Mr.X Part III: Investigation Methods

Collecting evidence is important step in any investigation process. Those evidence must be taken care at all times to convince trail of cases and to preserve its credibility. A forensic accounting expert must take appropriate steps to gather and preserve relevant evidence that may lead to the ultimate conclusions of the investigation. In the case of Mr.X, various types of evidence can be presented in the court to prove the commission of bankruptcy fraud. Thus, among proposed methods can be used in collecting such evidence are as follows:

1 – Predication

Predication can be identified from various kind of sources such as regulators, auditors, employees and third parties (Golden, Skalak, Clayton, & Pill, 2011). A forensic accounting expert should conduct proper predication to anticipate an investigation. In the case of Mr.X, a complaint or inquiries from bank personnel may surface predication to commence an investigation on bankruptcy fraud.

2 – Interview

An interview is performed to elicit information regarding a crime under investigation. It involves a conversation session with a series of questions and answers (Golden et al., 2011). Effective interview may provide sufficient information to proof the crime. A forensic accounting expert must be able to persuade any targeted person to provide information including bank officers, Mr.X and his wife.

3 – Document Examination

A forensic accountant should perform document examination to obtain information regarding the bankruptcy fraud. As for the case of Mr.X, it requires thorough examination on several documents such as the Bankruptcy Order (Receiving Order & Adjudication Order) dated February 1993, ABC Bbank loan application form dated April 1996, ABC Bank overdraft facility form dated April 1996, incorporation documents of JKL Sdn Bhd dated August 1995 and other relevant documents.

4 – Surveillance

Surveillance is a legal undercover operation. This investigation technique involves observation by means of recording and watching acts, movements and physical facts of a fraud (F.Zimbelman, Albrecht, Albrecht, & Albrecht, 2012). For instance, in the case of bankruptcy fraud, an investigator may conduct surveillance method to trace the changes in lifestyle of the targeted suspect and to search the assets that belongs to the possible suspect.

REFERENCES:

F.Zimbelman, M., Albrecht, C. C., Albrecht, W. S., & Albrecht, C. O. (2012). Forensic Acounting.

Golden, T. W., Skalak, S. L., Clayton, M. M., & Pill, J. S. (2011). A Guide to Forensic Accounting Investigation. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

http://www.kehakiman.gov.my/directory/judgment/file/S-09-207-2010.pdf.