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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)

Denna studie syftar till att synliggöra olika bedrägliga beteenden som riktar sig mot innovatörer. I studien diskuteras möjligheterna till att etablera en funktion som skyddar innovatörer mot en typ av övergrepp som blir allt vanligare. Hur skall subtil manschettbrottslighet begränsas när den är både riskfri och lönsam? En vägledande fråga i diskussionen har varit: Skall innovatörer ha samma skydd för sin upphovsrätt som andra fria yrkesutövare, eller ska de fortsätta få vara villebråd utan skydd av rättsväsendet? Resultatet bygger på dokumentanalyser och en kvalitativ studie om upphovsmän till patent, samt intervjuer med personer inom branschen innovationer och entreprenörskap. Resultat baseras bl a på den kvalitativa studien och beskrivs genom fakta om innovatörerna Dr. Håkan Lans och M.D. Johan Ullman, vilka båda fått sina fall uppmärksammade i massmedia. Resultatet av analysen visar att* Uppfinnare är en minoritet som saknar rättsskydd i Sverige* Likhet inför lagen gäller inte för innovatörer och upphovsmän* Det är nästintill undantagslöst den ekonomiskt starkaste som vinner patentstrider Ett par av slutsatserna är att risken för upptäckt styr omfattningen av subtil ekobrottslighet. När det är riskfritt att bedriva sådan verksamhet ökar antalet brott. Det finns metoder att begränsa organiserad ekonomisk brottslighet, bedrägerier och kränkningar. Slutdiskussionen ger förslag till hur man kan skydda den svagare parten och skapa förutsättningar för uppfinnare att verka, för en större industriell tillväxt och därmed fler nya arbetstillfällen i Europa.

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 and Security Science / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

Previous research found gender to be a primary consideration of judges in terms of actions towards defendants. Blameworthiness, the combined effect of criminal history, offense severity, and the defendant's role in the criminal event, is also known to impact judge's actions. Little, though, is known about how gender and blameworthiness, combined, may be related to judges' actions towards white-collar defendants. The purpose of this case study, therefore, was to explore whether defendant gender and blameworthiness impact judicial actions towards defendants charged with white-collar crime(s) in a federal district court of New York. The theoretical framework was Demuth and Steffensmeier's theory of focal concerns. Research questions focused on the impacts of defendants' gender and blameworthiness in general and with regard to bail and restitution decisions. Data consisted of published court case summaries for 1,162 criminal cases heard by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York between 2009 and 2015. These data were analyzed via an inductive coding process and then subjected to content analysis. Themes that emerged revealed that all facets of blameworthiness impacted restitution while only the seriousness of the offense impacted bail decisions. Further, gender was found to impact judge's actions in subtler ways than in prior research. For example, analysis revealed slight modifications in word choice in the case summaries that appeared to be connected to the gender of the defendant, particularly related to restitution decisions. The results of this study may be used to courts and Congress to enhance existing statutes and guidelines directed at decreasing the impact of gender and blameworthiness on defendants by the justice system.

Organizations use pre-employment tests to identify individuals characterized as having a propensity (likelihood) to commit theft with the intent to limit at-risk hires, thereby reducing the risk of fraud. Pre-employment tests were originally designed to identify a broad range of deviant behaviors such as previous violations of laws, and violations of social norms and organizational policies (O'Bannon et al., 1989), not as predictive indicators of deviant behavior and theft. In addition, the test most commonly used to identify high fraud risk applicants, the integrity test, has limited support as a valid predictor of theft (MacLane & Walmsley, 2010; Ones et al., 2003; Sackett et al., 1989; Van Iddekinge et al., 2012) within the literature. This study empirically examined the efficacy of pre-employment tests to elicit a predictive profile of white-collar crime by testing the relationship between deviant behaviors, personality traits, and integrity. The data for this study was obtained through questionnaires and pre-employment tests administered within the Federal prison system. The total sample consisted of twenty (N=20) convicted white-collar inmates. Results of this sample were compared to the general population statistics as provided by the pre-employment test providers. In line with the literature, positive relationships were found between low integrity and deviant behaviors. Contrary to past literature, no significant relationships were found between Agreeableness and Integrity or Emotional Stability/Neuroticism and Integrity. A positive relationship was found between high Conscientiousness and Integrity. Of particular note, this study found that the failure rate of the overt-integrity test was 45% and 100% for personality tests in identifying individuals with traits consistent with deviant behaviors. This study contributes to the existing literature on personality, integrity and deviant behaviors by providing insights into the nature of the relationships as they relate to white-collar crime. This study also expands the theory of deviant behaviors with a thorough definition within the literature results, which helps to define the dimension and constructs of deviant behaviors within the workplace as it relates to white-collar crime. Finally, this study specifies practical implications to be considered by management and pre-employment test providers for the purpose of enhancing fraud prevention and reducing deviant behaviors within the organization.

