CFE-Investigation Exam Dumps - ACFE Certified Fraud Examiner Questions and Answers

“Metadata information can help determine who wrote a document, who received, opened, copied, edited, moved, or printed the document, andwhen these events occurred”.

Thus, metadata is the best source for creation date.

Fraud examination reports are not written only for internal use. The2014 International Fraud Examiners Manualclearly emphasizes:

“When drafting a report, fraud examiners must consider who might end up reading it. Fraud examiners should keep in mind that the fraud examination report will be read by the general public and adverse parties. Under no circumstances should the fraud examiner prepare a communication with the idea that the information will not be disclosed to adverse third parties. Fraud examiners should draft their reports with this caveat in mind.”

The manual further specifies the wide range of potential readers:

*“There are many individuals and groups that might end up reading a fraud examination report, including the following parties:

Company insiders (managers, board of directors, owners, investors, etc.)

Attorneys (legal counsel, prosecutors, regulators, and defense counsel)

Defendants and witnesses

Press and media outlets

Judges or juries”*

This aligns with theCFE Prep - Investigationsstudy guide, which also confirms:

“There are many parties that might read a fraud examination report, including company insiders, attorneys, defendants and witnesses, press and media outlets, and judges or juries.”

????Interpretation:

The mediamay access the report through litigation disclosures or leaks.

Opposing legal counselwill review the report during discovery or trial.

Investors and owners(company insiders) are primary stakeholders.

Thus, the only correct choice isD. All of the above, because fraud examination reports must be written withall possible audiences in mind, ensuring accuracy, clarity, impartiality, and professionalism to withstand scrutiny from multiple directions.

Benford’s Law applies to naturally occurring sets of numbers such asinvoice amounts, expense reports, and transaction data. The Fraud Examiners Manual shows Benford’s Law tests applied to vendor payments to detect anomalies like duplicate or inflated invoices. Telephone numbers, employee IDs, and bank account numbers areassigned numbersand do not follow Benford’s distribution, so they are unsuitable for this test.

TheCFE Prep – Investigationswarns against relying solely on eye contact:

“Behavioural clues are harder to read … Additionally, racial, ethnic, and economic factors should be carefully considered when observing a respondent’s behaviour. Some cultures, for example, discourage looking directly at someone. Other cultures use certain body language that might be misinterpreted.”

Therefore, lack of eye contactcannot safely be taken as proof of dishonesty.

Phone records are classified asnonpublic records. TheFraud Examiners Manualexplains that personal telephone and mobile records usually requireconsent, subpoena, or warrantto access. Public records, by contrast, include real property ownership and corporate filings. Therefore,Bis correct.

TheFraud Examiners Manualemphasizes that before commencing legal action to recover assets, the examiner must consider whether the defendant has assets worth pursuing:

“The most important question a fraud examiner should ask before beginning legal action to recover assets is whether the defendant has sufficient property or money to satisfy a judgment. Legal actions can be time-consuming and costly, and recovery efforts are futile if the defendant is judgment-proof.”

Before commencing legal action to recover assets, themost critical considerationis whether the defendant hasrecoverable assets. If the defendant lacks property or funds, pursuing legal action could be costly and ultimately fruitless.

From the2014 International Fraud Examiners Manual:

“After a fraud is discovered, fraud examiners might need to assist in making a recommendation concerning the recovery of lost assets… A domestic judgment against a foreign defendant is usually helpful for recovering the defendant’s assets located in the domestic country, but might be worthless for obtaining the defendant’s assets in a foreign country.”

This emphasizes that enforcement of judgments is only meaningful if assets exist to satisfy them.

Similarly, theCFE Prep - Investigationsmaterial highlights asset tracing and recovery as the foundation for deciding legal action:

“Records obtained from financial institutions are perhaps the single most important financial source available to fraud examiners for purposes of tracing assets.”

????Interpretation of Answer Choices:

A. Prior arrests→ Not directly relevant to whether asset recovery will succeed.

C. Statute of limitations→ Important for legal viability, but meaningless if no assets exist to recover.

D. Guilt of the suspect→ Guilt must be established in criminal cases, but in civil recovery,asset availability is paramount.

B. Defendant’s property or money→ This is themost importantpractical question, because without assets, recovery efforts will not yield compensation regardless of guilt or legal timelines.

TheFraud Examiners Manualstates:

“If a business or individual constructs a new building or makes improvements to an existing building, there should be a building permit on file with the local building authority. In many cases, the person applying for permits will be the owner or someone traceable to the owner.”

CFE Prepsupports this:

“Building permit records… are often required before most businesses can open… and often list the owner or someone traceable to the owner.”

Thus,building permit recordsare most likely to help identify the restaurant’s owner.

“To locate people using online records… First, when searching for an individual, the fraud examiner should obtain a past address of the subject, and search activities should begin with that information”.

This aligns with the Prep guide: “Obtaining a past address of the subject should be the first step in trying to locate a subject using online records”.

Thus, B is correct.

“Securities regulators… require disclosures that typically include: corporate financial statements, identification of officers and directors, identification of significant owners… and a history of the business”【10:2014 International Fraud Examiners Manual.pdf†L73-L95】.

Thus, regulatory securities records are the best source for financial statements.

“Signs of stress do not always mean that a subject is lying… While lying and deception do cause stress, it is not necessarily true that all stress exhibited during an interview is caused by lying”.

The Prep guide confirms: “While lying and deception do indeed cause stress, it is not necessarily true that all stress exhibited during an interview is caused by lying”.

Therefore, Carlos shouldnot automatically conclude deception from stress behaviors.