Reference no: EM13688912
1) ABC Industries, Inc., was investigating a small group of construction workers concerning the group's involvement in a theft. The theft itself was a rather simple operation. The workers unloading construction supplies acted in collusion with their supervisors in order to steal certain items, which they marked on official invoices as "missing" or "damaged" due to shipping. They later sold the items on the black market and split the money between the conspirators. The fraud was discovered when one of the suppliers contacted ABC about an unusual number of items that were lost or damaged during shipment.
Young Mr. Caulkins, the newest member of ABC's security team, decided to interview Mr. Smith and Mr. Jackson, two dockworkers, simultaneously concerning their involvement in the fraud.
Never having actually met Caulkins, Smith and Jackson were simply instructed to wait in the "interrogation" room in the security shop. Smith and Jackson arrived promptly at 8 a.m., dressed in their work clothes, and were seated. Via the intercom, they were told not to leave until Caulkins gave them explicit permission to do so. Caulkins did not enter the room until 9:30 a.m. He was escorted into the room by a burly security guard carrying a nightstick.
Caulkins made no reply. He only paced the room for what seemed an eternity to Jackson. Finally, Caulkins moved deliberately and directly over to a chair on Smith and Jackson's side of the table. Caulkins pulled his chair within inches of the two men being interrogated and straddled the chair so that the back of the chair supported his arms.
"Smith, do you know what they did with pirates in precolonial Virginia?" asked Caulkins. Smith shrugged a little bit and was struggling for an answer when Caulkins interrupted. "They were executed in the gallows, and then their bodies were hung in iron cages on the shores of the bay as an example to would-be thieves and pirates. Not a pretty picture, is it, Smith?" Smith was at a visible loss for words.
Pulling two pens and two pieces of paper from his coat pocket and slamming them onto the table, Caulkins raised his voice and said, "Now let's cut through the crap. You workers are guilty as hell. We have a paper trail a mile long to prove it along with surveillance tapes and written confessions from Hill and Grant. Do yourselves a favor and write out your confessions. If you don't, I might just have to leave you here with Bruno. And if you physically assault him and he beats you silly, well then it'll be your word against his, comprende? Oh, yeah, you'll still be under investigation for grand theft."
Questions
a) Name at least three mistakes that Caulkins made in interviewing Smith and Jackson. Explain why they were mistakes. I appreciate that the text isn't 100% clear on the reasons for some of their recommendations about interviewing. However, they do present an overall strategy and tone for interviews that can provide rationale for not taking certain actions. Thus, you should be able to reason out some rationales for the errors even if specific rationales are not mentioned in the text.
b) The chapter identifies some of the characteristics of a good interview. Describe three ways Caulkins could have changed the interview. Explain how they would have improved the interview.
c) Is it ever acceptable to make a threat that involves physical violence? Why or why not?
d) The book identifies specific locations where interviews should take place. Is the "interrogation room" one of those places? Where should Caulkins have met with Smith and Jackson? Why?
2) Chapter 7 covered the Vulnerability Chart. Discuss how the use of a vulnerability matrix would help improve an interview process and provide two examples.
3) You are an internal auditor for EFG, Inc. and, on a recent audit, you found that Sam Spade, one of the payroll supervisors, had system access rights to transaction codes used by the Human Resources department. EFG uses transaction codes to limit access to types of transactions to only those that have the needed to record those types of transactions. Your subsequent investigation found that Sam had used his access to set up a fake employee and have the employees paychecks automatically deposited to his checking account. You have done other extensive research and believe that Sam is embezzling from the firm. You are preparing for a final interview of Sam. You have interviewed him before and he has denied being involved in any fraudulent activity.
a) Give three examples of interview tactics you could use to get Sam to admit that he is stealing from EFG? Explain why you chose the techniques you did.
b) Give three examples of things you would look for to determine if Sam was being truthful or not.