Council of International Investigators

Council of International Investigators
Board Members and Officers

Below is the current list of CII Board members and officers:

President

Toine Goorts.jpg

Toine Goorts
The Netherlands
[email protected]

Toine Goorts, CII, CPO, is the owner of Goorts international Investigations, located in the southern part of the Netherlands, close to the Belgium and German borders. After 20 years of working for the government as a military police officer, and serving as an investigator, surveillance operator, and executive protection officer, Toine launched his own company in 2004. Toine is a proud military Veteran who has received several awards for his exemplary work. Working in the private sector, Toine travels on various assignments, including highly specialized and sensitive tasks. Goorts International Investigations is involved in issues related to intellectual property infringement, insurance fraud, due diligence and non competition issues. Toine is a motivational speaker on several subjects, including the topics of "endangerment of human life, personal safety and dignity", which are his personal favorites. In his own words, "With the Council of International Investigators, I found my second family."

  • President 2024
  • President 2023
  • President 2022 
  • Vice President 2019 - 2020
  • Elected to a full board terms 2021
  • Elected to a full board term in 2020
  • Elected to a full board term in 2017
  • Appointed to the Board January 2016


Vice President

Gautam Kumar


Gautam Kumar
Mumbai, India
[email protected]

Gautam worked in the finance industry for a few years before joining the family business –Globe Detective Agency in 2011. Gautam is the third generation of the promoter family and the first of his generation to have joined Globe. Gautam underwent an intensive training program in Security & Investigations prior to onboarding with Globe. In the recent past, Gautam was involved in multiple initiatives of the CII, enabling him to understand how the Council functions. He is confident of adding a fresh perspective to the Council. Gautam served as the Webinar Administrator and oversaw the technical end of the monthly webinars during the pandemic. He has been involved in multiple initiatives of the CII which contributed to his understanding of how the Council functions and puts him in a great position to give back to our tightly-knit community.

  • Vice President 2023-2024
  • Vice President 2022-2023
  • Board Member 2021-2024. Term expires September 2024

 

Secretary

 

John Withers, CII Secretary and Board Member, became the Managing Director of Priority International in 2012. John is based in Northern Ireland. Priority is a family business that has been providing bespoke international investigation and intelligence services over the last 60 years. John’s experience working in the global arena has allowed him to develop and hone the inter-personal skills, attention to detail, and ability to maintain an international network, enabling him to efficiently manage international casework. He originally joined the business in 1992, having completed an extensive internship in the early 1990s throughout Ireland and the UK.

Regional Director Ireland & United Kingdom 2018 – 2021
Board Member 2019 – 2021
Treasurer 2020 – 2021
Regional Director Ireland & United Kingdom 2023 – current
Appointed to the Board 09/2023
Appointed Secretary 12/20223

 

 

Treasurer

Nancy barber

Nancy S. Barber
San Francisco CA, USA
[email protected]

Nancy S. Barber founded Glass Key Investigations in 1988. Glass Key Investigations provides investigative services for matters involving toxic tort, environmental, land use, elder abuse and civil litigation. The firm conducts corporate research, witness locate and trial support. Ms. Barber holds a Forensic Environmental Investigation Certification., B.A. in Spanish, a M.A. in Latin American Studies, a Paralegal Certificate and a nursing home ombudsman certification. Nancy has served as in instructor in environmental law and paralegal training. Nancy is a past President of CII, and has served as CII Vice President and CII Secretary. Nancy is a member of the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI), National Association of Legal Investigators (NALI), Council of International Investigators (CII) and National Council of Investigation and Security Services (NCISS). 

