Conducting an investigative review of documents in the investigation of criminal offenses in the sphere of economic activity

Abstract

The article examines the participation of a specialist in the review of documents in the investigation of criminal offenses in the field of economic activity.
 The authors note that in investigative practice, the investigator must be consulted on special terms and economic categories, management mechanism, the essence of economic processes, evaluation of economic activity, correctness of reporting, study of accounting and movement of inventory, finance, reflection in documents of certain facts, one of the areas of use of special knowledge is the involvement of a specialist.It is established that during the investigation of materials of criminal proceedings an important role is played by a thorough review of documents and study of seized accounting and tax documents in order to systematize them, identify signs of forgery and more. Thus, the achievement of results in the investigation of criminal offenses is possible only with a timely and full investigative review and seizure of documents.
 The authors note that during the investigation of criminal offenses committed in the field of economic activity, the review of accounting and tax accounting documents is the most common investigative (investigative) action.
 Emphasis is placed on the fact that the participation of a specialist makes it possible to identify and record signs of forgery of documents, making changes to certain parts of it, and so on. In addition, the specialist helps the investigator to navigate complex specific issues during the review of documents. It is noted that a specialist under the guidance of an investigator during a direct inspection of accounting documents, various equipment, technical devices may identify significant violations and material traces of a criminal offense, which may be important in the materials of criminal proceedings.
 The authors came to the conclusion that the participation of a specialist in the review of documents in the investigation of criminal offenses in the field of economic activity is very important. Because, firstly, in most cases, the specialist provides advisory assistance to the investigator, which is expressed in oral explanations, advice, certificates on special issues, in particular, to determine the appropriateness and consistency of review of documents, substantiation of assumptions about the relevance of certain documents to criminal offenses; secondly, the specialist can provide methodological assistance, ie providing the investigator with methods for conducting the examination; third, the specialist helps the investigator to identify, consolidate, seize and inspect the documents.