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Bridging Information and Knowledge
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| CONTACT US | | |
United States Domestic Investigations:
Mary Josepha Nikas
Office: (415) 459-1448
Costa Rica & International Investigations:
Seth Derish
Office: (415) 648-7007
Derish@PrivateEyes.com
California P.I. No.: 12656
Oregon P.I. No.: 33709
Costa Rica I.D:
3-101-239-587
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OUR INVESTIGATORS
Mary Josepha Nikas has been a private investigator for over 18 years. with a a background in both the real estate and the financial industry, prior to entering the investigative industry; Mary has an uncanny ability to accumulate and analyze massive amounts of data and produce a concise, detailed report for a winning strategy.
Seth Derish's work as a private investigator is internationally recognized. First licensed in 1978; Seth has worked for most major law firms and financial institutions and his clientele spans the globe. Seth operates the Costa Rica office and maintains a network of contacts. Seth is the Central American District Director for the Council of International Investigators. |
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Greetings! At Derish Associates, Inc., we pride ourselves in providing comprehensive reports compiling information from public and private sources: Bridging Information and Knowledge. Our expertise, knowledge, and contacts span the globe: With offices in California, Oregon, and Costa Rica; and International contacts across the continents we can provide a U.S. and International perspective to our reports. |
AB 1549: Will Banks Honor Levies Statewide? |  In 2009, the California State Assembly passed AB 1549, which had the potential to drastically alter the way bank levies are served on and honored by California institutions. However, the final version of the bill lacked "teeth" allowing banks to wiggle out of the original intent of the law. Our office recently conducted a survey of eleven statewide banks regarding whether they have designated a "centralized location" to capture funds held by the judgment debtor anywhere within the State. Of the eleven institutions surveyed, none had designated a centralized location. The bank representatives claimed they accept service at any branch for garnishment of all accounts held statewide by the judgment debtor; however, experience by this office indicates this is not the case. AB 1549 "Judgment Liens: Priority" was sponsored by the California Association of Collectors (an industry group) and was passed into law in August 2009. The law directed the enactment of three California Civil Code sections, including CCP 700.140 relating to the effect of service of judgment liens on financial institutions. CCP 700.140 states: "Subject to Section 700.160, to levy upon a deposit account, the levying officer shall personally serve a copy of the writ of execution and a notice of levy on the financial institution with which the deposit account is maintained, or shall personally serve the writ of execution and notice of levy to a centralized location within this state as designated by the financial institution. If the writ of execution is received at the designated central location, it shall apply to all deposit accounts held by the financial institution regardless of the location of that property. The execution lien reaches only amounts in the deposit account at the time of service on the financial institution, including any item in the deposit account that is in the process of being collected, unless the item is returned unpaid to the financial institution. This section does not require a financial institution to designate a central location for personal service of the writ of execution and notice of levy..." Over the years we have watched the reaction of the banks to levies. The response reported on the Memorandum of Garnishee varies widely by the particular institution (and the judgment debtor's relationship or amount of funds on deposit). Some banks are notorious for aggressively protecting their clients from levies. To date, we know of no client that has successfully captured funds held at a branch not specified on the Notice of Levy. If you have knowledge of a successful statewide levy, please share your story with us. Based on the passage of the above law, with or without teeth, we suggest clients include in the Notice of Levy a reference to the bill, such as "Pursuant to CCP 700.140 the bank is instructed to levy upon any and all accounts held by the judgment debtor (Jane Doe...) held alone or with others, at any branch of the institution within the State of California..." ¤ |
U.S. Corporate Formation Laws Aid Foreign Scams |
For the past 34 years Derish Associates has conducted hundreds of corporate structure and ownership history investigations. Now that corporations can be set up almost instantaneously in almost any jurisdiction, debtors and those hiding assets for other reasons, have found it even easier to hide the ownership/control of these corporations. We have developed a proven formula to find out who owns and/or controls corporations in many different offshore jurisdictions, including some of our more "protective" states such as Delaware and Oregon.
Though we will not reveal all of our methodology, we can state that one of our techniques involves researching the company that forms corporations - where do they advertise, who do they partner with? (Many Eastern European and Russian entities are now using agents in the Baltic States to form U.S. corporations, further complicating the soup.)
With our proven method, we then find out all of the corporations filed by one of these agents on the same day and look for common threads - shared addresses, officers, agents for service of process, etc.
In one such case, we were hired by a Moscow firm to identify the owners behind a British Virgin Island corporation, as it was rumored that a corrupt judge was being paid off through this corporation. While we were unable to determine the exact ownership of the corporation, we told our client that several other corporations were formed on the same day by the same representative agent, and provided names and addresses of Russians in Moscow who were listed as officers.
Lo and behold, one of the names provided was an attorney only two blocks away from the client's office and a former partner of the suspected judge. Armed with this information, our client went to court and had the judge recused from the case at hand.
Of course, these types of investigations are rather expensive and time consuming. However, when millions of dollars are at stake, the savings benefit can far outweigh the costs.
In California, many of the same techniques are used to find hidden entities holding real property or other assets for a subject. The sophistication of our computer databases and techniques developed through years of experience allow us to produce a much more cost effective product. So, the next time you are conducting an asset search, be it in California or elsewhere, keep in mind that we have years of experience peeking behind the corporate veil. ¤ |
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Proud members of the following professional organizations
Council of International Investigators (CII)
World Association of Detectives (WAD)
California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI)
Oregon Association of Licensed Investigators (OALI)
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We're here for all your investigative needs.
Contact us today for a Quote or Investigative Consultation
Domestic Investigatitons: (415) 459-1448 International: (415) 648-7007
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Derish Associates, Inc. was founded in 1978 by Mr. Seth Derish. Mary Nikas joined the firm in 1994. With over 50 years combined experience, DAI offers comprehensive investigations in the United States, Central America, and Internationally; representing some of the top law firms in San Francisco and nationwide. We are a full service investigative agency, specializing in complex financial investigations, corporate fraud, real estate litigation, business intelligence, corporate diligence, and commercial collections. |
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