The introduction, and evolution of securitisation over the years, has made a phenomenal contribution to the area of corporate finance. Securitisation is specialised area which has evolved to deliver considerable advantages to banks and their corporate and government clients, a sub-subjected explored in this thesis. Securitisation is using the cashflow, creditworthiness and collateral of receivables to raise finance from the capital markets. To date, research on the subject of securitisation has produced a few textbooks and numerous articles written by academics and practitioners. The ambit of these writings addresses three questions, namely, what is securitisation; how does it work in practice; and how can securitisation be developed so that it can continue delivering advantages in the evolving world of corporate finance. Securitisation is very much a practical subject, and given that the author had very little, if any, practical exposure to the subject prior to developing this thesis, the author, admittedly, felt challenged to ascertain significant issues that could be developed to the extent that such development represents an original contribution to knowledge. Case law in the US had already explored the most significant issue regarding securitisation, namely, true sale. Armed with a solid theoretical base of knowledge that author looked for inspiration, and discovered it during the initial days when the Enron scandal hit the headlines. In short, the Enron scandal involved using the concept of securitisation to facilitate financial crime. The masterminds (if its appropriate to use such description) of the scandal, as this thesis will unfold later, cleverly used thousands of securitisation and hedging transactions to raise funds in order to give financial creditability to a giant corporation which on the surface appeared prosperous but, in reality, was breathing to a large extent on borrowed funds. This scandal, in which securitisation was used, inspired the author to develop the originality of the thesis by focusing on the issue of securitisation and financial crime. Given that financial crime is a huge area to explore, the author narrowed the focus to look at money laundering, and address the question: can the practice of securitisation facilitate money laundering? To approach this question and answer it at doctorate level required a solid understanding of what securitisation is and how it works in practice. Using textbooks, articles and conversations with practitioners, the thesis documents under Part 1, what securitisation is and how it works in practice before moving on to Part 2 to look at if and how securitisation can facilitate money laundering.

In this research I analyse how the existence of regulations that allow private funding of election campaigns have created opportunities for crime. Three specific questions are addressed here: 1. Do electoral donations increase political corruption? 2. Why do companies give electoral donations? 3. How are electoral donors compensated? To address these questions, I adopted a nested analysis. This sequential, mixed method brings together the strengths of both regression analysis and case study research, while conducting a validity check—triangulation—by convergence of results via different methods and theoretical approaches. I first conducted a cross-national comparison of 78 countries; then, I conducted a survey of 302 private companies in Colombia; and finally, I documented one case that described how campaign contributions affect the political decision-making process. The main conclusion of this research is that electoral law creates opportunities for crime, because it legalizes the entrance of interested money into politics, disqualifies donors as perpetrators, and introduces regulations with null or limited deterrent effect on the delivery of undue reciprocities. Indeed, I demonstrated that electoral financing is used as a legal bribery by private corporations. The legal character of this political instrument is perverted when undue compensation is delivered to donors. This is not a crime with a single perpetrator; rather, donors and incumbents are equally involved. However, donors are protected by electoral law, because the money delivered as corrupt incentive is classified as legal. This suggests that the law is being used as a mechanism that neutralizes donors as perpetrators. This perspective points to the manipulative use of electoral law, or creative compliance, as the term is used by McBarnet (2006).

The thesis describes the internal control system of a company in relation to internal audit. It also describes various types of fraudulent acts and analyzes several research papers focused on this topic. Furthermore, the thesis shows relations of these issues to white-collar crime, employment law, criminology and the psychology of offenders.

La mondialisation des échanges, générant un accroissement des volumes de transactions financières, a été accompagnée par une mondialisation des activités criminelles. Les techniques de blanchiment se sont adaptées à cette réalité économique. La lutte anti-blanchiment est intrinsèquement un sujet complexe qui a mobilisé une volonté d’architecture ouverte entre les acteurs publics et une interdépendance entre les régulateurs et les institutions financières. Son objectif est de viser l’action des organisations criminelles transnationales qui ont su tirer profit de la congruence entre la sophistication financière et l’ère du numérique. La réglementation de ces dernières années, concernant la lutte anti-blanchiment d’argent et lutte contre le financement du terrorisme, a mis en relief l’émergence du droit souple avec, parallèlement, un changement paradigmatique pour les institutions financières qui se retrouvent désormais à appliquer des normes restrictives émanant du législateur et d’appliquer des normes de contrainte, ou incitatives, provenant de différentes autorités de régulation, générant parfois une perception de superposition réglementaire. Insérées dans le dispositif mondial de lutte anti blanchiment, les institutions financières doivent s’adapter cette inflation réglementaire qui persiste depuis plusieurs années. Ce changement de texture normative se caractérise par une combinaison de ces différents droits dont le mouvement ne cesse de se prolonger avec le droit de la régulation bancaire et financière. Ce droit de la régulation bancaire et financière invite les institutions financières à adopter une certaine élasticité dans la mise en place des dispositifs de conformité permettant la mise en oeuvre d’outils systémiques face à une complexité endémique de la délinquance financière. La mondialisation de la criminalité financière appelle à la nécessité de la mondialisation du droit via un système de contrôle adapté de la part des acteurs de la finance. Dans ce contexte, le juriste en conformité voit ses prérogatives revisitées et sa perception bouleversée par ce mouvement de plaque tectonique réglementaire. / Globalization of trade and financial transactions have been followed by globalization of financial crime.Money laundering techniques have converged in light of this economic reality. Anti-Money laundering is considered like a complex topic wich includes interaction between regulator bodies and financial institutions. It aims to counter international criminal transactions taking advantage of financial innovation and digital evolution. The anti-money laundering regulation of recents years highlights soft law wich results new normative paradigm producing regulatory overlay.Inserted in anti-money laundering worldwide program, financial institutions have to deal with regulatory inflation that has lasted for several years. This normative mutation is defined by different laws combination whose movement continues to grow with banking and financial regulatory. This banking and financial regulatory requires financial institutions to put in place a flexibility compliance program with systemic tools to cope with white-collar complexity environment. Financial crime globalization needs globalization law and regulation wich uses financial institutions monitoring system. In this context, the compliance lawyer must adapt his perception and mission with respect to tectonic plate regulation movement.