  • Treasurer 2022-2023
  • Elected to the Board 2021-2024 Term expires September 2024
  • Elected to the Board 2018-2021
  • Past President
  • Past Vice President 
  • Past Secretary

Board Members

Jeremy King
Ontario, Canada
[email protected]

Jeremy H. King, B. Comm, CII, is a Partner and Executive Vice President of King International Advisory Group. Jeremy oversees the surveillance and cyber intelligence divisions at KIAG and is responsible for the agency’s international development, which include partner relationships in over 56 countries worldwide. A licensed private investigator since 2011, Mr. King has acted as a trusted investigative advisor to many of Canada’s foremost litigators, private corporations, and public entities. He is highly active in investigations of serious nature requiring extreme discretion and professionalism. Most recently, Mr. King was retained in a class action lawsuit leading to Canada’s first known Mareva Injunction targeting cryptocurrency. Through social media investigations, the targets of the Mareva injunction were identified and evidence was gathered on the additional crypto custodians.

  •  Elected to the Board 2023-2026. Term expires September 2026. 
  •  Appointed chair of the Marketing & PR Committee 2023
  •  Re-appointed as chair of the Marketing & PR Committee 2024

Mike Gillam
New Zealand
[email protected]

Mike Gillam, New Zealand, is a seasoned investigator with over 17 years of experience in managing complex criminal and civil cases. Mike's background includes comprehensive training and service with the New Zealand Police and a successful track record leading to countless criminal prosecutions and employment dismissals. As a Certified Fraud Examiner, Mike has demonstrated a high level of expertise in conducting and overseeing a wide range of investigations for corporations, law firms, and private individuals. His ability to handle sensitive situations with discretion and professionalism sets him apart in the industry. Mike is the Operations Director at The Investigators New Zealand and is based in Auckland.  

One of his key initiatives is to assist with the mentorship program that was launched in 2023 to support new members in the Associate International Investigator and Qualified International Investigator classes. Upon joining CII, these new members would be partnered with an experienced Certified International Investigator for mentorship. 

The mentor serves as a direct contact person for the new member, providing invaluable advice, guidance, and support as they navigate their early career in the investigative industry. This relationship not only facilitates the professional growth of the new member but fosters a sense of community and belonging within CII. 

By investing in the growth and development of our new members, CII not only strengthens the individual capabilities of our investigators but also the collective expertise and reputation of CII. Mike is accessible at [email protected].

  • Elected to the Board 2024-2026. Term expires September 2026.
 

Steve Levine
USA, California
[email protected]

Steve Levine is an investigator with over 20 years of experience in corporate investigations, business intelligence investigations, human intelligence, and internal investigations. He is a recognized expert on public records, a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Forensic Interviewer. He founded The Vine Group in 2010. Before that, he worked as Managing Director at Kroll Associates. Steve is also an Emmy award winning investigator, and his work has appeared in many newspapers, magazines and documentaries. He is a co-author of Paper Trails, A Guide to Public Records in California and other publications. He taught investigations at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Steve can be reached at [email protected].

  • Elected to the Board 2024-2026. Term expires September 2026. 

Ajit Singh
New Delhi, India
[email protected]

Ajit has 30 years of experience in the Investigation & Consulting industry. Ajit was awarded “Investigation Entrepreneur of the year Award’ by the President of India in 2012. In his own words, “I know what it means to be a business owner. I have served as the National General Secretary of the APDI (Association of Private Detective & Investigators-India) since 2004. I was the Program Chairman for ASIS International in 2018. I served as the Assistant Governor of the Rotary District in Delhi in 2020.I have been enthusiastically involved in ensuring a high level of participation of members & enrolment of new members in various events. My work within these organizations has lead me to recognize that constant involvement amongst the members and meaningful interactions leads to member retention. I believe in collaboration and empowerment. I would like to harness my energy and enrich the experience of the membership by assisting the Board in taking the CII to new heights”.

