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French sleuth protects brands in Shanghai
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2005-09-23 08:49

After a 20-year career as a private detective in France and Switzerland, Pierre Bugat, a 62-year-old Frenchman, is now working as a gumshoe in Shanghai, despite the fact the industry is outlawed in China.

Bugat ran a store selling radio and photographic equipment in France until 1980, when he started his career as a detective.

"I investigate brand violations, commercial secrets and individual issues. Some cases involve world leading companies and big names, while I can't release the details in order to protect my clients," he said through a French-Chinese translator. "The job is very exciting and interesting, but I still have concerns about the risk."

"The police in Israel had planned to hire me to help them on some cases. I refused over concerns about safety," he said.

Bugat arrived in Shanghai last year, planning to open a restaurant or garage. After studying the local market, he decided the competition was too fierce in those sectors. "He met me later and said he wanted to resume his career," said Sun Yingjun, director of Shanghai FMS Commercial Consultation Co, which hired Bugat in May.

Most companies offering detective services in China call themselves consulting firms to circumvent the law.

Industry sources say the Ministry of Justice is looking into a plan to allow detective firms to set up in 10 large cities.

"All of the world's leading companies have opened offices in the city as well as about 100 local companies," Sun said.

Bugat said working as a private dick in Shanghai is similar to his work back home. The main difference is a lack of government support.

"In the West, we can receive support from the government facilities after showing our license," he said.

Bugat says his foreign background helps him attract overseas clients, and his friends and contacts back home can help him with his work.

Bugat agreed to help a local father find his daughter, who was missing in Australia for four years.

"I called my friends in Australia and found the girl three months later," he said.

A Swiss man in the city made friends with a local girl, who claimed her father was in hospital with lung cancer and asked to borrow 100,000 yuan. Suspecting he was being lied to, the Swiss hired Bugat to look into the girl's background.

"We found that the girl's father is healthy," he said.

"Private detectives can collect and provide useful evidence," said Wang Aimin, an attorney with Shanghai Huarong Law Firm. "But their operations may infringe the privacy and rights of certain individuals and companies at the same time."



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