Douglas Baldwin & Associates, Inc., a Los Angeles based private investigation firm, was established in 1987 to assist complex litigation defense on nationwide class action lawsuits and large insured claims.  Since then, DBA has become one of the most highly regarded investigation agencies in Southern California. As a boutique firm, we are well positioned to provide inexpensive data, basic locates, cost competitive backgrounds and asset reports for smaller cases, and wide ranging investigations, special sources, and complex expertise for larger cases.

DBA's history, profession, passion, is data. Our financial research resources are the best available, our property databases offer comprehensive research strategies, our people locate resources and social media resources have surprising tools and uncommon abilities. Along with our deep dive investigations, we offer basic locate packages at $145-195, background dossiers and asset packages at flat rate price points from $395-1995. We do not dump raw public record data on the client -- our data is different, and we pursue, explain, condense, organize and summarize the context and meaning.

Services
  • Complex asset determination and analysis; for example, assisting investors as to the legitimacy of a startup entity.
  • Background research on individuals and entities compiled from multiple wide net and targeted databases.
  • Organization of large amounts of data on complex persons or entities. 
  • Specialized resources to find assets or fully identify, pinpoint or contact hard to find witnesses. 
  • Specialized social media tools that can dive deeply and work magic.
  • In-depth interviews.
  • Comprehensive reports with three levels of summary.

Recent Cases
  • 2020: Litigation team photographer for site inspection of massive 2018 Woolsey fire, one of the largest in CA history, which began in the Santa Susana Field Laboratory area, where rocket engines were tested and 10 nuclear reactors once operated.
  • 2019: Extensive research and witness interviews into the unusual last will and testament of grandson of one of California's most famed billionaires.
  • 2019: Asset and locate information regarding Greek billionaire Alki David who was dodging harassment and battery litigation brought by former employees.
  • 2019: Research USA assets of Peter Nygard, Canadian fashion empire billionaire with a private Bahamian island, particularly in regard to catching one of his jets landing in USA.
  • May 2018: The LA Times splashed a huge front page article about voluminous illegal dumping in the mountains above Chatsworth, 100-200 trucks per day, on a site controlled by Wayne Fishback. Involving substantial surveillance, we investigated for LA County and testified in court as part of an extended legal battle to understand, document and successfully shut down his operations.
  • 2017: Extensive investigation, with cooperation from law enforcement task forces, into the involvement of Armenian Power, a gang allied with the Russian mob, regarding fraudulent operation of MRI and Catscan clinics, resulting in Sam Solakyan being indicted in 2018 for $248m in fraud.
  • 2017: Worked with a leading consumer advocate law firm suing abusive car title loan companies by investigating the links between such companies and their hidden investors.
  • 2015-2018: Continuing work with attorneys representing the County of Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services on allegations of foster home abuse.
  • 2016: Reverse mergers of Chinese corps onto NASDAQ over a 7 year period resulted in most failing, followed by investor lawsuits. Our 2016 investigation outlined the short seller manipulations and fraudulent corporate histories in USA and China. After we finished our investigation, the man at the center of it, Benjamin Wei, was arrested by the FBI and SEC, as detailed in a long story in the New York Times.
  • 2015: Investigator in the Service Corporation International class action (7000 clients), regarding abusive practices at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, resulting in a $35.3m judgment. ​

Experience
  • DBA investigated several of the largest financial cases in California, including:
    • Appraised the net worth of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles in support of half billion dollar settlement negotiations on the sex molestation cases.
    • Uncovered the Prediwave embezzlement, involving a nearly $1 billion investment by New World of China into a California startup, then worked to recover on the $2.8 billion judgement.
    • Uncovered the $60 million Mouli Cohen Ponzi scheme in the San Francisco Bay Area.
    • Chief investigator on Lynn Boyd Stites Alliance Cumis Law fraud, one of the top frauds in US history. 
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  • DBA has handled various famous industrial accidents, product liability class actions and special investigations, including:
    • Chief defense investigator, MGM fire in Las Vegas, 87 killed
    • Assisted a famed Kenyan NGO airline, which flies into dangerous hot spots, facing an international blackmail plot trying to shut them down, and testified at length in Kenyan court.
    • Chief defense investigator, SCE Mohave Generating Station Steam Pipe Explosion, 6 killed, many severely injured.
    • Identified, located, and served TRO on Geohot, the famed hacker of the iPhone and Sony PlayStation.
    • Chief defense investigator, USA breast implant litigation.
    • Chief defense investigator, Phen-Fen, Houdia, and other supplements class actions.

Strategic Alliance with Leading Methods Intelligence

The founder of Leading Methods Intelligence is a former US Government intelligence specialist who delivered analysis on national security issues to senior audiences across the spectrum of US Intelligence and Defense communities. Our alliance  provides leading-edge capabilities to those seeking advanced investigation and analysis in this information age. The data-intensive investigations of today require skillsets more aligned with the field of Intelligence Analysis than with the field emphasis of traditional police and private eye work.

Linked here is a special PDF article, “Investigations in the Information Age: Intelligence Analysis Tools & Techniques,” which outlines the uniquely diligent approach that sets us miles apart from the competition. (Click here to see PDF file)

To learn more about our firms and cases, please review the additional pages of our website here, and at www.leadingmethods.com.

Please request a price list or free consultation with initial data review.