ScanWriter helps criminal investigators beat the clock in a cross-country murder case.
When a prominent Tampa Bay businessman was found dead in his home, the criminal investigation team, acting on an anonymous tip, was able to identify a possible murder suspect.
They quickly began to collect evidence, including the suspect’s bank statements and check images.
With the help of ScanWriter’s advanced data entry automation, they captured and converted the financial data in a fraction of the time it would have taken to do it manually.
Working against the clock, the team used ScanWriter’s ‘Flow of Funds’ visualization to trace the activity of the suspect and apprehended him in less than a week after the crime was committed.
ScanWriter Puts Investigators in the Driver’s Seat
Financial data, such as credit card activity, can provide significant clues for determining the motives and activity of a suspect.
Capturing and analyzing this data quickly and accurately made the difference in the timely arrest and arraignment of the murder suspect.
Once law enforcement obtained the suspect’s bank statements, ScanWriter did the rest.
In less than two hours, ScanWriter captured and analyzed more than 105 pages of the suspect’s bank statements from six accounts in four banks.
It converted this material into normalized data on an Excel spreadsheet that the investigators customized and analyzed according to expenditures and dates.
Visualization Provided the Key
The big break in the case came when ScanWriter was used to convert this data into visual reports which, among other things, traced the activity and movement of the suspect on a map of the United States.
ScanWriter’s Power BI function provided the investigation team with a map and timeline that illustrated the travel history of the suspect based on local financial transactions.
Accessing this information quickly allowed law enforcement to trace the suspect’s cross-country trajectory.
Nearly one week after the murder in Tampa Bay, Florida, police apprehended and arrested the suspect — an ex-employee of the victim — in Caldwell, Idaho.
ScanWriter Charts the Suspect’s Tracks
The success of this cross-country investigation was significantly impacted by ScanWriter, which saved the team precious hours by swiftly capturing and converting financial data from the suspect’s six bank accounts and more than 350 transactions.
From this information, ScanWriter automatically generated reports and converted them into visual representations custom-made for their strategic approach.
These live interactive visuals, including maps and charts, were shared by the investigation team, which collaborated to make connections and produce the insights that led them to the suspect.
Investigators were able to apprehend the suspect because ScanWriter’s ‘Flow of Funds’ model charted his movement in real time, placing him in specific locations.
When he finally arrived in Idaho, 2,600 miles from the murder scene, police knew he was there and were able to pinpoint his location to make the arrest.
ScanWriter Plays A Vital Role In Criminal Investigations
Law enforcement agencies use many tools to gather, analyze and interpret evidence and solve crimes such as this one — among them DNA testing, surveillance footage and cell phone data.
To this list, many agencies are now adding data integration and analysis tools such as ScanWriter.
Trusted by many investigators in federal agencies, ScanWriter, an all-in-one data integration and analysis tool, provides quick and precise automation for otherwise laborious and time-consuming tasks.
With its data entry automation feature, ScanWriter can convert any paper document or digital file into normalized data on Excel or data visualization on Power BI.
It can process large files in minutes without sacrificing accuracy, and ensuring both speed and precision.
After it captures data from scanned, paper or PDF documents, ScanWriter converts it to Excel to provide an organized view of the information.
It automatically separates and categorizes documents by type and generates reports, which can be customized to find connections that aid in the investigations.
Standardizing and normalizing data for Excel provides an organized view of the information. ScanWriter takes this analysis capability further by integrating processed data with Power BI to generate visualizations such as graphs, reports and dashboards.
Customizable to any case strategy, data enrichment can fit every analyst’s needs for desired connections, patterns and insights.
Included in this feature are pre-created models, such as Flow of Funds which graphically illustrates where money is coming from, where it’s going, who was involved and more.
Models such as this one help investigators scrutinize the movement of funds and turn data into coherent, visually immersive and interactive insights that can be used to eloquently and persuasively support a case.
Used to solve criminal cases such as this one, as well as fraud and embezzlement cases, ScanWriter is becoming an essential law enforcement tool for the speedy capture and analysis of data.
Boost Productivity and Effectiveness With ScanWriter
ScanWriter is a homegrown software solution trusted by many district attorneys, forensic accountants and fraud investigators across the US working in the public sector.
An all-inclusive software package for data capture and analytics, ScanWriter streamlines workflow and can cut data entry time by 90%.
ScanWriter takes pride in offering 100% accuracy, exceptionally high processing speeds, automatic visualization of financial models like ‘Flow of Funds,’ easily-accessible customer support, and more.
No matter your organization’s challenges, ScanWriter can provide an effective solution.
Disclaimer
Specific names of entities have been altered or omitted in this case study to ensure confidentiality.
About ScanWriter
ScanWriter is a data entry automation and visualization tool that assists in financial fraud investigations. It is a homegrown software trusted by many district attorneys, forensic accountants, and fraud investigators across the US working in the public sector. ScanWriter takes pride in offering 100% accuracy, exceptionally high processing speeds, a built-in audit trail, automatic visualization of financial models like ‘Flow of Funds,’ easily-accessible customer support, and more. ScanWriter creates opportunities for anti-fraud professionals to focus on more critical tasks to fight financial fraud, meet deadlines, maintain data integrity, and provide deeper data analysis.
About Personable Inc.
Personable Inc. is a privately-held software company founded in 1998 with headquarters in Fountain Valley, California. We provide solutions to automate the data entry workflow. Our company is committed to serving private and public-sector professionals nationwide.