Definition
A fraud investigation is a thorough and objective, fact-gathering process conducted to determine whether or not a fraud-related crime was committed. Evidence is collected during this process to establish facts, inform findings, protect victims, and build a case which may potentially culminate in a criminal and/or civil action.
Introduction
Fraud investigations are a specific type of investigation conducted to determine whether a fraud-related crime was committed. Public attention to the phenomenon fraud investigations increased following a series of public company frauds in the early 2000s (Coenen 2009, xv). Many of those crimes are listed among the “Ten Biggest Frauds in Recent U.S. History” and include Enron in 2001, Tyco International and WorldCom in 2002, and HealthSouth in 2003 (Forbes 2017).
There are many different types of frauds in existence. Overall, there are types of frauds that can be perpetrated across several industries, such as check fraud, and frauds that...
References
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). (2014). Planning and conducting a fraud investigation. Fraud Examiners Manual.
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). (2018) “Fraud tree.” Available at: http://www.acfe.com/fraud-tree.aspx
Biegelman, M. T., & Biegelman, D. R. (2010). Foreign corrupt practices act compliance guidebook: Protecting your organization from bribery and corruption (Vol. 8). Hoboken: Wiley.
Coenen, T. L. (2009). Expert fraud investigation: A step-by-step guide. Hoboken: Wiley.
Forbes. (2017). “Our take on the ten biggest frauds in recent U.S. history.” Available at https://www.forbes.com/pictures/ghde45fli/our-take-on-the-10-bigge/#297a26e37e50
Giacalone, J. L. (2015). Four basic steps in a fraud investigation. Public Safety Briefing Room. Lexis Nexis.
Johnston, J. B. (2007). Prosecuting government fraud despite the CSI effect: Getting the jury to follow the money. New England Law Review, 41(3), 563–574.
Pedneault, S. (2009). Anatomy of a fraud investigation. Hoboken: Wiley.
Pedneault, S., Silverstone, H., Rudewicz, F., & Sheetz, M. (2012). Forensic accounting and fraud investigation for non-experts. Hoboken: Wiley.
Future Readings
Pedneault, S. (2010). Anatomy of a fraud investigation: Fraud detection to prosecution. Hoboken: Wiley.
Petrucelli, P. R. (2013). Detecting fraud in organizations. Hoboken: Wiley.
Wells, J. T. (2014). Principles of fraud examination (4th ed.). Hoboken: Wiley.
Wells, J. T. (2017). Corporate fraud handbook: Prevention and detection (5th ed.). Hoboken: Wiley.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Binns, C.A. (2018). Investigations: Fraud. In: Shapiro, L., Maras, MH. (eds) Encyclopedia of Security and Emergency Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_24-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_24-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69891-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69891-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Law and CriminologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Investigations: Fraud- Published:
- 12 November 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_24-2
-
Original
Investigations: Fraud- Published:
- 24 August 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_24-1