Dependency of Police Prosecution on Private Examinations of Financial Crime Suspicion: The Case of Langemyhr Investigation in Norway

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present a case study of evidence failure in private investigations. Fraud examiners, financial crime specialists and counter fraud specialists are in the business of private internal investigations for their clients. If they detect evidence of serious financial crime, they are expected to report their findings to the police. This article presents a case where private investigators handed over their report to the police. The police prosecuted the suspect, but the court dismissed the case. Later, the prosecuted suspect received a financial replacement, while at the same time experiencing that his lifework had fallen in ruins. This article discusses potential causes of failures during the course of seven years. The article is based on a contents analysis of court documents, media reports as well as presence at court hearings. The article is limited by being a single case study, but it does nevertheless have implications related to the role of private investigators and the relationship between public and private investigators.