The job of investigators and government attorneys is to secure convictions from the evidence they carefully collect. But exactly how and what do they investigate?
Most white-collar crime investigations, such as those for fraud, are partnerships. One of the agencies that participate in and coordinate these partnerships is the FBI.
A larger intelligence community
The FBI is part of the Intelligence Community: a network of 18 organizations that includes everything from the Space Force to the NSA. It also has outreach programs to collaborate with and increase the effectiveness of local and state law enforcement agencies.
The Bureau is also a large organization in its own right. It employs tens of thousands of people in various specialist and investigatory roles.
A mission to investigate fraud
Investigating fraud and other types of white-collar crime is one of the main activities at the FBI. As if that were not enough, the IRS, FinCEN and the SEC are all also on board with this mission. Together, they pursue various types of convictions, such as those for:
- Money laundering
- Intellectual property crimes
- Falsification of financial statements
- Securities and commodities fraud
- Healthcare fraud
This is a multi-agency and multidisciplinary approach to criminal investigation. It is all in pursuit of securing convictions for regional, national and international activities that, according to the FBI, cost American businesses billions of dollars annually.
A network this size — or a local law enforcement agency with the support of such a network — might not always need help from individual businesspeople or organizations. Invitations to participate in investigations could have ulterior motives, such as collecting evidence necessary to strengthen a case against the purported assistant.