  • Elected to the Board 2022-2025 Term expires October 2025.
  • Vice Chair Membership Committee 2023
  • Chair Membership Committee 2024

 

 

Bernarda Skrabar Damnjanovic
Ljubliana, Slovenia
[email protected] 

Bernarda Škrabar Damnjanović is an international investigator with a career spanning over 17 years. She is currently completing her doctoral studies, with an outstanding average grade of 10.00, and is a proud recipient of the Successful Graduate Award from the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security. Her academic contributions include a master's thesis on "Legal Regulation and Practical Implementation of Surveillance as an Operative Method of Detective Work”, and she is also the author of a detective manual. Bernarda is honored to be the only female member of the Detective Examiners Commission and the Member of the Executive Board of Detective Chamber of Slovenia and Data Protection Officer.  Bernarda has been a prominent voice in the industry at platforms such as TEDx and hosted two regional meetings for the Council of International Investigators in 2017 and 2023. Bernarda has also participated in prestigious programs such as the Leonardo da Vinci project and the IKD - International Federation of Associations of Private Detectives. Moreover, she made history by becoming the first female dean of the detective school in Bucharest. Bernarda is the founder of her own detective and security agency, recognized for its commitment to fair business practices, corporate integrity, creditworthiness, and exceptional organizational energy.  Bernarda has a multidisciplinary team, composed of detectives, polygraph examiners, intelligence officers, cyber investigators, former criminal investigators, etc.For contact, Bernarda can be reached at [email protected] 

  • Board Member 2024-2026. Term expires September 2026. 
 

Ronald Bosman
Switzerland

Ronald Bosman is an investigator with over 15 years of experience in corporate investigations, business intelligence and geopolitical analysis. He has a master’s degree in history from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands and is an ACAMS certified anti-money laundering specialist. Ronald is based in Switzerland, from where he and his research team also cover the Benelux market, the Dutch Caribbean, Germany, Spain and beyond. Prior to founding Sourced Research & Consulting, Ronald worked as a consultant at the corporate investigations department of a global risk management consultancy, where he managed enhanced due diligence investigations and complex investigations in support of litigation procedures. Ronald started his career with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Americas Department. Originally from the Netherlands, Ronald has lived and worked in the United States, Spain, Colombia and Venezuela. He has been based in Switzerland since 2012. Ronald speaks English, Dutch, Spanish and German. Ron can be reached at [email protected].

  • Board Member 2023-2025. Term expires September 2025.


Immediate Past President

alt Sachit Kumar

New Delhi India

Sachit Kumar is a second generation investigator and businessman, directing the operations of Globe Detective Agency in New Delhi. He is Commerce graduate from Bangalore, India and a Post Graduate in Business Administration from the Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow. Thereafter, he joined Globe Detective Agency Private Limited in 1987. Over the years, he has contributed immensely in the growth of the Globe Group. As its name implies, Globe is world renowned in investigation matters. Globe is India’s first and largest Investigation Agency, currently having 5000 employees and 20 branches all across India. Sachit was awarded the Investigations – Entrepreneur of the Year award by Mr. Shivraj Patil, Honorable Home Minister of the Government of India in Bangalore in the year 2008. He was also awarded Lifetime Achievement Award in Investigations by Smt. Pratibha Patil, former President of India in New Delhi in the year 2012. Sachit was a member of the CII Executive Board and was an organizing host of the 61st AGM Conference at New Delhi in the year 2015. He also serves as the Vice Chairman of the APDI (Association of Private Detectives and Investigators).He is the Director of the Globe Group and currently based in New Delhi, India.

Elected as President in 2019 and 2020. Term expired 2021.
President 2015 - 2016
President 2016-2017
Board Member 2010-2016.

Email Sachit at sachitk[email protected]


   
 

CII knows.... it is all about AI!

Lois Colley
July 13, 2023

AI is certainly the rage. It's impossible to access the news or attend a conference without a reference to artificial intelligence. Even galoots can’t live without it. Try returning a retail purchase without interacting with a robot.

So what is happening in AI?.... Well just about everything.

AI is impacting design in a big way be it clothing, advertising or turning your idea into a graphic.

