Beijing (CNN) -- An expatriate corporate detective based in Beijing and Shanghai, who worked with GlaxoSmithKline's under-fire Chinese wing, could soon discover the cost of allegedly falling afoul of China's often hazy corporate law. After more than a year in detention, Briton Peter Humphrey and his wife Yu Yingzeng, a U.S. citizen, stand trial in a Shanghai court Friday, charged with illegally obtaining private information. Their 19-year-old son, who has returned to mainland China for the trial, says he's not convinced that, even if the couple is found guilty, they would even have known they were breaking the law. Humphrey is a veteran corporate detective -- an investigator, similar to a private detective, but one which sniffs out corporate malfeasance -- who spent more than 20 years as a foreign correspondent with Reuters, including stints in Beijing and Eastern Europe.
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Foreign corporate detectives based in China charged with 'illegally obtaining private information'
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Murky corporate laws in China make life difficult for companies engaged in this line of work
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Son of detained detectives: "I'm very proud of their moral standing"
Humphrey believes the case is linked to his father's client, GSK, which is under investigation in @placeholder amid allegations raised by a whistleblower.