AN anonymous building on the outskirts of Worcester is at the centre of an international scandal involving accusations of espionage, spying and James Bond-style gadgets.

Mystery surrounds claimsthat private investigation firm Surveillance Group Ltd, based in Worcester, was responsible for a bug planted in the Ecuadorian Embassy.

The accusation was made by Ricardo Patino, the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister.

But the claims were strenuously denied by the CEO of the company, based at Whittington Hall in Worcester, who said they were “completely untrue”.

Timothy Young, chief executive of the company, which specialises in cutting edge covert surveillance work, said in a statement released yesterday morning: “We have heard an accusation, the source of which is apparently Ricardo Patino, the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister suggesting that we have bugged the Ecuadorian Embassy.

“This is completely untrue. The Surveillance Group does not and has never been engaged in any activities of this nature.

“We have not been contacted by any member of the Ecuadorian Government and our first notification about this incident was via the Press. This is a wholly untrue assertion.”

Mr Patino made the claims at a news conference in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito concerning the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently living at the country’s London embassy, in Knightsbridge.

He said: “We have reason to believe that the bugging was carried out by the Surveillance Group Ltd, one of the largest private investigation and covert surveillance companies in the United Kingdom.”

The foreign minister said Ecuador was going to ask the British government to help investigate the alleged bugging, claiming the system at the centre of the incident worked with a Sim card and could be activated by a call from any cellular or fixed-line phone.

The microphone was found inside the office of the Ecuadorian ambassador to the UK, Ana Alban, he said.

Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, Mr Patino first revealed the discovery of the alleged bug.

“We regret to inform you that in our embassy in London we have found a hidden microphone,” he said.

“I didn’t denounce this at the time because we didn’t want the theme of our visit to London to be confused with this matter.

“Furthermore, we first wanted to ascertain with precision what could be the origin of this interception device in the office of our ambassador.”

When asked if the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office would be responding to the claims by Mr Patino, a spokesman said: “We are aware of reports. This is a matter for the Ecuadorian government.”

Reacting to the comments Peter Luff, MP for Mid-Worcestershire, said: “I would expect any Worcestershire company offering services of this kind to operate within British and international conventions.”

The company moved to its offices at the former Whittington Hall in 2010 after relocating from Hereford.

On the surveillance section of the company’s website it claims to be “the only company in the world to offer an internationally accredited, covert camera construction, concealment and deployment course.

“We can provide a range of bespoke, unmanned, covert camera options to gather vital video evidence in the most challenging environment or scenarios.

“The cameras can further be supported by the use of micro tracking devices for deployment with customer property or vehicles.”

Yesterday, there was no sign of unusual activity at the offices and people working on the site said they had not noticed anything untoward about the company in the past.

One worker who can see the building from her workplace said the people working there appeared no different to anyone else who works on the development.

Worcester News: The anonymous building in Worcester which is The Surveillance Group headquarters
 

What is The Surveillance Group?

THE Surveillance Group operates in a very myterious world of watching, be it for government agencies, companies, or the police.
According to its website, the firm:
* Provides a range of “bespoke, unmanned, covert camera options to gather vital video evidence in the most challenging environment or scenarios”
* Combines practices employed by special forces and the police to create “an entirely new form of surveillance”
* Has teams “strategically placed in Europe and Canada”
* Has “close working relationships” with large financial institutions, UK law enforcement and “other government bodies”
* Are experts in providing witness surveillance to the police and local authorities
* Provide training courses to armed services personnel to pursue careers after active service
* Invests in “digital technology” which it says has “spearheaded new and heightened standards in the way personal injury fraud is prosecuted”
* Ensure a service of “integrity, confidentiality and a total commitment to client satisfaction”
* Says there are “few scenarios or locations in which we cannot achieve footage”
* Employs operatives “renowned for their ability to get closer, to take longer, better footage and to do so in a manner that is more beneficial to the eventual outcome”
* Claims to be the only company in the world to offer an internationally accredited, covert camera construction, concealment and deployment course

Why the Ecuadorian Embassy?

ECUADOR hit the headlines in June last year when Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, a website that publishes secret information and news leaks from anonymous sources around the world, first arrived at the country’s embassy, in Knightsbridge, London.
Assange has been living at the Ecuadorian embassy building for more than a year.
The Australian sought asylum in the country to avoid extradition by the British Government to Sweden on a European arrest warrant (EAW) after charges of sexual offences were brought against him.
He fears that once he returns to Sweden he will then be extradited to America, where he may face the death penalty on charges of releasing diplomatic cables, which contain confidential information, via WikiLeaks.
On granting the asylum on August 18 last year, following the request from Assange, Ecuadorian Foreign minister Ricardo Patino told the media that people may believe it strange that a government could act on principles, but said that was what Ecuador was doing.
Ecuador does have a bilateral extradition treaty with the US, according to the State Department, but espionage is not listed as an extraditable offence.
However, crimes such as larceny, obtaining property by false pretenses, and fraud, are listed in the treaty and could possibly be used as reasons for extradition.
The country’s political persuasion could also play a part.
President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, is a vocal critic of US foreign policy and the influence of Western economics in Latin America.
Since Assange arrived, officers from the Metropolitan Police Service have since remained outside the embassy and have been told to arrest Assange if he tries to leave.
This is thought, as of January 31 this year, to have cost nearly £3 million.
Another asylum seeker who has requested refuge in Ecuador is Edward Snowden, who is also wanted by the US government on charges of leaking secrets he collected while working as a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), America's electronic spying agency.
On Friday, June 28, the Ecuadorian Embassy released a statement saying: “We confirm that the Government of Ecuador has not authorised the issue of any safe conduct or refugee document allowing Mr Snowden to be transferred to our country.”
The statement also said: “The asylum request from Mr Edward Snowden has not yet been processed because the petitioner is not on Ecuador soil.”