  • Check out Adobe’s two designer AI packages (Adobe Firefly & Sensei GenAI)  here
  • AI & Music? Experiment with Jukebox by giving it an artist or genre and paying it to create a tune for you. And it even helps the music producers by analyzing patterns in music and predicting trends.
  • Similar to Dall-E2 a program that generates art from word descriptions and/or allows the user to create detailed 3D images.

Artificial Intelligence has come a long way since the first successful program was written in 1951 for checkers (draughts). Remember when Google translate was cool? And who hasn’t used Grammarly , Wordtune or NotionAI in an attempt to improve their writing?

Is it trustworthy?

We know artificial intelligence is  replete with issues such as generating the wrong answer or being non transparent about its sources. That's because AI platforms are about as good as the data used to teach them. Similar to a classroom which a teacher's knowledge about the subject matter is inaccurate or incomplete, AI is dependent upon the information that is fed to it. There is plenty of room for outdated information and plenty of opportunity for biased data. As demonstrated, AI is most unhelpful or even comical when it overlooks a key data point. The brains at CalTech offer their opinion here

Securitizing information remains a prevailing issue. This past May 2023, Samsung banned ChatGDP after determining an employee fed sensitive information to a chatbot. As the Mashable byline reads Incognito is not an option.. As investigators and security professionals know, once it's out there,  be it the cloud or elsewhere, it's out there. 

We must nonetheless weigh the good with the bad. AI is proving it’s worth in crime detection by identifying patterns of fraud, money laundering and terrorist behavior. Facial recognition software is  commonplace. Faces are preserved as a biometric template. AI can gauge the way people move and identify unattended items in public spaces. Having little or no morality, AI is perfectly willing to help the criminals deploy new social engineering skills and more sophisticated pfishing attacks.

So should we trust it? Someday you many not have a choice. The big guys are all investing; Intel, IBM, Google, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet,Amazon, Apple and of course OpenAI. At the moment, there is a  human behind the generation of a fake email or voicemail. It’s a human who fabricates a digital image using a text prompt. I am not sure what’s going to happen when AI becomes self-aware and starts manipulating things on its own. One thing is for sure, it’s having a cataclysmic impact upon how we do life.

Perhaps we don't have to worry. As cofounder Elon Musk, turned defector, of Open AI stated, "The problem with artificial intelligence isn't that it's going to get too smart and take over the world, the problem, rather, is that A.I. is too dumb and already has."

 

Charter Sponsors: CII Kirby Family Legacy Scholarship

Make a Donation: All contributions will be acknowledged and put to good use for the benefit of CII Members and their family.

Platinum Benefactor

Norm & Karen Willox, USA
Willox Family Charitable Trust

 

Gold Patrons

John & Leanne Withers, No. Ireland
Nancy Barber, Glass Key Investigations, USA
Jack Burke, USA
Brett & Sayira Mikkelson, Panama
Tom & Helen Davies, United Kingdom
Ryan Colley, Colley Intelligence, USA
Mike & Carole Russell, USA
Steve & Jeanne Kirby, USA

 

Silver Sponsors

Galen Clements & Arlene Bell, Esq, USA
Derek & Joan Nally, Ireland
Alice Campbell, CFS, CCFS, USA
Niclas Franklin, Investigative Services Europe, Sweden
David & Mary MacLeod, Australia
Jay Groob & Brenda Beyersdoerfer, USA
James Holohan, Brown Rudnick LLP, USA
Galen Clements, Clements Global Services, LLC, USA

 

Bronze Donors

Jim Kirby, Edward R. Kirby & Assoc., USA
Rick & Ellie Quinn, Canada
Wayne Halick, Millennium Investigations, USA
CDiC Consultants, Singapore
Steve Levine, The Vine Group, USA
Chris Nielsen, Nielsen & Associates, Canada
John & Karen Redmond, USA
Kevin & Amy Read, USA
Toine & Dini Goorts, Netherlands
Jason Beberniss, Discreet Services, Inc., USA
 


