Pathological deception and high-level corruption: behavioural risk profiling in elite financial crime investigations in Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates pathological deception and high-level corruption in Nigeria, with a focus on the behavioural risk profiling approach in elite financial crime investigations. In simple terms, this method organises and analyses the behavioural characteristics of involved elites to provide greater support for case investigations. The impetus for this study is the rising complexity of corruption and financial crime: criminal acts of this type often involve political elites, public officials, business practitioners, and intermediaries, and leverage elaborately structured financial networks. In the past, the standard method for investigating such cases was to track capital transaction records, the so-called traditional transaction-oriented investigation method. This approach was sufficient for past cases, but when faced with today's interconnected complex crimes, this outdated method can no longer uncover the core behavioural patterns hidden behind capital flows that tie these scattered criminal acts together, and it is completely unable to meet current investigative needs. To fill this gap, the study adopts a qualitative comparative case study method, which compares multiple eligible real cases side by side. After organizing information from all cases, the study's results show that elite corruption is typically accompanied by a series of common characteristics: long-term concealment of criminal activities, manipulation of all types of information to mislead the public, rationalization of illegal acts, seizing every opportunity that benefits oneself, colluding with accomplices within one's personal network to commit crimes, and exploiting loopholes in institutions to seek illicit gains. Based on these findings, the study recommended: the first thing to do is to make structured behavioural risk assessment a fixed procedure for all financial crime investigations. Second, integrate behavioural analysis and financial data analysis, so that the two types of tools can work in synergy. Third, strengthen integrity vetting for politically exposed persons, that is, politically sensitive individuals, and high-level public officials, to enforce strict access controls. Fourth, conduct scientific verification of the proposed BCRF to confirm the effectiveness of this framework.