Implementation of Remote Investigations for Fraud Risk Management

Implementation of Remote Investigations for Fraud Risk Management Deloitte’s Corporate Fraud Survey India 2020 highlights the leadership perspective about corporate fraud in the disruptive environment. It aims at studying and understanding the fraud risks present and ways to implement fraud risk management. The survey also discusses corporate fraud and the role of technology in mitigating it. Corporate fraud investigation in India has been made remote, like all other processes of organisations, due to the pandemic. For remote investigations, investigation teams require better coordination and planning.

Before postponing an investigation, great consideration must be given to cases that can have severe consequences and those which can cause impending harm.

Allegations made regarding a widespread issue, ones showing irregularities or cases where a delay may compromise the evidence or witnesses require immediate attention and should be handled promptly. Based on these steps, the effectiveness of a remote investigation can be understood one case at a time.

In instances where the investigation is deferred, it must be ensured that the evidence and data are preserved safely, and interim measures are taken to mitigate any malpractices. To necessitate reprioritization, the investigation should be regularly monitored to identify matters such as continuing allegations and regulatory scrutiny.

Investigation teams can make use of Case Management Systems and collaboration tools to keep the investigation on track with the entire team. In the planning stage, identify information sources and devise alternative solutions to collect data.

Virtual meetings can be held for informational interviews and process discussions while process walkthroughs can be conducted over live videos. Remote access can be done for data extraction, and secure file sharing platforms can be ideal for exchanging data and documentation. Hard copies of documents can be digitised for use, though the originals must be preserved for future requirements.

Interviews can be the most challenging process of a remote investigation due to the limited control of an interviewee on the environment as well as uncooperative suspects feigning connectivity problems. Though the concerns cannot be mitigated, measures can be undertaken to control them to an extent. Planning the interview sequences, uses secure file-sharing platforms, checking for technical issues beforehand can reduce the challenge of remote interviewing.

Forensic imaging of user devices can no longer be conducted, as the physical presence of the custodian is required. Organisations back up their employee emails and data to their cloud storage, and that is helpful for data retrieval during an investigation. Remote imaging of devices that are connected to the office network is allowed with the help of enterprise collection software. Intelligence gathering procedures and telephonic source inquiries will remain unaffected during a remote investigation.