Vivek Kumar

4 April 1962 – 26 November 2021

The tragic passing of Vivek Kumar , MD Globe Detective Agency , India , without illness or warning was a shock to one and all and an irreplaceable loss to our close- knit association. Vivek was filled with good humor, enthusiasm, and generous of spirit. He was full of sage advice about business, family, fellowship, and life. Vivek was extremely proud of Globe Detective Agency, his wife, children, parents, brothers and friends. He was an indefatigable optimist and an irrepressible supporter of the CII initiatives. Vivek was not only generous with his contributions to our association but a believer that the CII as an international organization was second to none. Vivek touched a lot of lives personally and professionally and every person who interacted with him is the better for it. His death has been a huge loss. The Council of International Investigators is not only saddened beyond words but shall long feel his absence. The CII Board would like to convey, on behalf of the Association, our heartfelt condolences to his family. May God give them the strength to bear their loss with courage and fortitude.


We offer our deepest sympathies.
The Council of International Investigators

 

Our Amazing 2022 Scholarship Sponsors

* Indicates multiple donations

Platinum Benefactor:
Norm & Karen Willox, USA*
Willox Family Charitable Trust*

 
Gold Patrons:

John & Leanne Withers, NIR*
Nancy Barber, Glass Key, USA*
Galen Clements, Alene Bell Esq, Clements Global Services, USA*
Brett & Sayira Mikkelson, Panama*
Rod Webb, Australia
Steve & Jeanne Kirby, USA*
David & Mary MacLeod, Australia*
Chris Ballou, USA
Tom & Helen Davies, United Kingdom*
Ryan Colley, Colley Intelligence, USA*
Jack Burke, USA*
Brian King & Jeremy King, King International, Canada*
Mike & Carole Russell, USA
Mike Johrendt & Lois Colley, USA*
Melissa Kelly-Hilton, USA
Alice Campbell, CFS, CCFS, USA*


 
Silver Sponsors:
Jay Groob & Brenda Beyesdoefer, USA*
Derek & Joan Nally, Ireland
Niclas Franklin, Investigative Services, Sweden*
Polycarpos Kyriacou, Cyprus
Kumar Family, Globe Detective Agency, India*
James Holohan, Brown Rudnick LLP, USA
Keith Elliott & Marc Reed, Reed Research
Tom Reilly, USA
CDiC Consultants, Singapore*
Ed Helfand, Indonesia
Toine & Dini Goorts, Netherlands*
Mike Gillam, New Zealand*
Ajit Singh, India
David Karas, Czech Republic

 
Bronze Donors:

Maurice & Chandra Amres, Guyana
Roman Bazikalov, Mad PI Consulting, Canada*
Laurence Brown, United Kingdom*
Peter Coleman, Singapore*
Seth Derish, Costa Rica
Jim Kirby, Edward R. Kirby & Assoc., USA
Rick & Ellie Quinn, Canada*
Steve Rambam, USA
Eddy Sigrist, Netherlands*
Goolom Monsoor, France*
Laurena Nally & Nigel Rothwell Yosh Wong, Hong Kong
Carolina Bettencourt, Portugal*
Chris Nielsen & Kathy Kerr, Canada*
Leena Stark, Finland*
Stella Stark, Finland
Wayne Halick, Millennium Investigations, USA
Pat Murphy, USA*
Howard Griffiths, RSA *
Joan Reistetter, USA*
Jason Beberniss, Discreet Services, Inc., USA
Paddy Beiner, Germany
Steve Levine, The Vine Group, USA
Sean Peirce, RSA
Kevin & Amy Read, USA
John & Karen Redmond, USA
Danny Sullivan, USA
Boon Swa Tang, Singapore
Bill Belmont, USA
Fernando Molina, Mexico
Neal Gossett, USA
Maya Veith, Germany
Sandra Stibbards, USA
Sameer Buddha, India
Sheila Ponnosamy, Singapore
Ponnosamy & Dora Kalastree, Singapore
Adrian Peters, Australia

 
More Articles...
<< first < Prev 1 2 Next > last >>

Page 1 of 2