eran was greatly relieved and thanked his lawyer. Later on he called the investigation agency and thanked the investigators who had helped him from the bottom of his heart.
A few days later the young lawyer called Eran and informed him that his wife’s representative demanded to receive a copy of the tape. Later on, he went to a police station and filed a complaint against Eran for violating the Protection of Privacy Law! Eran was summoned to an interrogation at the police station.
All the infidelity and monetary demands of his wife were forgotten. He was filled with fear and helplessness as he was accused of committing harsh offenses by the investigators. Eran agreed to pay his wife the full amount of money requested if she dropped the charges against him.
His friend’s recommendation to approach an investigation agency cost Eran a great deal of money. Beyond that, Eran chose to be tempted into performing serious acts by installing concealed cameras in his apartment that greatly injured his wife’s privacy without consulting a lawyer.
Even after he approached a lawyer specializing in family law, he was not warned that he had broken the law. The opposite was true. That young lawyer who specialized in family law was nevertheless clueless regarding criminal law. The attempt to find a lawyer who “wouldn’t rip him off” ended up costing a lot of money!
Eran should have consulted a lawyer before approaching an investigation agency, installing concealed cameras, or taking any other action.
It is important to remember: it is always possible to prove a partner’s infidelity by legal means and without violating the Law for Protection of Privacy (or any other law). You should consult with experts in the field and not rush to perform forbidden acts.
Remember, private investigators who install concealed cameras for you under these circumstances are breaking the law just like you. Do not be tempted to commit a crime, and don’t order the aforementioned service from a technical professional. Private investigators offering to install concealed cameras in bedrooms or anywhere else under these circumstances are breaking the law and putting you in danger.
Experienced private investigators who act legally are the guarantee for the quality of investigations. Several years of experience in the investigative field have taught us that impressive results can be attained without breaking the law.
Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising - A Private Investigation Agency ensures you investigations and information services on a different level!
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