ANSWER:
YES. IN A COMPLEX INVESTIGATION, YOU SHOULD SCHEDULE PERIODIC
BRIEFINGS. YOU BOTH SHOULD BE THINKING ALONG THE SAME LINES. DO
NOT WAIT UNTIL THE INVESTIGATION IS OVER BEFORE YOU CONTACT PFA FOR
THE FIRST TIME. ONCE YOU HAVE A BASIC OUTLINE OR THEORY OF THE CASE,
DISCUSS IT WITH PFA. GET THE THOUGHTS OF THE PROCUREMENT FRAUD
ADVISOR. HE MAY SEE SOMETHING YOU TOTALLY OVERLOOKED. TOGETHER,
YOU STAND A FAR GREATER CHANCE OF SUCCESS. AT THE LEAST, YOU NEED
TO BRIEF HIM ON THE ALLEGATIONS INVOLVED, THE APPARENT OFFENSES
THAT YOU SEE, AND HOW YOU INTEND TO PROCEED WITH THE INVESTIGATION.
THIS CAN SAVE YOU A LOT OF TIME AND WASTED EFFORT.
THE
PROCUREMENT FRAUD ADVISOR MAY SEE POSSIBLE INCONSISTENCIES IN THE
EVIDENCE, OR POTENTIAL AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES THAT THE SUSPECT MAY
RAISE. IF SO, ADDITIONAL AREAS MAY NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED. HE CAN
HELP TO ANTICIPATE THE SUSPECT'S DEFENSES, SO YOU CAN CLOSE ANY
POTENTIAL LOOPHOLES IN THE CASE. THIS IS IMPORTANT BEFORE YOU
PROCEED TO INTERROGATE THE SUSPECT. THE PROCUREMENT FRAUD
ADVISOR MAY HELP PREDICT HOW THE SUSPECT WILL ATTEMPT TO WIGGLE
OFF THE HOOK. HE MAY WANT OTHER AVENUES EXPLORED AND MAY SEE THE
NEED FOR ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL FOR YOU TO WORK WITH THE PROSECUTOR. HE
IS GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE THE CASE INTO COURT AND WIN WITH IT. IF HE
WANTS MORE WITNESS INTERVIEWS, DO THEM. DO NOT DELAY AND IGNORE
HIM. A POOR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU WILL PROVE
DISASTROUS FOR EVERYONE BUT THE DEFENDANT.
Coordination with PFA does not simply mean that you walk into his office one afternoon
and drop 15 volumes of documents on his desk, asking him to determine if any crimes were committed.
He does not have two weeks to try to reinvent the wheel by redoing all that you already have done.
You need to sit down and discuss the case with him. It may take all day, or all week, but take the time
that is needed. In some cases, you and the prosecutor may spend entire weeks, even months, working
together on a case. Simply dropping the volumes on his desk is likely to accomplish little. It will
probably produce a negative reaction against you. He may feel that if you are too busy to bother
discussing the case with him, then HE is too busy to waste time reading the documents. The result
may be that nothing is accomplished. He may give the case a superficial examination but, without the
background and analysis that you could provide, he may not see what you see. The suspect may be
drastically undercharged and may escape with an incredibly favorable pretrial agreement. He may not
even be prosecuted at all.
Suppose the investigator has a case involving a government employee who has been
using government time and equipment to write articles for publication, for which he is being paid by
private commercial sources. This may be a standards of conduct violation and a possible violation of
18 USC Section 209. What would the subject's defense be? Get a copy of the suspect's job
description. It may show that part of his job is to write articles for publication. Thus, the suspect could
argue in court that he was simply doing what his job required. He was, thus, using the government
equipment/supplies in order to do what he was required to do by his job. The
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