When the Chinese government decided this year to limit public access to citizens’ personal information, Peter Humphrey called it “a very dark day” for due diligence. “We will have to be even more creative from now on,” wrote Mr Humphrey, one of China’s leading forensic investigators, in an article for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
On Tuesday, Beijing used Mr Humphrey as a warning that there are strict limits to creativity. The British citizen, who was arrested last week, was shown on national television confessing that he had illegally obtained private details and that he regretted it.
Although the parading of one of their own as a criminal suspect has sent a shudder through the community of forensic accountants, investigators and fraudbusters, the message does not come as a surprise.