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Increasingly, employees of regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies and others who are not trained forensic accountants or experienced investigators find themselves responsible for conducting what amount to financial investigations. An engineer who oversees the cleanup of a toxic waste site might need to track down the former owners of the site to find the polluter. Perhaps the applicable licensing agency receives a complaint that an attorney mishandled a client's money. Maybe it's the attorney who needs help finding the assets with which a client's former spouse has absconded. Training in investigation techniques tends to be very limited for many employees. Training on how to find information without incurring significant expense is virtually nonexistent. This book helps fill the void. An Introduction to Internet-Based Financial Investigations will help anyone who conducts financial investigations as part of their job to reduce their dependence on trial and error by showing them where and how to look. Using clear sections describing how to approach an investigation, including the ethical perspective; what to look for and what you find; what free and low cost internet resources are available to support investigations; and how to assemble and present the results of investigations, Kimberly Goetz guides students and beginning investigators through the complex world of financial investigations.

An Introduction to Internet-Based Financial Investigations: Structuring and Resourcing the Search for Hidden Assets and Information

Contents: Preface; Introduction: why and where to start; Before you start: ethical considerations; Thinking about financial fraud and investigations; What can you do with money?; Legal structures; Legal documents; Starting the search; Real estate records; Search engines and web portals; Government and law related websites; Commercial and business-related web sites; Websites from nonprofits and other organizations; Additional websites and resources; Requesting additional information and understanding what you receive; Getting help from the numbers; Dealing with people problems; Telling the story; Final thoughts and considerations; Appendices; References; Index.