David Snow has been working in the private security and financial investigation arena since 1989. He was one of the first graduates and members of the Institute of Irish Investigators. He obtained the “youngest student award” from the Institute in 1989. In 2013 he was awarded Investigator of the Year by the Europe Middle East and African chapter of the International Association of Financial Crime Investigators. He was also presented with the International Investigator of the Year Award in Denver Colorado by IAFCI – North America and donated his winnings to the Wounded Warrior Project, which supports American troops injured at war.Website – www.davidsnow.ie
Book Description:Inspired by a true story and written by the real Irish Investigator who won the acclaimed award of Financial Investigator of the Year EMEA 2013 and International Investigator of the Year – IAFCI North America “for the true case, in which the book is based.”
Someone has taken my place is an epic account of the identity theft of Irish babies who died in the 1970’s. Irish Fraud Investigator Andrew Stone is on the trail of the serial fraudster known in Ireland as the Texan. The fraudster is inventive and elusive as he evilly masquerades in the identities of dead babies for fraudulent gain. Stone is obsessed with obtaining justice for the vulnerable Irish parents whose babies identities have been taken by the American professional conman. Follow his personal international chase across Ireland, Europe and the United States of America as, with the help of the FBI, former KGB Agents, the United States Secret Service, Interpol and the Irish police, Stone pieces together the international conman’s tortuous spider’s web of illegal aliases and criminal intent.
It reads, when you think of it like something out of a Hollywood Movie” Ryan Tubrity, RTE
Ireland, The Late Late Show
“A thinking man’s thriller, crime in the modern era.” Amazon Review
“Extremely interesting book that shines a bright light on identity theft.” Amazon Review
“Brilliantly
written by David Snow! I could not put this book down. Gripping and well worth the read! Very well
done, and a highly recommended book!”
Former FBI Agent
Excerpt:
Water….
One of the names that Cochran had
used to make claims against Irish insurance companies was John
Martin. Snow checked with the Births/Deaths and Marriages office in
Dublin for this name, and was told that John Martin was born in 1976
and had died shortly after. Snow immediately referred the case to the
Irish Police speciality fraud unit, the Garda Bureau of Fraud
Investigation, and was able to present the police authorities with a
comprehensive file.
that Cochran had obtained multiple Irish passports using the
identities of deceased infants. Insurance policies had been issued to
these names, followed by personal injury insurance claims. Cochran
also had opened bank accounts, set up email addresses, and was using
mobile phones in the names of these various stolen identities.
Cochran was arrested at the Dublin airport in January 2011 while
attempting to board a flight to Poland. When arrested, he was in
possession of a child’s death certificate and a completed official
Irish passport application form. Cochran was convicted of these
offences and is serving a prison sentence of four years.
involved. “Following his arrest and conviction, Jeremy Cochran
is currently serving his sentence in an Irish prison. This was thanks
to the efforts and cooperation of the SIU teams, the Garda Bureau of
Fraud Investigation, the Irish Passport Office, International
Association of Special Investigation Units, the district attorney’s
office in Durant, Okla., the sheriff ‘s department in Texas, the
Durango Police Department and others.”
to the Irish charity “A Little Lifetime”
(www.alittlelifetime.ie), which provided support to the bereaved
parents of the infants, whose identities were misused by Cochran.
Little Lifetime,” took the opportunity of providing Snow and two
detectives from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation with an award
for their efforts in the “detection and prevention of past Irish
babies being used for identity theft and insurance fraud.”
presented with the Financial Investigator of the Year Award 2013 in
Cyprus, by the International Association of Financial Crime
Investigators EMEA (www.iafci.org)
has since written a book, “Someone has taken my place” which is a
novel based on the case and is available at www.davidsnow.ie
or Amazon. A percentage of the sale of the book is being passed to
the Irish charity A Little Lifetime.
Thank you for hosting today 🙂
This sounds intriguing! I wish you well on your tour! Pit Crew