NECESSITY AND POSSIBILITIES OF USING ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE IN FINANCIAL INVESTIGATIONS

In today’s digital age, electronic evidence plays an important role in the investigation of financial crimes. As consumers of financial services have become increasingly dependent on technology and the widespread use of electronic devices, financial criminals have also adapted to use these digital channels. As a result, investigators must navigate the content and types of electronic evidence to uncover valuable information and organize strong evidence based on it. Therefore, the questions of researching the meaning and nature of electronic evidence in financial investigations, the challenges they create, and the methodologies used for the effective collection, analysis and presentation of such evidence are topical. The purpose of the article is to specify the theoretical and methodological principles of using electronic documents in financial investigations. In accordance with the set goal, the following tasks were formulated: justify the essence of the electronic document as a source of evidence in the investigation of financial crimes and characterize its place in the evidence system; determine the criteria for assessing the reliability and status of electronic evidence; outline the stages of application of the methodology of collection and analysis of electronic documents. Taking into account the specificity of the topic, the goal and tasks of the research, a number of methods were used: the historical-legal method was applied during the study of the state of scientific development of electronic documents in Ukraine; the comparative legal method contributed to the comparison of the norms of the legal framework; formal and logical methods were used to substantiate the conclusions. The article highlights the scientific and applied problem of using electronic evidence in financial investigations, outlines the theoretical and methodological principles of using special tools and technologies in domestic legal practice. Taking into account the domestic legal framework and scientific sources, the electronic document essence as a evidence source in the financial crimes investigation was revealed, and its place in the system of evidentiary and control financial information was clarified. Emphasis is placed on such criteria for evaluating evidence in financial investigations as appropriateness, admissibility, reliability, sufficiency, interconnection of evidence. The methodology application stages of electronic documents collection and analysis are characterized.