CHAPTER 4:

GATHERING
EVIDENCE—
INTERVIEWS
AND
OBSERVATIO
NS

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Learning Objectives
1. Describe the use of interviewing in a forensic
accounting engagement
2. Describe the role of body language in
communication
3. Describe the types of interviews and interview
questions commonly employed by forensic
accountants
4. Identify the three fundamental stages of the
interview process

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Learning Objectives
5. Explain the value of observations in a forensic
accounting engagement
6. Explain how forensic accountants can use public
records to gather evidence

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Introduction
 Evidence encompasses testimony, documents, and
tangible objects that tend to prove or disprove
existence of alleged fact
 Forensic accountant determines specific procedures
to be followed in the evidence gathering process

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Describe the Use of Interviewing in a
Forensic Accounting Engagement
Learning Objective 1

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Types of Evidence
 Documentary
 Financial records
 Organizational documents
 Communication logs
 Photographs
 Interactive
 Information gathered through dynamic relational processes
—interviews and observations
 Interpersonal nature

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Interview
 Purpose is to gather primary information
 Favored tool of forensic accountants because
 Direct means of obtaining information
 Provides immediate results
 Systematic process that requires:
 Planning
 Staging
 Execution
 Active listening
 Discriminative listening

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Describe the Role of Body Language in
Communication
Learning Objective 2

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Components of the
Communication Process
 Communicators
 Sender and receiver
 Message
 Information to be shared
 Channel
 Means of communicating
 Example: face-to-face, telephone, or email
 Decoding
 Ability to decode the message

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Components of the
Communication Process
 Noise
 Secondary signals that obscure or confuse the message
 Environment
 Aspects of the communication environment

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Active Listening
 Involves an individual’s undivided attention, with
both eyes and ears
 Facilitates accurate collection of information
 Demonstrates interest in what interviewee is saying
 Interest demonstrated by
 Letting the speaker finish his or her response without
interruption
 Accepting the response without judgment

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Body Language
 Involves communicating with the movement or
position of human body, both consciously and
unconsciously
 Cautions:
 Varies among cultures
 Requires some baseline for comparison
 Two-way form of communication

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Table 4-1—Examples of Body
Language

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Table 4-1—Examples of Body
Language

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Effects of Stress on the
Communication Process
 Emotional and/or physical strain suffered by a person in
response to pressure from outside world
 Inhibits effective communication—creates internal
noise that negatively impacts ability to listen and think
clearly
 Reactions or adaptations to stress
 Physical symptoms
 Emotional symptoms
 Adapt questioning process to diffuse tension at specific
points in the interview

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Value of Rapport
 Connection between interviewer and interviewee that
serves as a foundation for building trust and
confidence
 Has the opposite effect of stress on communication
process
 Increases quality of witness remembrance

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Understanding Personal Space
 Rapport building requires an understanding of, and
respect for, the interviewee’s personal space
 Violation can quickly destroy rapport and create
stress
 An interviewer should be positioned two feet from
interviewee

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Personal Space Zones
 Intimate zone: 6 to 18 inches
 Reserved for intimate relationships
 Personal zone: 18 inches to 4 feet
 Reserved for friends and co-workers
 Social zone: 4 to 10 feet
 Individual pays little or no attention to people in this zone
 Public zone: 10 feet and beyond
 Individual pays little or no attention to anything or anyone
in this zone

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Describe the Types of Interviews and
Interview Questions Commonly
Employed by Forensic Accountants
Learning Objective 3

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Types of Interviews
 Formal: Systematic in nature, with a blend of
 Open-ended questions
 Structured questions
 Most formal interviews begin with structured questions and
progress to open-ended
 Informal: Unsystematic in nature; not controlled by
specific set of detailed questions

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Types of Questions
 Information gathered logically flows from the
questions being proposed
 Careful consideration should be paid to type,
placement, and wording
 Three types of questions:
 Introductory
 Informational
 Closing

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Identify the Three Fundamental Stages of
the Interview Process
Learning Objective 4

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Stages of the Interview
 The interview process includes three fundamental
stages:
 Planning
 Conducting
 Memorializing

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Planning Stage
 Three basic tasks:
 Identify the role of the witness relative to the specific
engagement and to other witnesses
 Develop question bank
 Develop an interview schedule

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Conducting the Interview
 Implementation of interview plan
 Guidelines:
 Create desired setting
 Begin with introductory, progress to informational questions
 Norm the interviewee
 Be an active listener
 Encourage interviewee to do most of the talking
 Terminate interview if threatened or lost control of situation
 Take notes
 Close interview by offering to give additional information

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Memorializing Stage
 Transcribing notes
 Note taking
 Communicates to interviewees the importance of their
responses
 Provides documentation
 Hand-written notes should be transcribed into memorandum
of interview

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Tips for Conducting Effective
Interviews
 Choose the right setting
 Review facts before interview
 Avoid interviewing multiple people together
 Do not allow interviewee to direct line of questioning
 Select best combination of strategies and mix of
questions
 Do not automatically discredit unfavorable
information

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Tips for Conducting Effective
Interviews
 Save sensitive or difficult questions for later
 Be an active listener
 Memorialize the interview
 Objective is to gather information

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Explain the Value of Observations in a
Forensic Accounting Engagement
Learning Objective 5

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Value of Observations
 Visual in nature
 Allow opportunity to see physical setting
 Observations about people are valuable
 Observations may
 Produce evidence
 Shed light on existing evidence
 Identify additional evidence to be obtained
 Means through which body language messages are
received

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Legal Observations
 Made in situations where there is no expectation of
privacy
 Include:
 Visual observations (what we see)
 Involve things that can be seen in plain view
 Auditory observations (what we hear)
 Involve things where there is no expectation of privacy
 Limited as compared to visual observations, because they require
closer proximity
 Illegal auditory observation is use of a recording device in a
location where observer is not present

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Explain How Forensic Accountants Can
Use Public Records to Gather Evidence
Learning Objective 6

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Public Records
 Used to support or refine working hypothesis or to
identify relationships and potential interview subjects
 Recent addition—multitude of information available
on Internet
 Primary advantages
 Public, so anyone can access
 Access is fast and cheap, especially on Internet
 Search is discreet compared to other methods
 Results are tangible and can be replicated

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Pretexts
 The use of deception by one party to obtain
information from another party who would not
otherwise disclose such information
 Often inappropriate and may even be illegal
 Example: accessing records that fall outside open or
authorized access, such as bank records, phone
records, or email records

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Questioned Documents
 Document that, either in its entirety or in part, is
subject to question regarding its authenticity and/or
origin
 Often a component of illegal activities and become
trial evidence
 Examples: checks, tax returns, invoices, and
contracts

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©2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved