A business whodunit

Private investigators may conjure up images of Philip Marlowe, but unlike the classic slap-’em-around detective, Bob Rahn and Kim Anklin fight crime using modern-day technology and years of professional experience to back them up.

Rahn, who worked for the New York City Police Department and did a lot of digging –sometimes literally – to come up with clues to cases that ranged from theft to homicide, couldn’t shake the lure of getting to the bottom of things when he retired. He started his own private investigation agency, Management Resources Ltd. Together with his partner, former California  police criminal analyst Kim Anklin, the company has  grown to three locations: Manhattan, New Jersey and Orange County, where Rahn lives.

“Right now, my  Hudson Valley office is in my home,” said Rahn. He’s looking to grow so he can have a physical location to hang a shingle outside his door and grow his client base in the Hudson Valley. That led Rahn to the Orange County Business Accelerator in New Windsor, which now offers an “associate client” plan.

As an associate client, Rahn and Anklin can take advantage of the OCBA’s facilities, including the use of its high-tech conference room, its mailing address for their PI firm and access a vast network of advisers without physically moving into the accelerator. Like other accelerator clients, however, Management Resources Ltd. is working with a three-year window. That’s how much time the Accelerator allows a business to grow to a point where it can stand on its own.

“It’s a great way for us to reach out to entrepreneurs who already have their own office space but desire our support services, access to capital, a savvy adviser network and great meeting space,” said Jim Petro, chairman of the Orange County Industrial Development Agency.

Rahn said 85 percent of the firm’s work is with attorneys, conducting criminal and civil investigations. And while word of mouth has been a great way to get new clients and business, Rahn said the Internet, too, is a powerful tool. “Our website has brought us nearly 50 percent of our business,” said Rahn. “In this day and age, you need to be a powerful presence on the web.”

The remaining 15 percent of Management Resources Ltd.’s clients are insurers, businesses conducting background investigations on potential hires and some matrimonial work. “We have been busy with insurance fraud investigations – when the economy sours, people tend to get desperate and try to defraud insurance companies, whether it’s for an  automobile, claims of stolen property or through  workmen’s compensation claims.

“Mortgage insurance fraud is becoming another area where we’ve seen an uptick in work,” he said. “People who obtained mortgages by supplying fraudulent applications and then go into foreclosure are the ones  private mortgage insurers want ferreted out. Sad to say, many people lied to get mortgages they couldn’t afford, then tried to go the bankruptcy route.”

Rahn and Anklin had their first opportunity to meet with some of the region’s lawyers at a seminar they co-sponsored with Tarshis, Catania, Liberth, Mahon & Milligram in Newburgh. Attorney Julia Goings-Perrot and Management Resources held a seminar on intellectual property that attracted more than 30 attorneys for the two sessions on March 24.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for us,” said Rahn. “We are meeting our area’s lawyers and also showing them what we have to offer and now we have a great location to work out of.”

Said Michael DiTullo, the incubator’s managing director, “This new program allows us to help drive down risk for these entrepreneurs while they grow and prosper from their hometown. This is truly a homegrown business. It’s a new way for the Accelerator to create jobs, wealth and foster entrepreneurial spirit in Orange County.”

But for Rahn and Anklin, it’s not all about generating fees and attracting new clients. “We are working one unsolved disappearance right now,” said Rahn, “and it’s pro bono work. Our client’s son went to a party 17 years ago and literally fell off the face of the earth. His family has been trying to find him for the past 17 years. No one ever gets over a loss like this and it was a case both Kim and I were familiar with. Like anyone else who works on a ‘cold case,’ we hope we are going to help bring it to a close. That’s a satisfaction money can’t buy.”

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