Private investigation firm in New Zealand spies on environmental groups
An Auckland private investigation firm has earned the ire of civil society groups in New Zealand. Thompson and Clark Investigations is paying agents to infiltrate and spy on environmental, peace and civil rights groups for its clients, including state-owned enterprise Solid Energy. The tactics have shocked civil rights supporters, who have demanded answers from the government about taxpayer-funded spying.
Advertising itself as New Zealand's leading corporate intelligence agency, Thompson and Clark Investigations' speciality is helping controversial companies to spy on their opponents.
The daily Star-Times claims it has documents identifying two young people who were recruited by the private investigators and became trusted members of target civil society groups.
The pair wrote regular reports on the groups' meetings and plans, collected information on special subjects of interest to the clients and helped set up systems to automatically redirect all the groups' internal emails to the private investigator's Auckland offices.