British police who set up a surveillance operation outside Mr Tony Taylor's home in East Sussex discovered the missing investment broker was already being watched by private investigators.
The police, who mounted the operation following a request from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, asked the investigators to leave, which they did.
The identity of the investigators' client or clients is not known, though the Garda suspects they might be investors who lost money but have not reported their loss to the authorities.
An investigator with Priority Investigations said the agency was employed through a solicitor, but he was sure the client was an investor who had lost funds and had reported the matter to the Garda.
Counsel for the broker, whose whereabouts were unknown between August 1996 and his arrest in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on Wednesday, indicated to Brighton Magistrates' Court yesterday that he would be contesting his extradition. He was remanded in custody for 15 days.
Mr Taylor was arrested on 15 warrants concerning a number of charges, including an offence under Section 79 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995. The section carries a fine of up to £1 million, or imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.
He also faces charges under the Fraud and Conversion Act, 1916, the Forgery Act, 1913, and the Companies Acts, 1963 and 1990.
The court was told Mr Taylor was seeking legal aid. Unless he contests his extradition, he is to be taken to a point of departure from the UK under the control of the Garda within 15 days.
Documents discovered in Mr Taylor's rented home after his arrest indicate he had been trading on the stock market, most likely over the Internet. The Garda established that he was making a large number of phone calls to his Internet service-provider. It is not known if he was trading on his own behalf or for others.
It is suspected he may have been day-trading in US stocks, the practice where the Internet is used for the purchase and sale of shares on the same day.
Mr Taylor has been using the name Andrew Taylor while living in a detached house in Wrestwood Avenue, Eastbourne, with his wife, Shirley. There was no reply to calls at the house yesterday.
The Garda investigation into Mr Taylor's disappearance was led by Det Supt Willie McGee, who was in Brighton yesterday.