McKinnon Investigative Group is a licensed private investigation firm based in Fort Lauderdale, serving Broward County and South Florida since 1994.
Memberships & Affiliations
Years of combined experience in the professional investigative field
Successful investigations completed across a wide range of cases
Countries Where We Have Conducted Investigations
Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale since 1994, McKinnon Investigative Group handles the maritime, corporate, and domestic cases that define this city’s investigative profile.
Serving individuals, families and attorneys throughout Fort Lauderdale and Broward County.
Detailed reporting on living conditions, parental conduct, and potential risks.
Trusted by Fort Lauderdale businesses from the Downtown CBD to Plantation to uncover fraud, misconduct, and internal risks.
Analysis of digital activity and patterns to support legal or personal matters.
Screen potential employees, partners, or personal connections thoroughly.
Identify risks before mergers, investments, or major financial commitments.
Get clarity in sensitive family matters like abuse, dishonesty, or hidden finances.
Uncover the truth behind suspicious claims with thorough surveillance.
McKinnon Investigative Group has built its Fort Lauderdale practice around the city’s dominant legal and commercial industries: maritime disputes, international business litigation, and high-asset divorce proceedings that move through the 17th Judicial Circuit.
Our investigators maintain strict chain of custody documentation on every case, providing time-stamped media, detailed chronological reports, and sworn affidavits specifically prepared for 17th Circuit proceedings. We have testified in Broward County court regularly over 30 years.
Fort Lauderdale is home to more registered yachts and vessels than any other city in the United States, a fact that shapes the investigative caseload here more than any other single factor.
Charter fraud, vessel ownership disputes, and maritime due diligence cases are a consistent part of our Fort Lauderdale practice that simply do not exist in the same volume in any other Broward County city.
Add to that the city’s role as the 17th Judicial Circuit’s commercial centre, its concentration of international tourism businesses, and its waterfront luxury real estate market and Fort Lauderdale generates a more diverse PI caseload than any other city we serve.
This is why our Fort Lauderdale investigators are not generalists. They are specialists in the maritime, corporate, and high-asset domestic cases that define this city’s legal landscape.
A client came to us after an attorney had misappropriated $50,000 of their spouse’s money. The individual had gone to ground in South Florida and was not responding to legal demands.
Within four days our investigators had located the individual and documented their whereabouts. Within seven days the money had been wired back into our client’s account.
The case required locating a subject, building a documented financial trail, and working directly with legal counsel to compel the return of funds.
Fort Lauderdale is where McKinnon Investigative Group has been based since 1994. Maritime fraud, corporate litigation support, and domestic cases in Broward County are what we have handled every day for over 30 years.
Fort Lauderdale handles more boat registrations and yacht transactions than any other US city. Before purchasing a vessel, entering a charter agreement, or joining a marina partnership, due diligence on the seller’s ownership history, outstanding liens, and prior charter fraud is essential. Our investigators regularly support maritime attorneys and yacht brokers operating along the Intracoastal and at Port Everglades.
Fort Lauderdale’s concentration of high-net-worth waterfront property owners means divorce proceedings in Broward Family Court frequently involve complex asset structures like undisclosed business interests, offshore accounts, and hidden real estate. Our investigators work with 17th Circuit family law attorneys to document financial conduct and locate assets before and during proceedings.
Fort Lauderdale’s role as Broward County’s commercial centre means insurance defense, workers’ compensation fraud, and internal embezzlement cases are a consistent part of our caseload. We work with Broward County businesses from the Downtown CBD to the Plantation corporate corridor to document misconduct before it reaches litigation.
As a thriving international business hub and luxury residential center, Fort Lauderdale’s high-stakes environment drives demand for professional due diligence and surveillance. Rapid corporate growth and affluent interests necessitate expert investigative services to mitigate risk and ensure transparency.
Our investigative team maintains a deep operational presence across these primary Broward institutions. We leverage these facilities to conduct on-site records research, file legal documentation, and coordinate jurisdictional field operations.
Jonathan Friedman is a board-certified criminal defense attorney who has practiced exclusively in criminal defense for over 30 years across state and federal courts in Florida. He started his career at the Broward County public defender’s office.
In a conversation with Francois McKinnon, he described cases where investigative work was the difference between conviction and dismissal. A recorded jail call containing exculpatory statements. Surveillance footage retrieved from venues after the fact proving a client was not present. Cases where the evidence an investigator gathered shaped the entire outcome.
His view: documentation, chain of custody, and understanding what courts actually require for evidence to be admissible are what separate useful investigative work from work that does not hold up.
McKinnon Investigative Group has been based in Fort Lauderdale since 1994. Francois McKinnon founded the firm and continues to lead it today. Over 30 years of operating from this city means our investigators know Fort Lauderdale’s communities, its court system, and its investigative landscape from the inside.
McKinnon Investigative Group is headquartered at 2598 E. Sunrise Blvd, Suite 2104, Fort Lauderdale. We cover every area of Fort Lauderdale including Las Olas, Victoria Park, Flagler Village, Downtown, Harbor Beach, Rio Vista, and the Intracoastal communities.
Yes. Fort Lauderdale’s status as a global yachting hub means we regularly assist with charter fraud, crew background investigations, and vessel asset location. We work with maritime attorneys and vessel owners across Broward’s marine corridor, from the New River to Port Everglades.
Absolutely. Our team has extensive courtroom experience in the 17th Judicial Circuit, which covers all of Broward County. We provide sworn affidavits, time-stamped surveillance logs, and are available for expert witness testimony in Fort Lauderdale’s civil and family courts.
A national firm will send whoever is available. We’re based in South Florida and have operated in Broward County for over 30 years. Our investigators know the layout of Harbor Beach, the traffic patterns around I-595 and US-1, and the community dynamics that determine whether a surveillance subject notices they’re being observed.
