Problems of identifying crimes in the sphere of economy

This article examines the theoretical and methodological foundations of forensic crime detection in the economic sphere. While this issue is important from a practical perspective, it is also one of the least studied areas in forensic theory. This latter aspect is partly due to the insufficient development of a general theory for identifying various groups and types of crimes, the principles of which could be used as a methodological foundation for studying the detection of certain categories of crimes. The purpose of this study is to define the system, from a forensic perspective, of the cognitive activities of criminal prosecution subjects during the initiation of a criminal case. This provides grounds for defining the process of identifying economic crimes as a criminal procedural activity aimed at verifying the primary factual data available to the subject of criminal prosecution regarding the possibility of a business entity preparing or committing a crime related to its professional activities, and establishing, based on sufficient data, that the act under investigation has taken place and contains elements of a crime. Based on this research, the author concludes that the object of the theory of crime detection at the initiation stage of a criminal case, in our opinion, is the criminal-procedural research and cognitive activity of the subjects of criminal prosecution, who carry out their functions and tasks within this stage. A distinctive feature of this activity is its aim to collect and verify the reliability of primary information about a crime that has possibly been committed, is being committed, or is being prepared.