5 Must Have Skills for Fraud Examiners In the Current Legal Scenario

The human mind is extremely devious. Since ages a certain type of personality exists that uses intelligence to make large amounts of money with ease by using deception and fraud, playing on the gullible nature and greed of human beings. At one time such criminals were treated at par with others. However, with the advent of computers and widespread use of electronic data authorities have redefined fraud into a separate category. In the current legal scenario a fraud examiner is a specialist, not a general investigator, and needs to possess specialized skill sets in order to unearth evidence and present it in a legally accepted format, either for prosecution or defense.

 Understanding of the law and legal processes

Any investigator and fraud examiner must have in-depth knowledge of the law and legal processes applicable to specific cases. Otherwise, the case he presents could have loopholes that would be exploited by the opposition. A Certified Fraud Examiner would have studied various types of frauds and the legal sections under which such criminals are liable for prosecution and the way courts admit paper or digital material as evidence.

 Understand how business works

There are more brilliant minds at work in criminal channels of business than there are in the legal side as is evidenced in the number of sophisticated methods employed by fraudsters. In order to detect anomalies and ferret out evidence hidden behind corporate facades, an investigator would need to understand how businesses operate, their structure and the schemes. Knowledge aids in detecting anomalies that, to the uninitiated, would appear regular and straightforward.

 International Capabilities

Local fraudsters are small time operators. The large sharks leverage loopholes in international laws and laws of specific countries to move large sums of money or to hide their traces. A Certified Fraud Examiner possesses knowledge of international routes fraudsters take to launder money or to claim immunity.

 Detailed knowledge of electronics and digital data

Computerized methods are the core of major and minor transactions these days and fraudsters leverage technology. It is indispensable for a fraud examiner to be able to ferret out data from mobiles, lap tops and desktop computers as well as servers in order to put together compelling evidence that substantiates allegations in court or refutes them. Skills necessary are capabilities to recover deleted or lost data from computers, email trails, messaging trails, SMS trails and even phone conversations to link criminals and their actions.

 Know where to look

Without direction an investigator could flounder and go around in circles. Smart investigators read the brief and can instantly put together specifics of where to look for evidence to substantiate or refute allegations. This saves time and gets results to court in time to support a defense or prosecution. This knowledge, of course, is born of experience gained from working in diverse fields such as ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, mortgage frauds, securities frauds, banking frauds and investment frauds.

For a lawyer engaged in protecting his client who may be accused of fraud, his first line of defense is a competent fraud examiner who uncovers evidence, prepares a substantive report and even appears as a witness to help get the wrongly accused defendant acquitted. 

Source : articlesbase.com