dennis

The Prince & the Pauper is a book that developed as a story in a realtime teaching experience with the Korean mother of a homestay student whom I had recently met. She had returned home and we used phone & email. It is an example of opportunism and the natural progression from one simple understanding to a greater life experience, and eventually into a full blown … [Read more...] about TSLPI 29. Engaging Emotions

My experiences in Samoa were challenging, a Palagi being a target from the outset due to the widespread perception that the colour of my skin made me a millionaire. That would be fine except for the hugely draining sense of entitlement that permeated Samoa. I fulfill the role of the prophet, speaking forth the wisdom entrusted me, more than the predictive. Connecting the … [Read more...] about TSLPI 28. Samoa Ventures

Writing fiction can be harder than non-fiction which is essentially just recounting facts, for one needs to know the subject intimately before one can speak definitively & authoritatively in our story. Let Go The Peanut is a fictional story of a couple going through their lessons of learning about money. It teaches important concepts about money – what it actually is and … [Read more...] about TSLPI 27. Getting Factual With Fiction

Olinda Woodroffe is a Samoan lawyer who lives in Remuera with her husband who comes from a similar industry. She exudes passion and her mind multitasks well. In many senses she is a formidable opponent with a never-say-die fighting attitude. For years she has shared legal wisdom on a weekly radio presentation in Australia. Olinda sought out help from us to use the Internet … [Read more...] about TSLPI 26. Olinda Woodroffe

The book Corruption in Samoa has had a serious impact on many people, not least the author. I was 'close' to the Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuila'epa from my arrival in Samoa in 2009 for the first two years. Tui, as he asked to be called, wined & dined the new-boy on the block and loved the positivity and ideas that “the Palagi” brought to Samoa. Equally enjoyable was … [Read more...] about TSLPI 25. Paying the Price

The Taumarunui Museum Trust was conceptualised and founded by King Country historian Ron Cooke. A trusted photographer in Taumarunui for many years, he had collected the archived newspapers, photograph collections and so on for decades, many having entrusted their family heirlooms to him for safe keeping. He was tireless in his desire to secure, protect and share his and … [Read more...] about TSLPI 24. Taumarunui Museum Trust

Any act of publishing material related to a matter while it is before the courts has the potential to be seen as an effort to influence the hearing or the judge. This is a big 'no-no' and can be seen as an act called “contempt of court”. Not so information already published, which canalso be used as evidence in court. 'And They Said: Powerful quotes used in evidence' is a … [Read more...] about TSLPI 23. Publishing Evidence Prior

In the 1960's & 1970's people feeling oppressed from tight societal rules desired to remove themselves from the social expectation that sex best occurred within the confines of marriage. In this environment, New Age 'guru' Bert Potter established a community in Albany on Auckland's North Shore to provide an alternative lifestyle for those with a liberal take. Centrepoint … [Read more...] about TSLPI 22. Bert Potter, Centrepoint

'BUSTED - The failed Cannabis Ban' is a large book written (but never published) by Brodie Andrews, a long-term Marijuana proponent, and dope user, now an addict in denial. The author sought feedback and assistance from Writing the Wrong but failed to take the advice given. It is a testimony to multiple failures, some due to the author's substance abuse; some due to his … [Read more...] about TSLPI 21. Failing to Bust

Author, blogger & principal of Writing the Wrong, Dennis A. Smith has created a logo that intertwines three concepts. Consider this logo now (to the right) and attempt to divine the three concepts . . . A light-bulb represents wisdom, knowledge or wisdom such as when we have an “Ah ha! Moment”, e.g “when the light comes on”. It is also an example of revealing the … [Read more...] about TSLPI 20. Dennis A. Smith

In 1970 Jeannette & Harvey Crewe were shot at point blank range with a .22 pistol. The late Te Kuiti author John Ingley revealed in his book, 'I Fed the Baby – Confession & Motives in the Crewe Murders Cold Case' how he had solved the case. Hunting Pam is a short book that gives the public the reasons why I believe that Leslee Sinton (retired teacher of Orakei, … [Read more...] about TSLPI 19. ‘Defamatory’ Naming & Shaming

Several lessons can be taken from the [mis]conduct of an employee of New Zealand's most powerful government agency, the GST people – The “Grab, Snatch & Take” Department – Inland Revenue. Personalisation People with power often use their power to mask, hide or endorse their misconduct. It is legislatively difficult to prosecute the authorities – be this the tax man or … [Read more...] about TSLPI 18. Linda Dzaferic, IRD

Establishing the name of a story requires an understanding of both the story and the marketplace. In the case of the book, I Fed the Baby – Confession & Motives in the Crewe Murders Cold Case, author John Ingley noticed that there was what he saw as a code of silence from many in the Pukekawa region. Meeting and hearing of the local farmers who knew more than they let on … [Read more...] about TSLPI 17. It’s All in a Name

Capturing information online is an automated process with information published remaining available forever. This can be a two-edged sword as Samoan news organisation Talamua found out to their (and the Prime Minster's) embarrassment. Corruption within the Samoan ruling elite was brought into the public eye in the late twenty-teens with the creation of an online blogger O Le … [Read more...] about TSLPI 16. Talamua Cover-up

