FRAUD INVESTIGATION COURSE

Conducting a fraud investigation can be a difficult task.

An investigation into employee wrongdoing can be expensive, time consuming and disruptive to organisational moral.

It can certainly lead to a number of legal issues and other unexpected complications if it is not conducted in an ethnical, transparent manner with the utmost care and confidentiality.

On the other hand, the well-run fraud investigation can enhance a company’s welfare, which can help detect and recover the source of lost assets, identify responsible culprits and recover losses.

It can also provide a solid defence to legal challenges raised by sacked or disgruntled employees.

But crucially, an internal investigation will signal to other employees that the organisation will not tolerate fraud.

The fraud course will guide you through every step of an internal investigation into potential fraud, from receiving the initial allegation to testifying as a witness.

In this course, you will learn how to lead a fraud investigation with accuracy and confidence by gaining knowledge about various topics, such as relevant legal aspects of fraud investigations, using computers in an investigation, collecting and analysing internal and external data, interviewing witnesses, suspects and writing investigation reports.

This facilitator-led course includes a relevant practical fraud case scenario, which you will work through from beginning to resolution.

This will provide a practical foundation for you to effectively manage internal fraud investigations in your own organisation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Conduct an effective investigation
Highlight legal issues that might arise during an investigation
Use computer and internet technology to make your investigations more effective
Collect/analyse internal and external documents
Conduct witness and suspect interviews
Testify as a witness

Day One

Introduction to Fraud Investigations In this opening session, you will learn how to begin the fraud investigation - from receiving the allegation to setting up an SMART action plan and having a systematic approach to the investigation. Legal Elements of Fraud Investigations As you continue your investigation, you will need to know how to collect and document evidence. As an internal investigation differs from an external investigation, you will need to be aware of the unique risks and hazards to this type of investigation and how to avoid them. Internal Document Collection and Analysis Documents play a key role in most every fraud investigation. Locating the documents and then analysing them to establish the fraud is essential. In this session, you will discuss which documents you need to recover, where to find them, and then analyse their importance within the fraud. Investigating by Computer Learn how to use the computer as a crucial part of conducting your investigation. Computers can be used as a tool to analyse data to find and prove fraud, and can also be used to present your case to management or law enforcement in an easily understandable professional format. External Document Collection Information to prove your case can be found both inside and outside your organisation. This session focuses on external sources such as public information as well as data found on the internet. Also discussed will be the use of surveillance in fraud investigation. .

Lecture 1

Introduction; global corporate fraud; an ignoble history:

What is corporate fraud (overview)?
How much corporate fraud is out there?
What is the impact of corporate fraud?
What motivates the corporate fraudster?
Corporate fraud hard hitters across the globe

Lecture 2

What are we investigating? The corporate fraud offences:

Legislation and corporate fraud offences:

Conspiracy to defraud
Theft
Causing a loss or making a gain by deception
False accounting
Suppression of documents
Forgery and false instruments
Bribery and corruption
Criminal cartels
Criminal fraudulent trading
Insider dealing
Market manipulation
Offences against Revenue

Criminal liability and corporate responsibility (overview)

Lecture 3

Reducing, preventing and detecting corporate fraud:

Assessing the risk of corporate fraud

Strategy to reduce and prevent corporate fraud:

The role of HR policies
The role of ethics and the corporate culture
The role of employees
The role of management

Methods of detecting corporate fraud:

Internal audits
Forensic data analysis
Internal and external whistleblowers

Internal and external whistleblowers

Lecture 4

Investigating allegations of corporate fraud – internal investigations:

What to do when fraud is suspected?
Preparing an investigation plan
Collecting documentary and electronic evidence
Conducting interviews to gather evidence
Concluding the investigation

Lecture 5

Investigating allegations of corporate fraud – external investigations:

Bureau of Investigation
Central Bank
ODCE
National Consumer Agency
Competition Authority
CAB
Revenue Commissioners

Day Two

Interviewing Witnesses Witnesses are the lifeblood of any investigation and should be treated with extreme care. This session will outline how you can use Cognitive Interviewing (CI) techniques to increase the quantity and quality of information elicited from any witness in any investigation. Interviewing Suspects

The aim of Conversation Management (CM) is to put in place a structure for interviewing any person who you may suspect to be providing false information validating against the evidence you have discovered during the investigation. Concluding the Investigation You've concluded your investigation and it is essential that the written report or file outline the results of your investigation. This report will then have to be presented to your management, law enforcement, or prosecutors so it is crucial it covers all the elements of the fraud. This session will discuss techniques that have been used in successful report writing and will also explain how to present your findings that will accomplish your objectives. Testifying as a Fact Witness Learn how this differs from being an expert witness and the skills you'll need to be effective on the stand.

Lecture 6

Prosecuting the corporate fraudster and recovering the proceeds of corporate fraud:

Prosecuting the corporate fraudster: