Former Police Officer Facing Fraud, Intimidation Charges

SANTA ANA – A former police officer and unlicensed private investigator was charged Friday with defrauding clients, threatening another investigator and attempting to commit sexual assault by posting Craigslist ads seeking women to engage in bestiality with his dog.

The Orange County District Attorney's office charged Kevin Michael Sianez, 53, with a 63-count criminal complaint tied to what prosecutors describe as an illegal private investigation service and his online activities seeking women willing to engage in sexual acts with his Labrador retriever.

Prosecutors say Sianez, who worked for the Santa Ana and former Stanton police departments from 1979 to 1986, owned and operated his private investigation service from November 2005 to June 2010. He reportedly ran the business under several names, including KMS Investigations, Fore-Front Investigations and 4Front Investigations.

Prosecutors say Sianez falsely identified himself to clients as a licensed private investigator, posted false online reviews to increase his web presence and mislead people into thinking he operated a nationwide network of offices and investigators rather than a small suite office in Fountain Valley with less than five employees, primarily family members.

Sianez allegedly did little or no work on his cases, and defrauded properly licensed investigation firms by subcontracting work to them without paying.

Deputy District Attorney Israel Claustro said that on some cases Sianez would simply reiterate details his clients had given him or provide no proof that he had conducted surveillance activities.

"Other times, he didn't do any work and dictated reports off the top of his head to employees," Claustro said.

When two of his former employees alerted authorities, prosecutors say Sianez intimidated them by threatening to use his police contacts to file reports against them. Once another private investigator began posting Internet comments warning people about Sianez, prosecutors say he called the woman's business and threatened to burn down her house.

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Unlicensed Private Eyes A Problem In California

When you hire a private investigator in California, you are supposed to get someone with at least three years of training or a background in law enforcement. But as the I-Team discovered, that is not always what you get.

The state's private investigator trade group is cracking down on unlicensed private eyes using undercover stings. Some use fake names; some even have a criminal past.

In an undercover surveillance video, unlicensed private investigator Adrian Garfias thinks the two women are prospective clients, responding to his Craigslist ad offering private investigation services, but they are actually undercover investigators working for licensed private investigator Chris Butler. And it was all being recorded on video.

"We specialize in undercover stings, so for us to execute an undercover sting on a unlicensed private investigator, that's very easy," Butler said.

Garfias brought his wife and two young boys, a six-year-old and a six-month-old, to the meeting at San Jose's Santana Row and discussed his fee.

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