Page 323 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

376 An HR Guide to Workplace Fraud and Criminal Behaviour

– If all employees were asked to (repay or take a pay reduction) to cover these losses, how
would you feel?

– Would you be prepared to take a lie detector test?
– Is there anything else you think might be relevant?

At the end of the last page, two horizontal lines should be drawn in the place normally used
for entering a signature and date. However, no explanation should be given.

____________________________ _______________________

Innocent people are more likely to use the lines to enter their signature and date, whereas
the guilty party will leave them blank. Again, the subject whose guilt appears most likely
should be interviewed along the lines of Chapter 7.

A structured checklist was used in a wire transfer fraud investigation, with interesting
results:

THE WIRE TRANSFER FRAUD

Around $10 million was transferred from a the day in question.
London bank by a fraudulent wire transfer • Many answers contained an unexplained
instruction entered into a computer input
queue: one or more of twenty employees change from past to present tense (when
had to be involved. Each was asked to describing past events).
write his or her explanation on a specially • He used generalizations (‘I usually’)
designed form. Although this was not and conditional phrases (‘I would have
exactly a freestyle document, it was gone to lunch’) in explaining specific
designed to elicit freestyle explanations. actions on the day, whereas none of his
One completed form stood out from the colleagues did the same.
rest, because the author: • He consistently avoided using the
pronoun ‘I’.
• Disputed that there was ‘evidence’ that • In response to the question ‘How do
the case was an inside job and presented you feel now that you have completed
a complex (and highly unconvincing, this form?’, he responded with the word
bordering on silly) case for responsibility ‘nothing’ whereas all of his colleagues
being outside the bank. expressed a strong positive ‘good’ or bad
‘angry that I am being accused’ reaction.
• He responded to many questions with a • He admitted discussing the possibilities
question. of fraud with others.
• In responding to the question: ‘Should
• He sought clarification of points that we believe your answers to the
were obvious to all of his colleagues. questions?’ he responded: ‘Yes, but you
don’t think someone would honestly
• He used the phrase ‘to be absolutely omit [sic] to fraud’ and continued: ‘I’ve
honest’ in reply to two questions. never done anything to prove I am
dishonest’.
• He used the phrases ‘to the best of • For reasons best known to the bank, they
my recollection’ and ‘I don’t really disregarded the clues in this response
remember’, when none of his colleagues and a few weeks later the man resigned
had memory lapses. and went to work in the US.

• He used a number of discontinuity
phrases (see page 97, Table 4.5[xref])
when accounting for his movements on