Investigations and Interviewing
Investigation Discipline
Financial crime investigations follow a disciplined sequence: intake and triage, case scoping, evidence gathering, analysis, conclusion and reporting, and remediation/closure. Candidates must understand evidence types - documentary, digital, testimonial - and the importance of chain of custody, contemporaneous notes, and objectivity. Investigations should be independent and follow documented procedures; the investigator's job is to establish facts, not to prove a predetermined conclusion.
Interviewing Principles
Know the difference between witness, subject, and suspect interviews, and that interviews should be planned with clear objectives, open questions first, then narrowing. Cognitive interviewing (free recall then probing) improves accuracy; leading questions contaminate testimony. Understand the risks of confrontation and the value of rapport. In regulated settings, employees may have duties to cooperate, but legal and HR considerations (representation, employment law, privilege) apply. Traps include: treating an interview as a confession opportunity; relying on a single source; failing to document; and confusing reasonable suspicion with proof. Also note privilege and confidentiality boundaries and the prohibition on tipping off.
Rule of thumb: Plan, document, corroborate. Every assertion in a report should trace to a documented source, and every interview should have an objective, a record, and a corroboration plan.
Worked example: An analyst suspects an employee colluded with a vendor. Steps: secure records before alerting the subject; interview witnesses first with open questions; preserve emails with documented chain of custody; only then interview the subject with HR and legal present; write findings with evidence citations and avoid conclusions unsupported by records.