MH17 private investigator claims new information in cause of crash

With reporting by Zack Newmark. The anonymous group of people who put up a 47 million dollar reward for concrete evidence about suspects responsible for bringing down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 say they have the information they wanted, German private investigator Josef Resch says, according to newspaper Der Spiegel. Resch claims he was hired by the group to ferret out details and verify information they obtained. The alleged informant was for many months at the center of very sensitive political processes, according to the detective. Because of confidentiality agreement, Resch says he cannot reveal the informant's identity. The clients initially proposed a reward of 30 million dollars, which they later raised by another 17 million. In the past, Resch said, “We are searching for a second Edward Snowden,” adding that, “anyone is for sale.” Resch and his colleagues spent months processing information they received in the investigation. Sometimes, informers contradicted themselves, said Resch. The detective also received documents supposedly coming from the Ukrainian secret services. "In many cases I doubted the seriousness [of the information], it always had a side taste." said Resch. For instance, he mentioned some of the informers contacting him by mail, which is generally a very unsafe thing to do. One of the informers showed up in May at Resch's doorstep. He was a middle-aged European and spoke German rather well. "I immediately had the feeling that he was not an impostor," said Resch. Resch also described a meeting between a supposed tipster and a contact for the clients who ordered the investigation. In that instance, the informant arrived at the meeting location by bike. The meeting lasted for an hour, after which the informant received some money. Resch refused to reveal the amount in question. "I only had the responsibility of connecting people. That was the deal that I made," he said when asked about the information that was gleaned from the informant. The specifics of Resch's role in the process also remains unknown. "I only wish that the clients bring the issue into the open," said Resch. "I personally fear, however, that the matter will be processed internally."