The influence of third party to the effectiveness of commercial crime investigation
| Pages | 414-425 |
| Date | 02 July 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-07-2017-0030 |
| Published date | 02 July 2018 |
| Author | Anuar Nawawi,Ahmad Saiful Azlin Puteh Salin |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & Finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial compliance/regulation,Financial crime |
The influence of third party
to the effectiveness of commercial
crime investigation
Anuar Nawawi
Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia, and
Ahmad Saiful Azlin Puteh Salin
Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perak Branch,
Tapah Campus, Malaysia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the problems that are related to the witness and
acquisitionof evidence during the commercial crime investigation.
Design/methodology/approach –Data for this research were collected primarily from the semi-
structured interview sessionconducted with ten investigation officers from the regulatory and enforcement
bodies in Malaysia.
Findings –The late response from witnesses and third parties will prolong the completion period of
investigation. The problemof long completion period arises in a process of investigation, particularly on the
cooperationof the witnesses in attending the recording statementsession and providing the evidences aswell
as other party who are required to provide relevantinformation. Although there are sufficient provisions of
law that allow investigation officers to acquire evidencesfrom witnesses and third parties, there is no time
limit for third parties to respondto the enquiries from the investigation officers. The degree of the difficulties
and complexity of the cases also influence the completion period of the investigation of commercial crime
cases. Cases like cheating,criminal breach trust and computer crimes have varieties of modus operandiand
difficulty. Thus, the burdento proof beyond reasonable doubt also increased for the investigationofficers to
fulfill the requirement of evidencesas stated in the relevant acts to satisfy the public prosecutor to bring the
case to the court.
Research limitations/implications –The study provides some evidence to indicate that commercial
crime investigationgenerally is a collective effort. All parties involved shouldparticipate and give their best
cooperation to complete the investigationin a reasonable period of time, so that the justice can be uphold for
the best interest of the victim. This study, however, is limited to small number of respondents and narrow
scope of studybecause of sensitivity of the topics.
Practical implications –It should be noted that the main problem that has been faced by the
investigationofficers is to acquire the cooperation fromrelevant parties either government or nongovernment
agencies and individualwitness. No matter how complex is the case, it will depend largely on the willingness
of relevant partiesto cooperate and providingthe evidences required for the investigation officers to complete
the investigationwithin the reasonable period. The problem has to be remedied to ensure that it will notaffect
the perception of public especially complainants, toward the efficiency of the investigation officers, to
complete the investigation. In general, the public perceptions also affect the image of the government as a
whole.
Originality/value –This study is original as it gathers the information directly from the investigation
officers who are directlyinvolved in the commercial crime investigation. The data collectedwere also highly
confidential and not easilyaccessible by researchers, which are rare in literature and invaluable for academic
publications.
Keywords Cybercrime, Fraud, Deception, Criminal breach of trust, Forgery, Witness
Paper type Research paper
JMLC
21,3
414
Journalof Money Laundering
Control
Vol.21 No. 3, 2018
pp. 414-425
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/JMLC-07-2017-0030
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1368-5201.htm
To continue reading
Request your trial