Forensic Interviewing Techniques in the Investigation of Fraud and Misconduct

Description

Good forensic interviewing skills are especially critical for the corporate sector in dealing with the problems of criminal acts and misconduct internally. They are critical because the Corporate and Private sectors do not have the extensive investigation powers of the Police and Government sectors. Without search and seizure powers, there is little in terms of internal investigations that can be done to secure evidence and solve the many disciplinary, misconduct and internal fraud cases.

However, when equipped with sound forensic interviewing skills to detect lies and uncover potential evidence, it allows a better outcome even for suspected criminal offences committed and reported to the police as there will be sufficient leads provided to support the case for the police investigation. Then with advanced skills like interrogation obtaining confession or admission of liability from the suspect it solves the case almost immediately to proceed with reporting the case or with a mutually agreed settlement saving much time and costs.

Programme Outline

FORENSIC INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES TO DETECT LIES

Interviews are used extensively to establish the facts of a case, complaint or accuracy of information given. This segment will provide participants with the application skills to conduct effective interviews to get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Analysis of recent high profile fraud cases will be discussed with operational lapses and legal issues highlighted for participants to adopt the critical lessons learned from the interviews conducted and statements recorded including past practices from real cases collated and archived over 10 years. In addition, customized training videos will also be shown to reinforce learning points.

1. The 3P Strategy© – Planning, Preparation & Presentation
2. Effective interview structure and process
3. Question techniques – preparing Qs to obtain evidence & test credibility
4. Legal issues including admissibility of statements
5. Practical application on REAL CASES

Participants will be introduced to the various methods employed by leading practitioners to establish truthful information from interviewing subjects. This workshop provides the effectiveness of adopting the right strategy, acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge including the legal requirements in conducting interviews and recording statements. Also included is the mechanics in structuring questions so that skilful subjects are unable to avoid giving meaningful answers to questions posed.  Through experience, it was discovered that this is the weakest link of even experienced investigators.  As such, the highly experienced Trainer has designed specific guidelines to deal with various situations like evasiveness including the effective use of follow-up questions.

DETECTING DECEPTION (LIES) DURING THE INTERVIEW

1. Physiological & Psychological factors
2. Micro facial expressions
3. Verbal & non-verbal analysis
4. 5C lie detection technique©
5. Practical application at various stages

Granted that even the best trained and experienced interviewers will not be able to detect lies one hundred percent of the time, but given the proper training and practice, practitioners can achieve a high successful rate in detecting lies.  Participants will be taught how to contrast facial expression with words spoken and identifying deceptive behavioural responses through non-verbal indicators and inconsistent verbal content. The interview system developed over many years of experience will provide an effective method of evaluating subject interviewed to obtain the truth. Many local fraud cases will be used including videos on live interviews to allow participants to apply the techniques taught in detecting deception in different types of cases and context.

FORENSIC INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES TO GET THE TRUTH

For the first time the secrets of the interrogation will be revealed. It is far from what we see on television or in the movies. They often portray an interrogation as simple as presenting the evidence and the suspect breaking down and confess in a matter of minutes. This is pure fiction. If the investigator has compelling evidence, there is no need for an interrogation. It is precisely why an interrogation is conducted, to get the evidence from the suspect and this workshop will show you how to do it. Real corporate fraud cases will be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of techniques taught including audio files of actual successful interrogation conducted. A practical session will be conducted at the end of the workshop to allow the application of the techniques taught.

The purpose of conducting an interrogation is to get the truth from someone who had lied. Even though the suspect knows you do not believe him, he may still refuse to reveal the truth. The interrogation can then be used to convince the suspect that we have the evidence and that telling the truth will minimize his consequences. The techniques taught will only affect a guilty suspect and not an innocent one so as not to cause a false confession. Trainer’s experience in assisting the defence in a civil suit resulting from such a false confession and the valuable lessons learned will be shared in this workshop. The trickery and deception used must also be within the legal constraints so as not to invalidate the confession obtained.

UNDERSTANDING EVIDENCE

1. Admissibility of accused statements
2. Evidential rules & requirements
3. 3P case analysis method© to identify potential evidence
4. Practical application on real cases

To prove your case, it is necessary to understand the rules relating to the admissibility of evidence. Many investigations focus only on the identification and collection of existing evidence that are apparent. However potential evidence especially in cases with little initial evidence requires skilful analysis and follow-up investigations to uncover more evidence that may in isolation be insignificant but collectively conclusive proof. These potential evidence even if undiscovered, are extremely effective when used during an interrogation.

INTERROGATION SCIENCE - SUSPECT INTERVIEW

1. The 3C confidence equation© for pre-interrogation advantage
2. Psychological factors in conducting an effective interrogation
3. 5 step perception creator© in getting a confession
4. Real case scenario practical application

This is unequivocally the highlight of the workshop. Though it is the most sophisticated skill to learn, the Trainer has customized this segment to allow practitioners to acquire the fundamental skills and with practice, they can achieve reasonable proficiency in its application. Essentially it is the art of persuasion using psychological methods to convince the suspect that confession is his best option.

 

What you will learn

• Acquire good and proven forensic interviewing skills taught by a leading investigator
• Learn to structure questions in your interviewing process to achieve successful outcomes
• Understand the rules relating to the admissibility of evidence

Target Audience

• Forensic Accountants
• Accountants in the Civil Service
• Investigators
• External and Internal Auditors
• HR Professionals
• Business Managers and Director
• Anyone who would like to acquire practical and effective forensic interviewing techniques in the investigation of fraud and misconduct

Expert Speaker

Jeffery Ang

Jeffrey was with the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and had investigated multiple fraud cases and dealt with major syndicates. He also played a major role in the setting up of the new School of Criminal Investigation for CID in 2001 and the development of the various Investigation courses. He was presented with two Police Commendations and two Director CID Awards.

Jeffrey is engaged by Civil Service College to provide the Investigative Interview, Specialist Investigation and Putting up Investigation Report courses for all Government agencies, receiving outstanding feedback from course participants. He also provides Forensic Interview Techniques and Fraud Detection & Forensic Investigation courses for MNCs and government agencies, both locally and overseas.

Jeffrey was the Group Head of Loss Prevention for Sentosa Leisure Group & SDC for 5 years, overseeing the prosecution, enforcement, security and investigation functions. He is the author of 3 books on conducting Forensic Interviews & Fraud Investigation, and is able to blend practical aspects into his training methodology to allow effective transfer of real life knowledge to participants.