Topic of this master thesis is forensic investigation and forms of economic crime which can be detected during the investigation. First chapter focuses on forensic investigation and its comparison with statutory audit. In the second chapter is performed analysis of forms of economic crime in the Czech Republic, Southern and Eastern Europe and globally. Knowledge from the previous chapters is applied to the real forensic investigation performed in the Czech Republic, forensic investigation of project OpenCard.

Economic crime is always actual theme, even more when economy finds itself in crisis. It is a well-known fact, that in such times fraud risk increases even inside organizations. This thesis is dealing with economic crime from the perspective of auditor and fraud examiner and likewise in the terms of Czech criminal law. Fraud, as both professions call economic criminality, implies higher costs for organizations, that's why both private and government sector organizations strives to fight it. Statutory audit is being perceived as one of the means to detect fraud. But statutory audit often fails to satisfy these expectations, for it's objective is only in auditor's opinion to express, that financial statement doesn't contain material misstatement. Detecting fraud is a responsibility of the entity. As a result of discrepancies in concept of this responsibility between public and auditors arises expectation gap, which is one of the problems distinctly revealed in the beginning of the financial crisis, when big companies, whose financial statements were verified by auditor's unqualified opinion, found themselves in trouble. In this context the thesis specifies auditor's responsibility in the wording of International Standards on Auditing and Czech law. As more efficient anti-fraud means the forensic audit is being used, the thesis compares it with statutory audit especially in terms of detecting fraud.

It is said that "one picture is worth a thousand words". This implies that pictorial testimony has more value than ten witnesses. The witnesses may give different views on the same issue, and, furthermore, they may forget some of the facts. Due to human error, omission, and defects such as old age and sight problems, they are contributing factors for people to give different accounts of the same events. The study entails the various roles of photography, such as recording the crime scene and that photography is considered as evidence in court. Investigators may use them for both suspects' and witnesses' interviewing. Furthermore, witnesses and victims may use them to refresh their memories, and the court uses them to prove the matter at issue. This indicates that photographs have a major role to play in the judicial and investigation processes. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

I takt med att världen blir alltmer uppkopplad och digitaliserad, är det en ständig utmaning för lagstiftningen att hänga med i utvecklingen. Digitaliseringen har också öppnat upp en helt ny arena för brottslighet, där elektroniska enheter och information har blivit alltmer centrala. För att bekämpa den ökande brottsligheten i den digitala sfären, har det funnits ett behov av att säkra digitalt bevismaterial som lagras utanför den fysiska enheten. Tidigare kunde det vara svårt att komma åt dessa digitala bevis på ett effektivt och lagligt sätt. Den nya lagen om genomsökning på distans har öppnat upp för möjligheten att säkra digitalt bevismaterial även utanför den lokala enheten. Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka hur lagen har påverkat det IT-forensiska arbetet, samt kartlägga möjligheter och utmaningar som lagen medför. Därutöver lyfter arbetet även fram önskemål på förändringar i lagen ur ett IT-forensiskt perspektiv. Detta undersöktes med hjälp av en kvalitativ studie där det utfördes intervjuer med IT-forensiker på Polismyndigheten och en verksamhetsutvecklare på NFC. / As the world becomes increasingly connected and digitized, it is a constant challenge for legislation to keep up with the pace of the technical development. Digitalization has also established an entirely new arena for criminal activity, where electronic devices and information have become increasingly central. To combat the increasing digital crime, there has been a need to secure digital evidence stored outside of the physical device. Previously, it could be difficult to access this digital evidence in an effective and legal manner. The new law on cloud forensic investigation has enabled the probability of securing digital evidence even outside of the local device. The purpose of this essay was to examine how the law has affected the IT-forensic investigation work, as well as to identify the opportunities and challenges posed by the law. In addition, the work highlights requests for changes to the law from an IT forensic perspective. This was investigated using a qualitative study where interviews were conducted with IT-forensic experts from Polismyndigheten and a developer from NFC.

The research was conducted as a result of the long standing criticism against undercover operations due to the conduct of informers and agents during these operations. Since both undercover operations and informers are controversial issues it may cause serious judicial problems if the system is not applied correctly. The problem was investigated by means of qualitative research. A thorough literature study and semi-structured interviews were used to gather the required data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with advocates of the Director of Public Prosecutions Free State and detectives from the Organised Crime Unit of the South African Police Service. It has been found that undercover operations are an effective manner to address organised crime and especially precious metals related crimes. Undercover operations are an excellent barometer to determine the extent of organised crime. It gives investigators a clear view of the compilation of a syndicate and the roles of leaders, runners and associates. Informers are invaluable sources of information. Without the use of informers it will be virtually impossible to engage in undercover operations, since the police will have no intelligence to engage into an investigation of this nature. The implications of the findings are that it is the responsibility of investigators, agents and informers to keep the system transparent, fair and acceptable. Their conduct may never violate their mandate and the boundaries of the investigation. Undercover operations are justified when the system is properly administered, structured, controlled and without bias. / Forensic Investigation / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

