Research Topic
Concerning my research proposal, I have decided to focus on the topic of forensic accounting and how it influences the criminal justice system. Forensic accounting is a specialized area aligned with accountancy that facilitates the determination of situations that occur from actual or expected disputes. As an avid interested reader of accountancy, forensic accounting appeals to me as it factors in anticipated litigation before they happen, giving a considerable amount of preparation to be undertaken. Thus, my major concern is to divulge how deep forensic accounting is embedded in criminal justice and its possible value in aiding the arrest of criminals. This leads to my primary research question “How successful has forensic accounting proved in bringing criminals to justice?”
The research topic is worth considerable research due to the increased corporate espionage schemes and the uncanny witted rise of criminals maintaining funds in schemes, making it harder for the police to obtain justifiable evidence against them. There is also a rise of criminal funds being shifted within legitimate businesses posing as fronts to criminals which gives police harder times to discover the origins. This will be discussed fully within the proposal and in clear detail.
Aims and objectives
To sustainably satisfy what is entailed in my research question, “How successful has forensic accounting proved in bringing criminals to justice?” creation of objectives is mandatory. Objectives will guide the research pace and ensure all the major concerns needed are highlighted and as well as established suitably. The objectives are precise and are suited to giving out a specific and satisfactory outcome. The objectives I intend to take in my research are as follows:
- Identify the relation that forensic accounting has with the criminal justice system
- Outline the importance of forensic accounting in the provision of information
- Explore the relationship between forensic accountants and the police
- Identify the perception of forensic accounting to the society
These objectives will help center the research question by having it researched through different scopes of view thus giving an all-round look into the topic at large.
Literature review
The keywords used in this research are forensic accounting and criminal justice. Forensic accounting refers to a specialized area affiliated with the justice and accountancy field, which essentially facilitates the predetermination of events from actual or expected litigation. The criminal justice system is the one that is mandated with legal and procedural rules needed to effectively prosecute criminals, in an efficient and accountable fair process (Yogi, 2013). The majority of articles depicting the usage of forensic accounting in alignment with work conducted in the criminal justice system has found the two compatible in delivering efficient evidence provision. Forensic accountants are tasked with auditing the finances of an individual or company while utilizing investigative skills to provide substantial financial evidence to be used in court analysis. The forensic accountants trace funds and make reports detailing their findings and may at times testify in court as to the mandate of their findings (Grubb, 2017). The justice system then utilizes information obtained from the forensic accountants to effectively prove their case against a criminal, using their monetary scale of value as evidence, most especially in fraud cases or company espionage occurrences.
Cases utilizing forensic accountants have proved relatively efficient in giving a clear picture of how exactly the crime was conducted. Different techniques have been employed as illustrated by the works done by Francisco Javier Moreno Arboleda, Jaime Alberto Guzman-Luna, and Ingrid-Durley Torres who inducted the use of techniques involving historical data analysis and credit card transactions because of generating evidential data for prosecution, in a data warehouse setup. The techniques used to generate data that might have been erased through tracking of the signature address storage location to identify and sieve particular intended information (Arboleda et al. 2018). Most of the techniques stated use the evaluation of accounting reports which are the backbone of a company or individual’s financial scheme. These reports are usually presented in courts in giving financial information. Information collected from a study conducted within Bosnian medium scale enterprises in the determination of the precise need of forensic accountants proved the importance of forensic accounting. Forensic accounting determined the missteps in the financial statements of the businesses as well as showing possible linkages that could be manipulated to cover up fraud (Huric et al. 2017).
Many have argued against the use of forensic accountants by the police instead of the police utilizing auditors who in a semblance of manner have similar but not intricately defined duties as those of forensic accountants. Auditors are more inclined to determine if the financial statements of a company add up, that the books of the company are actually in alignment with what the figures generated reinstate (Lokanan, 2014). Forensic accountants have a broader scope of thinking as they utilize modified techniques to search for fraud, not limited to the cover shown by the financial statements. They dig deeper hence come up with more information as compared to auditors making them an important selection by the police (Antunes et al. 2013). To sustainably be more effective to be in partnership with the police, the individuals used to be knowledgeable of what the law entails which forensic accounting has entailed in its curriculum. Forensic accounting has detailed litigation law expertise as well as technology implementation capacities which puts them a foot higher than the auditors in comprehensively delivering information that the police can use (Murat, 2013).
