Abstract
<jats:p>The article provides a fundamental theoretical, legal, and praxeological analysis of the institute of forensic examination in the context of investigating corruption criminal offenses committed in the financial sector. The relevance of the topic is due to the high level of latency and intellectualization of crime in the banking and financial sectors, which requires pre-trial investigation bodies to apply specific evidentiary tools. The purpose of the article is to reveal the epistemological nature of the expert opinion as a source of evidence, evaluate the effectiveness of modern types of examinations, and substantiate the necessity of introducing new types of expert research. The methodological basis of the work comprises a complex of general scientific and special methods. The dialectical method was used to trace the evolution of mechanisms for committing financial crimes; the formal-logical method allowed for the analysis of criminal procedural legislation norms; the system-structural method was applied to classify forensic examinations; the hermeneutic method was utilized to interpret the content of financial documents; and the method of generalization of judicial practice (case study) enabled the identification of typical investigative errors at the stage of appointing examinations. Based on the analysis of legislation, scientific doctrines, and judicial practice materials, it is proven that in cases of financial corruption, the expert opinion transforms into a comprehensive source of evidence, accumulating the results of economic, technological, and managerial research. The author defines a list of examinations critical for investigating the actions of officials of financial regulators: forensic economic (asset tracing), computer-technical (digital trace analysis), handwriting, and linguistic examinations. Based on empirical data analysis, it is established that the lack of a comprehensive approach to expertise leads to erroneous legal qualification of acts. The scientific novelty of the obtained results lies in arguing the expediency of implementing new types of research into national practice: examination of the cost of financial services (to detect transfer pricing) and management examination (to distinguish between business risk and intent). It is proposed to establish, at the departmental level, a standard for appointing comprehensive examinations (forensic economic and computer-technical) for investigating complex financial schemes. Keywords: expert opinion, forensic examination, criminal proceedings, financial institution, banking sector, national regulator, corruption, special knowledge, evidence, examination of the cost of financial services, management examination.</jats:p>