This research looks at the best practices applied by forensic investigators in conducting lifestyle audits on white collar crime suspects. The researcher explored, firstly, how a lifestyle audit relates to white collar crime investigations; secondly, the best practices in performing lifestyle audits on white collar crime suspects, and lastly, the various sources of information available to forensic investigators when conducting a lifestyle audit of a white collar crime suspect. As lifestyle audits will serve as an investigative tool in future forensic investigations into white collar crime, this study’s aim was to understand and create an awareness of the current best practices applied by forensic investigators within private sector forensic investigation practices while conducting lifestyle audits during white collar crime investigations. It also makes available research data regarding the concept of lifestyle audits in white collar crime investigations, the implementation of these audits, the benefits, and the best practices of these audits. The general purpose of this study was to provide practical recommendations on the best practices for lifestyle audits for forensic investigators within private sector. / Criminology / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

This research investigates the communication abilities of children who are exposed to criminal investigations because a crime was committed against them or they have witnessed a crime happening to another person. The study also determines how crime detectives can maximise their efforts in obtaining evidence from such children with the help of an interview as a technique to elicit information. The aim of the research was to understand the behaviour of children, so that more effective investigative interviews can be undertaken with child victims. The researcher wanted to identify the communication challenges associated with obtaining information from child victims and possible ways to overcome such challenges. It was found that the developmental stages of children, the manner in which interviewers/investigators conduct themselves during child interviews and the amount of knowledge possessed by interviewers to elicit information in a legally defensible manner are central to child victim interviews. / Criminology and Security Science / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

The research was conducted as a result of the researcher‟s concern that the possibility exists that members of the different law enforcement agencies in South Africa might have a misconception about the mandate and functions of the Financial Intelligence Centre. If such a misconception in fact exists, it poses a huge challenge towards fruitful co-operation among the Centre and the different law enforcement agencies. The researcher identified certain practical problems, namely, that investigators are not aware of the types of intelligence that the Centre could provide them with, and that investigators might not be informed about the specific procedures to follow when they need to request intelligence from the Centre. The research has shown that, in the past, the Centre has been a useful source of crime intelligence concerning a range of predicate offences including narcotics, fraud and tax related crimes. The research has further found that, although the majority of participants gained a lot of experience in law enforcement and investigations, they had limited awareness about the Financial Intelligence Centre and its functions. This research project studied the utilisation of the Financial Intelligence Centre as a crime intelligence source. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

The problem that was identified is that physical surveillance is not generally used by general detectives in the South African Police Service as a technique during their investigations. According to the researcher’s experience, this can be due to lack of understanding or experience or may stem from ignorance. A lack of training on the use of physical surveillance as a method to obtain information for the investigation process was also identified as a problem. This study therefore investigated the role and use of physical surveillance within the forensic investigation process. The focus of the research was on basic static (stationary), foot and vehicle surveillance as these types of surveillance are usually conducted in conjunction with each other. An empirical research design was used to conduct the research. A qualitative research approach enabled the researcher to obtain first-hand information from interviews with general detectives. Information was also obtained from a thorough literature study and from the researcher’s own experience on the topic. To conduct effective investigation, it is important for investigators to be familiar with the concept of physical surveillance, its elements, its influence and its values. A physical surveillance operation is a forensic tool used to gather evidence, to recover stolen property, and to identify and arrest the perpetrator. The use of physical surveillance during investigations serves the purpose of gathering evidence and information that can be used as intelligence. Successful forensic investigation requires skill and places extraordinary demands on detectives to utilise all available methods and techniques. The recognition of the use of physical surveillance as a method of evidence gathering is of outmost importance. The research has revealed that general detectives do not acknowledge the importance of physical surveillance as a method to obtain information for the investigation process. It is of vital importance that all detectives be properly trained with the necessary knowledge and skills to make use of this valuable investigative tool. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

The aim of this research is to investigate how handwriting as an individualisation technique in fraud investigation can be used by police detectives, SARS investigators and forensic investigation specialists, who are responsible for the investigation and linking the perpetrator, with a view to criminal prosecution. A further intent was to share and introduce a number of important concepts, namely: criminal investigation, identification, individualisation, fraud, evidence and handwriting. The research will explain the sophisticated investigation techniques used to obtain sufficient information to prove the true facts in a court of law. Identification is the collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which an object is definitively recognisable or known, while the individual characteristics establish the individuality of a specific object. Many types of evidence may be used to link an individual with a crime scene, and associate that individual with the performed illegal handling. It also explained that during a cheque/document fraud investigation, it is in most cases the only link to information to trace, identify and individualise the perpetrator, and to obtain a handwriting specimen. It is also discussed how to eliminate a person being a writer of a document, and how to collect, package and mark a disputed document during the investigation. If the investigators use their knowledge of these concepts, it should enhance their investigative skills, and empower them to be become better equipped for the challenges they face in identifying, individualising and linking the perpetrators, in order to ensure successful prosecution and conviction. / Police Practice / M.Tech. (Forensic Investigation)