Rush to fill economic crime jobs

The Financial Times has run an article on how financial crime vacancies in the legal sector are soaring because of the explosion of cases to both prosecute and defend. Because of the size of these cases, many of which are global in reach, people who would otherwise never have been implicated in such issues are turning to forensic investigators to help prove their innocence.

Once an allegation of financial misconduct has been made, a full investigation begins and this can quickly become a complex web. Even individuals who were not at the heart of the allegations at the start can become embroiled for a number of reasons. For example, if a head of department is accused, his or her deputy could be placed under suspicion if they have recently been spending more than their income might seem to support. There could be a very simple explanation for this, such as a bequest or sale of a property but once they are cast into the spotlight, they find themselves having to prove that the source of the money was legal. The best way to do that is to hire a forensic accountant.

It is not well known that forensic accountants are taken on to establish innocence more than they are to find evidence of guilt. These are, of course, two sides of the same coin, which means that the methods used in their investigations are identical and it is because they are impartial experts who find all the evidence and lay it out in a logical and easily understandable way that their testimony, should it come to that, is crucial in a court of law.

Roger Isaacs, Partner at Milsted Langdon, said: “There has been a significant increase in the number of people turning to forensic investigations to prove their innocence.

Author: Roger Isaacs 14 December 2018

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