Raul R. Cardona: The Ultimate Deadbeat Dad?

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People skipping out on child support is unfortunately a common problem in the United States. According to statistics from 2001, less than 45% of parents received the full amount of the child support that they were due. It is understandable for a parent to have a tough month or struggle to make a child support payment after facing a financial setback, but there is simply no excuse for the way that some parents blatantly avoid paying the child support that they are legally required to provide to their children. Raul Cardona, who was arrested recently at the posh Mountain Gate Country Club in Los Angeles, is one of those parents.

It all began in Milwaukee County back in 1994. In a divorce settlement, Cardona was ordered to pay $563 per month to his spouse. According to the New York Daily News, he made one child support payment of $424 in 1996. Since then, Cardona has created a new life for himself in Los Angeles, going by the alias Raul Rodriguez and starting up a business in Beverly Hills as a celebrity fitness trainer. Cardona was taken into custody by police in Los Angeles on August 5, 2014, and will be extradited back to Milwaukee soon, where he will face ten counts of felony failure to support a child. He owes nearly a quarter of a million dollars in child support.

How Private Investigators Track Down a Deadbeat Dad (or Mom)

Even if parents are not as spectacularly behind on their payments as Raul Cardona is, a private investigator can still help people who are owed money from ex-husbands and ex-wives. A Beverly Hills private investigator could have helped Cardona’s ex-spouse in a few important ways:

• Background Checks: As many people who don’t want to get found often do, Cardona changed his name by adopting his middle name as his last name. Private investigators can offer background check services that can quickly catch people who try to hide themselves using this common tactic.
• Surveillance Services: Thanks to his business marketing efforts, Raul Cardona made it relatively easy for authorities to find him. Not every deadbeat dad or mom will make it that easy, which is where a private investigator will be especially helpful. If there is a particular place your ex-spouse likes to hang out, or an office where they work, a private investigator can conduct surveillance to monitor their activities. This is valuable for someone who is trying to track down their  ex so that they can attempt to collect the child support they are owed.
• Conducting an Asset Search in California: This is especially useful for parents who want to prove that their spouse is financially capable of making payments, as Cardona seemed to be. He was arrested after driving up to the country club where he worked in a Mercedes-Benz. An asset search can reveal just how well someone has been living while they are skipping out on child support payments.

Are you a frustrated parent who is owed child support payments but you do not know where your ex-spouse is or how to track them down? Call upon the services of a knowledgeable private investigator to help you find them and bring them to justice.