The back cover of this book tells it all . . . “OFF THE RAILS is a mixture of history and human intrigue . . . A truly humbling and motivational story!” “Taumarunui's Memory Bank sold in 2018, thus ending three decades of drama. “What actually happened during those 30 years and where has the money gone? “More importantly where are those tens of thousands of precious … [Read more...] about TSLPI 15. Uncharitable Charities

The concept of a “Conspiracy Theory” and/or the label of a “Conspiracy Theorist” was unspoken of prior to the JFK assasination. This condescending phrase is not only a failure of logic (is there no such thing as ANY conspiracy?) it was consciously introduced into society by the very perpetrators of the Presidential murder in order to bring doubt into the validity of any daring … [Read more...] about TSLPI 14. Flat Earth, Moon Landing & more

Christians in business can be a challenge, especially for other Christians. We know how to use our kin! Colin Craig is a wealthy Christian businessman who founded a Conservative NZ political party. His conduct came under scrutiny with a dispute that became public knowledge with a woman who worked for him and exposure at the hands of an aggressive blogger, Cam Slater. … [Read more...] about TSLPI 13. Christian Businessmen

The BBX Investigation commenced in earnest when I received the entire BBX International membership database (including balances AND in many cases unencrypted PIN numbers and passwords) via my Tipline. Most would now know the negative impact that such an incredible security breach would have meant for any business involved in online trading. The one thing worse though that … [Read more...] about TSLPI 12. Aussie BBX Bravado

The demise of the Dutch Qoin fraud shows the incredible power that the Internet provides those who know and understand how to use it. In a display of massive fire-power daily blogging throughout a period of weeks literally bankrupted a high profile scandal based in The Netherlands. For ten years, conmen Rob van Hilten and Edgar Kampers had operated a scam whereby they sought … [Read more...] about TSLPI 11. Qoin Bankruptcy

Exposing crooks on the other side of the world, desperate to be seen as industry thought leaders, to do it all in realtime with a direct line into their lair of deceit which then resulted in their total bankruptcy has to be one of the biggest hoots of my professional investigative career. Following my successful removal of the conman Daniel Evans and his Ormita fraud from … [Read more...] about TSLPI 10. The Dutch International Qoin Con

The Honourable Robert Fisher was a New Zealand High Court Judge for 15 years and was recognised within the legal profession as a judge with an astute legal mind. His indiscretions though by getting found out for watching 90 minutes of pornography on court computers over a two week period in the early 2000s drew the ire of Prime Minister Helen Clark. Despite a supposed … [Read more...] about TSLPI 9. Hon Robert Fisher

Playing games with the truth can be a dangerous thing as IRTA learned the hard way. IRTACard the novel was a fictitious parody of the real-life connection behind the scenes of IRTA & Bartercard. The International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA) supposedly represented the interests of their commercial barter members. In fact over the years their focus drifted into … [Read more...] about TSLPI 8. International Reciprocal Justice

Wellington-based businessman, Nicholas Down is the quintessential “horse-trader from hell” - a guy with Autism whose creative, flexible mind can tackle the toughest trade imaginable! Give him something to trade or sell, and he'll do a deal somewhere, somehow to solve your problem. He is of course a skilled auctioneer – that's his business, and he's good at it. But Nic … [Read more...] about TSLPI 7. Down vs Bartercard

Bartercard is a commercial barter operation established in Australia by an ultra-aggressive and 'successful' businessman, Wayne Sharpe. He was supported by two others and the three of them created arguably what for years was recognised as the best run commercial barter organisation on the planet. But it had some dark secrets . . . indeed many of them. I have always … [Read more...] about TSLPI 6. Bartercard Secrets

Did you complete the workbook exercise from the previous chapters? Turn there now if you haven't – it will only take a couple of seconds. Remember . . . lawyers lie! . . . and, get your evidence! In 2008 I invested into a company established by a businessman called Daniel Evans. When he asked for a second tranche, I read his prospectus and called his two personal … [Read more...] about TSLPI 5. A $3.1 Billion BS Story

The Samoa Observer is Samoa's primary daily newspaper, a privately owned business run by and known within the on-island Samoan community a greedy crook – he doesn't pay his bills and humility is a foreign concept to him sort of thing. An affidavit produced in court by his lawyer made a false statement relating to a commercial dispute. Evidence of this perjury follows: The … [Read more...] about TSLPI 4. Samoa Observer

In 2009 I emigrated to post-Tsunami Samoa. If you ask me why I did this, I will agree with you that this is indeed a good question. It's one that I asked myself too, many times over many years. It actually has an answer to do with faith and obedience, but the point here is that I suddenly found myself in a foreign world. Sure, I was in a foreign country and a foreign … [Read more...] about TSLPI 3. Lawyers Lie; We All Do!

Hello, my name is Dennis. I am an author and a NZ-based Private Investigative Blogger. At the time of writing, I am proud to have written almost three dozen books and published more than two million words of blogging online. I 'take-on' a particular species, 'head-on' - those that I call “crooks, crims & crazies”, both at home & across the globe. I shoot … [Read more...] about TSLPI 2. Introduction

This post introduces a new series & book describing many of the investigations and lessons from a lifetime of asking questions, decades of writing and years of investigative work. Some of this has been commercial and some not. Interestingly it is the first book (out of 35 so far) that I have written first, then published online. Normally I will write online then convert … [Read more...] about The Secret Life of A Private Investigator – Intro