Admission-Seeking Interviews

The purpose, planning and steps of an admission-seeking interview, from the direct accusation to the signed statement.

5 minutes 5 Questions

In the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) framework, an admission-seeking interview is the final and most sensitive type of interview in a fraud examination. It is conducted only after sufficient evidence has been gathered to reasonably conclude that a specific individual committed the fraud, and only …

Concepts covered
Obtaining Signed StatementsRationalization, Themes and Defusing AlibisInitial and Verbal AdmissionsPurpose and Planning of Admission-Seeking InterviewsDirect Accusation and Interrupting Denials
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CFE - Admission-Seeking Interviews Example Questions

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Question 1

When introducing documents to defuse a subject's alibi in an admission-seeking interview, the interviewer should present the most important piece of evidence first so the subject grasps the full case immediately.

Correct Answer: False

When documents are used to defuse alibis, they are generally shown one at a time in reverse order of importance, starting with the least significant. This keeps the subject from immediately grasping the full extent of the evidence. It also lets the evidence wear down the alibi step by step before the subject is given a rationalization that makes an admission easier.

Question 2

In an admission-seeking interview, the fraud examiner interrupts the subject's denials because each denial the subject repeats strengthens the subject's psychological commitment to maintaining innocence.

Correct Answer: True

Once a subject denies culpability aloud, admitting the act later means contradicting that position, and each repetition makes this harder. The examiner therefore stops denials early, typically by interrupting firmly and returning to a rationalization or theme, rather than letting the subject keep repeating them.

Question 3

After an admission-seeking interview, a fraud examiner prepares a signed statement for the subject, an accounts payable clerk, to review. As the clerk reads the draft, the clerk points out that the approximate amount taken is overstated and that one date is wrong, but agrees with the rest of the content. Which action should the fraud examiner take before the clerk signs?

Correct Answer: Amend the text by hand and have the clerk initial each change

Under the ACFE guidance, errors found in a signed statement should be corrected on the document itself and initialed by the confessor, because the initials show the subject read the statement carefully and agreed with its final content.
Printing a clean corrected page removes the evidence that the subject reviewed and corrected the statement, which weakens later voluntariness and accuracy claims. Signing the draft and logging the errors in a memo means the subject signs statements they know are false. A separate second statement creates conflicting documents and invites challenges to credibility.
Key concept: correcting errors in signed statements by having the confessor initial each change.

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