Financial investigation is useful if someone owes you money and refuses to pay. It involves determining total wealth and expenditures to compare with reported income.
This video portrays the investigative techniques used to uncover hidden assets and criminal money-laundering networks. These investigations can lead to confiscation of criminal assets – making crime less profitable.
Assets
Assets are anything that a person or company owns that has monetary value. They can be broken into four categories: current, non-current, physical and intangible. Current assets include cash, marketable securities and accounts receivable. Non-current assets include inventory, land and machinery. Intangible assets include intellectual property like patents and copyrights. Finally, fixed assets are larger-ticket items that will bring the company value for more than a year, such as commercial real estate and equipment.
Today’s sophisticated criminals use a variety of schemes to launder money and hide the source of their illegal proceeds. This makes financial investigations essential to prosecuting criminals and dismantling criminal networks. Financial investigation is the process of collecting, relating and analyzing the available data to identify collaborating offenders, instruments used to acquire assets, and the location of criminal activity.
A financial investigation is a comprehensive examination of the holdings and investments of a subject and the companies they control. It also includes the assets they convey to close associates and family members. Obtaining this information helps investigators support stronger settlement outcomes, financial restitution and post-judgment collections. It can also strengthen a case for forfeiture, where the perpetrators are required to surrender the ill-gotten gains to the authorities. It’s also helpful for identifying potential underlying crimes like money laundering, corruption and terrorist financing. The FATF’s updated standards recognise that financial investigations are a core component of an operational AML/CFT framework.
Liabilities
If you suspect an employee is stealing money from your company, a financial investigation can help you find out. It can also uncover hidden assets and liabilities that aren’t included in your business records. This is important information to have when collecting debts and filing lawsuits.
Financial investigations are a crucial component of anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing (AML/CTF) efforts. They allow law enforcement agencies to uncover new prosecutable evidence and map out entire criminal networks including their transnational ramifications. Moreover, they can provide proactive and preventive value by allowing investigators to develop detection and monitoring tools.
A basic asset investigation typically involves browsing public records, checking databases such as those found at credit reporting agencies, and performing informal checks with banks and other professionals. However, some people will go to extreme lengths to hide their assets from others. They may transfer ownership of their property to a relative or friend, use fake names and addresses, or even set up offshore accounts in order to avoid discovery.
When conducting an asset and liability investigation, a private detective should sweep for electronic bugs to ensure that the investigation is not tampered with. Additionally, they should be able to detect surveillance devices such as hidden microphones or video cameras.
Inheritance
While inheritance can be an important part of your life, you should always check to make sure you’re receiving the amount you’re entitled to. It’s also wise to have an attorney review any documents you receive before signing them.
Financial investigation is a valuable tool in the fight against serious and organised crime. It enables authorities to trace criminal assets and to dismantle criminal networks. This is especially true in cases where high-level criminals are using sophisticated money laundering schemes. It is crucial that criminal investigators and prosecutors are aware of the importance of financial investigations.
A professional investigator will use a variety of tools and techniques to trace money. These include document analysis, computer forensics and interviewing witnesses. These methods can be used to investigate a wide range of crimes, including fraud, theft, embezzlement and money laundering. They are especially useful in the detection of tax evasion and other white-collar crimes.
An investigator can also help you settle property loss cases and shareholder disputes. Moreover, they can assist you in following paper trails associated with corporate acquisitions or mergers and in partnership disputes. A qualified investigator can locate hidden assets for individuals and corporate entities. These experts can identify assets such as vehicles, land and boats. They can also follow the money trail from criminals, gangs, terrorists and drug dealing organizations.
Identity Theft
A professional investigator will use various investigative techniques to trace assets and other data. They will also seek to link the origins of money with criminal activity. This is important, as criminals often use offshore centers, corporate vehicles, nominees, intermediaries and “straw men” to hide the link between their financial transactions and their criminal activity.
Identity theft is a common form of fraud that involves using stolen personal information to impersonate others. It can occur in a variety of ways, including making purchases using a victim’s credit card, opening accounts in their name, or even using synthetic identities that combine stolen data with fake information to steal money or other assets. In the United States, identity theft complaints account for a large percentage of consumer fraud reports filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
A skilled asset search investigator can find hidden assets that are obscured in official records or otherwise difficult to uncover. They can look at everything from tax returns to alleged debt to shareholder statements to spending habits. They can also identify “structuring,” which is the process of breaking up large transactions into smaller ones to avoid triggering suspicious activity reports. In addition to identifying the origins and beneficiaries of funds, these investigators can locate the money itself in any country around the world.