Senior Asset Analyst, Private Investigator, Author, and Speaker

For over 40 years, I have specialized in the finding missing heirs, hidden assets, and the recovery of court judgments, ranging from $20,000 to $20,000,000. I have extensive experience in financial investigations, asset tracing, and fraud examination, and I hold the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential.

Currently, I'm run Gagnon & Wendt LLC and manage the Asset Recovery Analysts at Acorn Funding Group, a company that buys civil judgments in all US states and in Canada. I am passionate about maximizing recovery efficiencies and producing high yields for my partners and investors.

I am also the President of the California Association of Judgment Professionals and Past-President of the Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado.

I have a new school to teach investigators how to add on financial investigations to expand their current business or as part of going from public service to private business (www.ARA.School).

Here are some of the articles I've written recently:

Neobanks & Fintech Banks Demystified

PI Magazine · Sep 1, 2025PI Magazine · Sep 1, 2025

The future of banking doesn’t look like a branch—it looks like an app. In this PI Magazine article, I pull back the curtain on Neobanks and Fintech banks, revealing how they’re transforming the way money moves—and how that shift is creating new blind spots for investigators. If you think you know where the money’s hiding, think again.

The Invisible Billions - What Forensic Analysts Must Know about WeChat & Wise

PI Magazine · Jul 1, 2025PI Magazine · Jul 1, 2025

Most investigators know PayPal and Venmo — but few realize the real financial blind spots lie halfway around the world. In this PI Magazine feature, I uncover how global platforms like WeChat Pay and Wise are quietly reshaping money movement, asset concealment, and the future of financial forensics.

When ChatGPT Helps You Spot the Lie...After Telling You One First

PI Magazine · May 1, 2025PI Magazine · May 1, 2025

My start in using AI to review bank statements to find concealment or movement of funds, rapid asset dissipation, structuring, co-mingling, suspicious timing, and suspected use of alternative entities.

Peer-To-Peer Payment Platforms - The New Money Moving Tool You Need to Know About

PI Magazine · Mar 1, 2025PI Magazine · Mar 1, 2025

In this PI Magazine feature, I unpack how apps like PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp are transforming money movement—and how investigators can follow the digital paper trail. A must-read for professionals tracking hidden assets in the age of fintech.

Lessons Learned

PI Magazine · Jan 1, 2025PI Magazine · Jan 1, 2025

Show publication

I touch on some lessons I learned in 2024: How banks keep funds belonging to deceased account holders, using (legal) usury as a massive advantage in business, and how I'm saving time with signing and notarizing documents.