Forensic accounting, expressively the privatization of the forensic accounting department within the country has created a decorum of societal misgivings as far as the public view is concerned. Analysis done on the Forensic Accounting and Corporate Investigation (FACI) industry relationship with the police has been proven beneficial thus insightful in the prosecution of economic crime criminals. Society’s misconception of government interference in economic crimes has thus been eliminated through showcasing the industry as relatively privatized rather than public which often is under the control of government operations (Williams, 2005). Society misgivings are usually generated from views the government might choose through forensic accountants to hide schemes of money laundering conducted by officials thus abetting in corruption and denial of justice, which in turn gives the profession a tainted picture (Deleanu, 2017). In getting economic crimes to sufficiently listen to, forensic accounting is quipped with legal procedures that restrict the decorum of conducting investigations that are in prior agreement with the justice system. They have been proved adequate in the United Kingdom courts as they have necessitated the prosecution of more economic crimes in recent years as compared to those conducted in the past with little information on forensic accounting (Hamin et al. 2014).
Research methods
There are two types of research methods that can be used in research; qualitative and quantitative methods. For my research, I’ve chosen to utilize qualitative research methods techniques to gather information on my research topic. One such method to be used is the utilization of interviews. My research focuses on the rates of forensic accounting has aided in bringing criminals to justice. Therefore, interviewing police who work with the forensic accountants and the forensic accountants themselves helps in understanding the working progression done by the two. Success is measured not only in terms of the number of criminals put behind bars but also in the progressive working conditions that involve the two sectors. Plus the societal approach and acceptance of the system. For the society approach, open-ended surveys would be used.
For the interviews, I intend to use a sample pool of 10 individuals each, both from the police and forensic accountants department. The individuals would be randomly selected but aged between 40-50 years of age. The specification of age is best as I intend to gather information from individuals who have worked in the sector for a long duration to ensure they give adequate and more developed information. However, to ensure the information received is accurate and precise, the information given would be backed up with information gathered through content analysis of court cases that have been worked upon by the two groups. Content analysis is eligibly similar to archival research that entails the scrutiny of primary sources such as documents and materials held in archives involving a particular topic. The open-ended survey for individuals in society would be done through random sampling and conducted to 20 individuals above the age of 25. The age limit is to enable me to reach individuals who substantially understand the workings of the legal systems and who can give accurate opinions regarding the utilization of forensic accounting. The time horizons utilized would include both the usage of past information (content analysis of archived research) and present continued work (interviews and survey), thus it would be an infusion of both longitudinal and cross-sectional time horizons.
The first stage of my research methods would be to create both the interview and survey questions. An example of the interview questions would be, how many of the cases worked on utilizing forensic accountants have been justifiable in prosecution? While for the survey question, do you support the work done by forensic accountants as essential in economic crimes? If not, why? The second stage would be the actual manifestation of conducting interviews and the survey. The last stage would involve the analysis of the data collected and the deduction of conclusive information from the data.
Time scale and resources
Researchers are usually put on a time limit when investigating any particular notion. Time is essential in making sure every detail of the research is worked on and to the full extent. To ensure every detail of the research is effectively worked on and managed, I created an action plan to ensure everything gets done, as shown in appendix one.
The resources needed for my research are financial resources and equipment to be used. Finance resources would be needed to cater for transportation to interview areas, phone calls made in search of confirmation for interview and cost of printing of the finished material. The equipment intended for use is my laptop, phone, research notebook, and file. The laptop would be used to analyze information collected on software while the phone would be to confirm interview personnel and location while the notebook would be to record additional information given due to lack of tape recorder. The file is essential for collecting the survey forms in an arranged and efficient manner. Overall, the research would be costly and time consuming especially for the survey as not many individuals would be available to survey due to stringent measures as imposed by the Covid 19 lockdown and scare.
Research Ethics
Proper research ensures that common ethics are conformed to and maintained throughout the research. Major ethical concerns that can come up with the research would be the privacy and confidentiality of the participating individual. Additionally, the will of participation. The privacy and confidentiality of participating individuals can be ensured by keeping the identities of the people as anonymous. All participants once chosen, would be asked for consent to participate in the research interview/survey to ensure that the information given is done so willingly and with no coercion involved. It also serves to create a comfortable ambiance for both the interview and interviewee. Further, the participant can be asked to withdraw from participating before the start of the survey/interview if they feel uncomfortable. As my research entails the working of the criminal justice system, concerns may arise from the interviewee’s revelation of crucial investigative information. To ensure the participants are comfortable with the questions asked a legal contract would be drafted that restricts divulging of crucial evidence materials mentioned during the interview process that will not also be indicated during the final drafting of the research. For the survey, individuals may find some questions daunting to answer to. To help facilitate responsiveness, participants will be asked to answer only those questions they feel comfortable with answering.
Conclusion
To conclude the research question posed is, ‘How successful has forensic accounting proved in bringing criminals to justice?’ From the literature review, it has been proven substantially that forensic accounting is utilized sufficiently in solving economic crimes that involve fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering. The gap created, however, lies in the success of forensic accounting in bringing the criminals of economic crime to justice in as much as it is used to solve the crimes. Therefore, I have chosen this as my research question and intend to use a qualitative research method approach, under a fixated timeline by abiding by the ethics mentioned to prove the effectiveness of the research.