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Steps to Conducting a Financial Fraud Investigation

Financial fraud can have severe consequences on the affected party. It could mean a loss of their life savings, a significant portion of their livelihood, or possibly even entire businesses. Pulling off financial fraud, however, takes a lot of elaborate work, and usually, it’s played as a long game.

That is why the effects reach such devastating magnitude; it can lie in wait for several long years, just waiting for the right opportunity to strike, or it could be slowly but consistently doing damage under the radar for many years. 

In a nutshell, financial fraud involves the intentional deception of an individual or business entity by giving a promise of goods, financial benefits, or other services. This promise is false from the start, however, and without any real intention of being fulfilled at all.

Because of the sophistication of deception involved, and because it requires a lot of trust in order to be pulled off successfully, financial fraud is often underreported. Victims find it shameful and embarrassing that they were duped into losing their money to a ruse that they would have otherwise spotted as suspicious had it happened to someone else. 

For those who do find the courage to report the fraud, however, they can rest assured that there is help that they can turn to. A financial fraud investigator California is in the best position to determine if there was, in fact, financial fraud committed. 

The findings from their investigation can then become the basis for filing a lawsuit against the responsible party. Here are the steps you can expect from financial fraud investigations California.

Consultation

Before any action can be taken, a consultation must first be made between the party interested in seeking services for financial fraud investigations San Diego and the private investigator. This first meeting is crucial because this is where the preliminary details are going to be discussed. It must be clearly determined what the issue is about, and what kind of investigation should be conducted before a comprehensive plan can be laid out. This is also where the scope and limitations of the service must be determined, and along with it, the cost for the retainer of service throughout the contract. 

Investigation

Upon completion of the consultation, the financial investigator can get started with their financial fraud investigations California. Their main objective is to determine if there are any valid grounds or evidence that would support the claims of financial fraud. 

This entails a lot of querying, researching, gathering, and analysis of data, and connecting the pieces between people, companies, timelines, and assets. Sometimes, results may immediately arise even at the onset of the investigation, in which case these findings may be relayed to the client immediately, especially if there is ongoing damage. 

Based on these early findings, the client may then take steps to mitigate the damage already, even while the San Diego private investigator may still be working on determining just how far and deep the fraud goes, and who else is involved.

Identification

Once suspects have been narrowed down, the investigation can now zoom in on the background of those allegedly involved in the fraud. Particularly, their financial background would be of central interest as this is where clues of the fraud can be found.

Other aspects of their personal background may also be looked into, including previous criminal records, enforcement actions, and civil litigation history, if there are any. Are there signs of financial duress that could have driven the motivation for the fraud, such as impending liens, foreclosures, liens, or active bankruptcies? Perhaps there is pressure from debt collectors and other such liabilities. 

Once this information is gathered, it’s time to see just how many assets are involved, and how much of it was derived from or the fruit of the financial fraud.

A financial fraud investigator, such as those from Able Legal Investigations, can help find these crucial details, so you can decide whether or not to pursue legal action for recompense.