Private detective for businesses in Paris

A corporate private detective lawfully gathers the evidence your company needs: unfair competition, sick-leave fraud, internal theft, breach of clause, counterfeiting. CNAPS-licensed, our reports are designed to be produced before the labour court and the commercial court alike, within a strict legal framework.

Written by Guillaume Pouillier, CNAPS-licensed private detective, licence no. AGD 095-2024-03-06-20190240581 · Last updated: July 21, 2026

Which investigations does a detective conduct for a company?

Eight assignments cover the bulk of corporate litigation: unfair competition, sick-leave fraud, theft and inventory shrinkage, breach of trust, non-compete violation, counterfeiting, mystery shopping and cyber investigations (OSINT/TSCM). Each aims at the same deliverable: established facts, usable in court.

Beyond these eight verticals, our solvency checks, debtor tracing, asset investigations and due diligence secure your contracts, recoveries and partnerships. Public bodies have a dedicated page: public-sector investigations.

Why add cyber (OSINT/TSCM) to the field investigation?

Because the evidence has moved: staff raiding is prepared on professional networks, counterfeits are sold online, a leak travels through a phone. Crossing fieldwork with open sources, and knowing how to detect microphones and trackers, gives an edge few agencies offer.

In practice, the cyber unit supports every file: mapping the companies and profiles linked to a competitor, monitoring listings and marketplaces for counterfeits, analysing the digital footprint of an employee gone “to a client”. The two teams work the same case simultaneously, so the timeline of what happened on the ground and the timeline of what happened online arrive in a single, coherent report. And when the confidentiality of a boardroom or an executive car is in doubt, an electronic sweep (TSCM) lifts the uncertainty: detection of microphones, cameras and GPS trackers, with a written report.

This dual field + cyber competence avoids the classic blind spot: an impeccable surveillance report that stays silent about what was happening online at the very same time.

Are your reports admissible before the labour court and the commercial court?

Yes. The profession is governed by article L621-1 of the French Internal Security Code; evidence may be adduced by any means subject to fairness (art. 9 CPC), and French case law has admitted detectives’ reports since the Court of Cassation ruling of 7 November 1962, provided collection is fair and proportionate.

Three requirements make admissibility, and we build every assignment around them: lawful means (observation from public space, open sources, no stratagem), proportionality to the stakes of the file, and traceability (dated findings, time-stamped photographs, cited sources). Professional secrecy (art. 226-13 of the Criminal Code) covers all our exchanges.

Ahead of a trial, article 145 of the CPC further allows evidentiary measures to be ordered, document seizures, findings, which our preparatory work makes precise and effective: see our dedicated article 145 CPC page.

How much does a corporate investigation cost?

Our rates are public: €85/hour (excl. VAT), €850 for a full 10-hour day, degressive with volume (€80 beyond 20 h, €75 beyond 30 h, €70 beyond 40 h) and administrative enquiries from €350 (excl. VAT). Every case gets a free written quote.

The budget is calibrated at scoping: a sick-leave check is often handled in a few targeted sessions; an unfair-competition file with an OSINT module runs over several weeks. In every case the quote precedes the commitment, a checkpoint precedes any overrun, and the final report is included in the fee. Full grid: our rates.

A useful benchmark: set the investigation’s cost against what it protects, a client file, an employment dispute, the value of a brand. It is almost always the cheapest line of the case.

How does an assignment unfold, step by step?

Four stages: a free confidential consultation to qualify the need; a written mandate fixing the object, scope and budget; the investigation (fieldwork, open sources, findings) by licensed investigators; a detailed, dated and signed report, delivered in person or through a secure channel.

1. Confidential consultation. You set out the situation; we tell you what can be established, how fast, at what cost, and whether an investigation is warranted at all.

2. Written mandate. Precise object, legal basis, scope, budget: the contract that secures both admissibility and your liability.

3. Investigation. Observation in public space, open sources, test purchases where relevant, with a checkpoint at the first significant results.

4. Report. Chronology, findings, time-stamped photographs, sources: the document your lawyer produces as-is before the competent court.

For legal departments and legal professionals, we gladly work under the lawyer’s mandate: our exchanges then travel through his professional secrecy.

✓ CNAPS licensed · Professional secrecy (art. 226-13) · Free quote within 24 h

Frequently asked questions