Investigative interviewing of high-status fraud suspects

While earlier studies of investigative interviews with suspects have primarily been conducted within the context of police work, few have considered the interview practices with high-status suspects in the financial area. This article aims to provide insight into distinctive features of interviewing these suspects. The study focuses on the impact various interviewing techniques can have on suspects' disclosing information. To this end, 205 h of audio-recorded actual interviews with 28 high-status suspects were examined. Next to rapport building and confrontation, displaying authoritative behaviour can be considered a separate interviewing category. A positive correlation between rapport building and information disclosure was found. Finally, challenging the accounts of suspects results in more case-related information than an authoritative approach.