Leon Hart has caught more than 5,000 love rats in 15 years as a private investigator, but claims nothing fails to surprise him anymore when it comes to infidelity
If you thought ‘I’m working late’ was the only cover-up for cheating, think again.
A private investigator has unveiled the most unbelievable lies daters use to hide in plain sight while sneaking off to have secret rendezvous. Detective Leon Hart has caught more than 5,000 love rats in 15 years on the job, but claims nothing fails to surprise him when it comes to catching truth dodgers.
“[One time] a man was suspected of cheating on his wife of 50 years, they had three children and seven grandchildren,” he recalled. “After utilising surveillance we identified that he was living at another address with a female in the exact same village as his wife.
“[And when] she confronted him with our evidence, he confessed to having this affair for more or less the same number of years they had been married – he had two children and three grandchildren with this person.”
Detective Hart is the managing director of Intime Investigations Ltd which has more than 250 worldwide agents working on discreet cases such as these. Each use GPS, listening devices and other surveillance technologies to track down targets, with evidence then used to compile reports.
He continued: “[Another time] a wife suspected her wealthy husband of infidelity as he would disappear on ‘business’ for a few days every week. The husband owned a small aircraft and also had a pilot’s licence.
“He was found to be having an affair with three different families at once, all scattered around the nearby islands, alternating between the families equally for many years… We [also] once had a target that would park at his local golf course, put his phone in a plastic bag and place it discreetly in a nearby bush.
“This allowed him to meet the other person at a nearby hotel without his wife suspecting a thing as he still kept his mobile location services on, which showed him at the golf course all day.”
Detective Hart’s cautionary tales come as Illicitencounters.com, the UK’s biggest ‘married dating website’, revealed that 38% of cheaters have lied about a family death to hide their infidelity. Of 2,000 polled, a staggering 42% had even experimented with disguises, including 8% who had dressed up as the opposite sex.
But golf trips and business trips were the most popular excuses of all, used by 74% and 87% respectively. This was closely followed by working overtime at 70% and family commitments at 68%.
Psychologist Dr Louise Goddard-Crawley explained that while many of these coverups seem bizarre, people use them for all sorts of reasons. She told The Mirror: “Some individuals may cheat rather than leave the relationship because they fear the emotional fallout of a breakup.
“Others may feel emotionally or financially dependent on their partner, making it difficult for them to leave the relationship. Communication problems or unresolved conflicts within the relationship might lead individuals to seek fulfilment outside of it rather than addressing the issues directly.”
Ree Langham, another psychologist at Stop Together, also added: “Attachment style, past experiences in relationships, and emotional needs can also contribute to a reluctance to end the relationship despite engaging in extramarital affairs. Understanding these underlying psychological mechanisms is crucial in addressing infidelity and promoting healthier relationship dynamics.”
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