When private internal investigators turn against the whistleblower: The case of Norwegian police

Abstract

The business of fraud examiners in private internal investigations is important to many auditing firms and law firms. They are hired by public and private organizations when there are suspicions of misconduct and financial crime. Suspicions are sometimes disclosed by whistleblowers who attempt to tell what they perceive as illegal, immoral or illegitimate practices. This article presents a case from the Norwegian police, where whistleblowers expressed concerns about overtime, use of private cars, and procurement of equipment for personal use. The main whistleblower was also the ombudsman in the organization, where he repeated his accusations and allegations so frequently that he ended up being the main subject in the private internal investigation. This study finds partly support for the blame game hypothesis.