FEATURES OF THE TRACE PATTERN IN THE INVESTIGATION OF ECONOMIC CRIMES RELATED TO DOCUMENT FORGERY

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study the scientific principles and applied features of the trace pattern of criminal offenses in the field of economic activity related to document forgery. This article is devoted to the study of the features of the trace pattern in criminal offenses in the field of economic activity related to document forgery, taking into account modern trends in document circulation, the digitalization of economic processes, and the transformation of criminal methods. The author argues that a document, whether in paper or electronic form, serves as the main carrier of trace information in this category of criminal offenses. Approaches of domestic scholars to understanding the trace pattern of document forgery are analyzed, particularly regarding the role of material, ideal, and organizational-administrative traces. Special attention is paid to the analysis of typical indicators revealed during the examination of financial, planning, accounting, and administrative documents, as well as their inconsistencies with one another and with regulatory acts. In the context of modern conditions, the growing importance of digital traces formed in information and communication systems during the creation, processing, storage, and use of electronic documents is emphasized. The author proposes to consider the typical trace pattern of criminal offenses related to document forgery in economic activity as a system of interconnected material, digital, and ideal traces. It is argued that a comprehensive analysis of these groups of traces allows for the identification of the method of forgery, the sequence of criminal actions, the role of each participant, and the formulation of substantiated investigative hypotheses, as well as the determination of directions for further investigation. It was concluded that a typical trace pattern of criminal offenses in the field of economic activity related to document forgery consists of the following main groups of traces: 1) material traces that are directly reflected on documents in paper form, in particular traces of erasures, additions, corrections, regluing of sheets, inconsistencies of details, forged signatures, seals, stamps, as well as traces of the use of technical means of producing or copying documents; 2) digital traces that arise in the process of creating, storing, processing and using electronic documents and include file metadata, change history, log files of access to information and communication systems, electronic signatures, time stamps, digital identifiers and other technical information that record the facts of interference in electronic document flow; 3) ideal traces stored in the memory of persons involved in the creation, approval, registration or use of documents, as well as witnesses, in particular employees of institutions, regulatory authorities, and counterparties, who can report on the circumstances of the preparation of the document, its inconsistency with other documents or actual business transactions