LifeNews.am spoke with Hayk Gabrielyan, founder of Gabrielyan & Partners Detective Bureau and a police lieutenant colonel, about the creation and work of Armenia’s first detective bureau. He says:
“I think that as children and teenagers, having read the masterpieces of world detective fiction, every boy imagined himself as Sherlock Holmes, Poirot or some other hero. I was no exception. I founded the detective organisation with my brother Gagik. Our decision was driven by the wish to put the experience and knowledge we had gained over our careers to use for the benefit of the state, companies and individuals — and to make real a professional dream we often heard from colleagues during our long years in law enforcement: ‘If only a detective company would open one day…’. In short, Armenia’s first-ever detective organisation became a reality as a blend of a childhood dream, work and professional experience, and the wishes of thousands of colleagues in law enforcement.”
Asked when to turn to a detective for help and what problems the bureau can solve, Gabrielyan replied:
“There are many reasons to use the services of a private investigator or detective. Above all, as someone conducting an alternative investigation, a detective can help establish the truth and give you the evidence you need to make well-founded decisions. The range of a private detective’s services is very wide: from finding a lost cat to locating and bringing home a child abducted abroad, from identifying the author of a ‘nasty comment’ on social media to searching for a missing person or exposing dishonest employees, and so on. As a member of the World Association of Detectives, our bureau provides Armenian citizens and organisations with a range of services not only in Armenia but in some 160 countries, including legal assistance on matters involving the law enforcement systems of those countries. The bureau coordinates the Association’s work in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.”
Asked what problems people come with most often, he said:
“Among the most common reasons:
Corporate clients:
- assessing the legal and financial reliability of business partners, including analysing the personal and professional profile of partner companies’ executives;
- background checks on employees’ integrity and verification of existing information;
- information and legal support when acquiring stakes in a business or concluding contracts and commercial deals, verifying information provided by partners (previous shareholders, the real reasons for a sale, financial or legal problems, etc.);
- corporate, audit and financial investigations.
Private clients:
- checking information about a person;
- keeping an eye on a minor’s leisure time and preventing antisocial behaviour;
- checking information about household staff (nannies, carers, cleaners, etc.);
- tracing debtors and missing persons;
- private investigations into antisocial acts involving fraud, theft, cryptocurrencies and financial pyramids, and help in taking the information gathered to law enforcement;
- assistance with vehicle purchases, verifying information provided by the seller (previous owners, the real reasons for the sale, fines, insurance or legal problems, etc.);
- assistance with property purchases, verifying information provided by the seller (previous occupants, the real reasons for the sale, information about the neighbours, legal problems, etc.).
These are the main areas clients come to us with.”
Hayk Gabrielyan declined to share any funny cases, explaining:
“There are funny cases, but given our line of work and the principle of client confidentiality, we won’t share them. Maybe in twenty years I’ll write about them in my memoirs. Instead, let me tell you a joke on the subject.
Two friends are talking.
— You know, cleaning my apartment costs me 50 dollars a day.
— Why so expensive?
— I pay our young maid 10 dollars, and my wife pays a private investigator 40.
A rich businessman’s wife is outraged when she accidentally learns that her husband suspects her of cheating and has hired a private investigator to follow her. But when she hears how much the detective is being paid, she offers to tell her husband everything herself for half the price.”
Asked whether a culture of turning to detectives has already taken shape in Armenia, Hayk Gabrielyan said: “At first, the Detective was met in Armenia with curiosity and caution. Now, three years after our founding, our clients include both individuals and companies, who mainly come to us for information and analysis services related to security. Citizens and organisations from other countries also use our services.”
In closing, the detective added:
“Here’s an interesting fact: according to World Association of Detectives statistics, the most frequent orders concern marital infidelity, and most clients are women. As for Armenia, I’ll keep that confidential. I promise to give you exclusive statistics personally in ten years. All kinds of people come to me, because a detective’s services cover a broad spectrum.”
Tatev Kostandyan
Read at the source (in Armenian): What people in Armenia turn to a detective for: the founder of Gabrielyan & Partners Detective Bureau shares the details — LifeNews