This book examines internal fraud investigations in public and private organizations. It provides a theoretical framework of white-collar crime and convenience theory, to examine a number of case studies, including some cases brought to light by the Panama Papers. Investigating white-collar crime is distinguished from other types of crime by: concealment of the crime rather than the criminal, victims who may be unaware of the crime and not directly visible to the criminal, and the resources available to suspects. It requires a unique strategy and a unique set of tools. This work provides insight into a number of internal investigation reports that are normally not publicly available. It will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, particularly with an interest in white collar crime and corruption, as well as related fields such as business, management, economics, and public administration.
The ‘convenience triangle’ is the dynamic relationship between motive, opportunity, and willingness to commit a crime, which culminates in the illegal acts which constitute white-collar crime. This book aims to discuss the role of the ‘convenience triangle’ in white-collar crime, how it affects the perpetration of these crimes, the impact of this on detection and prevention and the effects of the punitive measures taken against white-collar criminals.
Examining a shocking array of fraud, corruption, theft, and embezzlement cases, this vivid collection reveals the practice of detecting, investigating, prosecuting, defending, and resolving white-collar crimes. Each chapter is a case study of an illustrative criminal case and draws on extensive public records around both obscure and high-profile crimes of the powerful, such as money laundering, mortgage fraud, public corruption, securities fraud, environmental crimes, and Ponzi schemes. Organized around a consistent analytic framework, each case tells a unique story and provides an engaging introduction to these complex crimes, while also introducing students to the practical aspects of investigation and prosecution of white-collar offenses. Jennifer C. Noble’s text takes students to the front lines of these vastly understudied crimes, preparing them for future practice and policy work.
The 11 chapters of this book are intended to assist police investigators in obtaining the evidence required to prove the distinctive criminal elements of embezzlement and fraud. The first chapter defines "white-collar crime" and describes types of white-collar crime under the categories of crimes by individuals, crimes in the furtherance of legitimate business, and criminal activity disguised as legitimate business. The international scope of white-collar crime and the enforcement of white-collar crime are then discussed. The second chapter focuses on the white-collar crime of embezzlement, which occurs when a person fraudulently appropriates to his/her own benefit money or property entrusted to him/her by another without the effective consent of the owner. Fraud is the subject of the third chapter. Fraud occurs when a person obtains the property of another by deception. The deception involves making representations that are knowingly false by the design of the offender, and these representations are made with the intent to defraud a targeted victim. Relying on these false representations, the victim is induced to voluntarily give his/her property to the offender. The fourth chapter, a new chapter in this second edition, addresses identity theft, its incidence and costs, and the laws that it violates. The remaining chapters focus on the practical aspects of investigating embezzlement, fraud, and identity theft. Separate chapters cover accounting theory for investigators; auditing theory for investigators; financial interviewing and interrogation; public information, subpoenas, and search warrants; evidence and documentation; proving illicit transactions; and case preparation and the investigative report. Seven appendixes pertain to the numerical system of the American Bankers Association, the affidavit of financial information, area assignments of Social Security numbers, a guide to sources for financial information, consent to search, customer consent and authorization for access to financial records, and statement of rights.
Whether it takes place in the corridors of power, the business board-room or via your email inbox, fraud influences our daily lives. It costs governments worldwide billions per year and is often thought to have a far greater reach across society than any other criminal offence. This book examines and exposes fraud as one of the most devastating white collar crimes faced by society today. Studying Fraud as White Collar Crime is an engaging introduction to the diverse, serious and often overlooked crime of fraud. The book: • carefully introduces key terms and concepts; • examines the difficulty of defining and tackling fraud; • uses handy crime snapshots that show fraud in action; • delves into detailed analysis of real life scenarios in case study chapters; • shows how fraud works at individual, organizational and transnational levels. From fraud prevention and regulation to Ponzi schemes and insider trading, the book covers a broad range of issues and debates in a clear and accessible way. This wide ranging view of fraud is an indispensable introduction to a complex topic for all students of criminology, sociology and law.
In Fraud Examiners in White-Collar Crime Investigations, Petter Gottschalk examines and evaluates the investigative processes used to combat white-collar crime. He also presents a general theory regarding the economic, organizational, and behavioral dimensions of its perpetrators.Pool Your Resources for a Successful InvestigationGottschalk emphasiz
This is the second edition of the landmark book that standardized the language and terminology used throughout the criminal justice system. It classifies the critical characteristics of the perpetrators and victims of major crimes—murder, arson, sexual assault, and nonlethal acts—based on the motivation of the offender. The second edition contains new classifications on computer crimes, religion-extremist murder, and elder female sexual homicide. This edition also contains new information on stalking and child abduction, the use of biological agents as weapons, cybercrimes, Internet child sex offenders, burglary and rape, and homicidal poisoning. In addition, many of the case studies and crime statistics have been updated.
Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Computer Science - Commercial Information Technology, grade: 1.3, Heilbronn University, language: English, abstract: White-collar crime is and has always been an urgent issue for the society. In recent years, white-collar crime has increased dramatically by technological advances. The studies show that companies are affected annually by corruption, balance-sheet manipulation, embezzlement, criminal insolvency and other economic crimes. The companies are usually unable to identify the damage caused by fraudulent activities. To prevent fraud, companies have the opportunity to use intelligent IT approaches. The data analyst or the investigator can use the data which is stored digitally in today's world to detect fraud. In the age of Big Data, digital information is increasing enormously. Storage is cheap today and no longer a limited medium. The estimates assume that today up to 80 percent of all operational information is stored in the form of unstructured text documents. This bachelor thesis examines Data Mining and Text Mining as intelligent IT approaches for fraud detection in white-collar crime. Text Mining is related to Data Mining. For a differentiation, the source of the information and the structure is important. Text Mining is mainly concerned with weak- or unstructured data, while Data Mining often relies on structured sources. At the beginning of this bachelor thesis, an insight is first given on white-collar crime. For this purpose, the three essential tasks of a fraud management are discussed. Based on the fraud triangle of Cressey it is showed which conditions need to come together so that an offender commits a fraudulent act. Following, some well-known types of white-collar crime are considered in more detail. Text Mining approach was used to demonstrate how to extract potentially useful knowledge from unstructured text. For this purpose, two self-generated e-mails were converted into struc-tured f
Get practical insights on the psychology of white-collar criminals—and how to outsmart them Understand how the psychologies of fraudsters and their victims interact as well as what makes auditors/investigators/regulators let down their guard. Learn about the psychology of fraud victims, including boards of directors and senior management, and what makes them want to believe fraudsters, and therefore making them particularly vulnerable to deception. Just as IT experts gave us computer forensics, we now have a uniquely qualified team immersed in psychology, sociology, psychiatry as well as accounting and auditing, introducing the emerging field of behavioral forensics to address the phenomenon of fraud. Ever wonder what makes a white-collar criminal tick? Why does she or he do what they do? For the first time ever, see the mind of the fraudster laid bare, including their sometimes twisted rationalizations; think like a crook to catch a crook! The A.B.C.'s of Behavioral Forensics takes you there, with expert advice from a diverse but highly specialized authoring team of professionals (three out of the four are Certified Fraud Examiners): a former accounting firm partner who has a PhD in psychology, a former FBI special agent who has been with investigative practices of two of the Big Four firms, an industrial psychiatrist who has worked closely with the C-level suite of large and small companies, and an accounting professor who has interviewed numerous convicted felons. Along with a fascinating exploration of what makes people fall for the common and not-so-common swindles, the book provides a sweeping characterization of the ecology of fraud using The A.B.C.'s of Behavioral Forensics paradigm: the bad Apple (rogue executive), the bad Bushel (groups that collude and behave like gangs), and the bad Crop (representing organization-wide or even societally-sanctioned cultures that are toxic and corrosive). The book will make you take a longer look when hiring new employees and offers a deeper more complex understanding of what happens in organizations and in their people. The A.B.C. model will also help those inside and outside organizations inoculate against fraud and make you reflect on instilling the core values of your organization among your people and create a culture of excellence and integrity that acts as a prophylactic against fraud. Ultimately, you will discover that, used wisely, behavioral methods trump solely economic incentives. With business fraud on the rise globally, The A.B.C.'s of Behavioral Forensics is the must-have book for investigators, auditors, the C-suite and risk management professionals, the boards of directors, regulators, and HR professionals. Examines the psychology of fraud in a practical way, relating it to aspects of fraud prevention, deterrence, detection, and remediation Helps you understand that trust violation—the essence of fraud—is a betrayal of behavioral assumptions about "trusted" people Explains how good people go bad and how otherwise honest people cross the line Underscores the importance of creating a culture of excellence and integrity that inoculates an organization from fraud risk (i.e., honest behavior pays, while dishonesty is frowned upon) Provides key takeaways on what to look for when hiring new employees and in your current employees, as well as creating and maintaining a culture of control consciousness Includes narrative accounts of interviews with convicted white-collar criminals, as well as interpretive insights and analysis of their rationalizations Furnishes ideas about how to enhance professional skepticism, how to resist fraudsters, how to see through their schemes, how to infuse internal controls with the people/behavioral element, and make them more effective in addressing behavioral/integrity risks Provides a solid foundation for training programs across the fraud risk management life cycle all the way from the discovery of fraud to its investigation as well as remediation (so the same fraud doesn't happen again) Enables auditors/investigators to engage in self-reflection and avoid cognitive and emotional biases and traps that lead to professional judgment errors (e.g., overconfidence, confirmation, self-deception, groupthink, halo effect, availability, speed-accuracy trade-off, etc.) Ever since the accounting scandals surrounding Enron and WorldCom surfaced, leading to the passage of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, as well as the continuing fall out from the Wall Street financial crisis precipitating the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, fraud has been a leading concern for executives globally. If you thought you knew everything there was to know about financial fraud, think again. Get the real scoop with The A.B.C.'s of Behavioral Forensics.
By examining white-collar crime scandals using the theory of convenience, Petter Gottschalk offers ways to improve the detection of crime signals and investigative skills in fraud examinations, as well as improve change management measures.
