INTHEBLACK July/August 2023 - Magazine - Page 22
F E AT U R E
“You have to have the most incredible eye for detail, and you have to be extremely
professionally sceptical. In most cases, you also need to have a team to support you, as it is
very difficult for an expert witness to act alone, especially in the bigger cases.”
ELIZABETH GIUST FCPA, QUALITAS CONSULTANTS
This kind of evidence might include
how much revenue a business would
have generated in a past financial
period or how much it would have
generated in a future period.
“To be admissible, such evidence
would require an expert with specialised
knowledge and skill in assessing such
matters and may require experience in
the same type of business,” says Newlan.
Expert witness testimony is generally
questioned by the opposing side in a
criminal or civil case.
Newlan recalls an instance when his
evidence was questioned, because it
was not deemed to be an opinion.
“The case involved a fraudulent
commercial venture, and my testimony
was essentially based on a funds tracing
exercise of significant complexity.
22 INTHEBLACK July/August 2023
“There was concern expressed by counsel
acting for the other side that the evidence
I was giving was not expert evidence. “This is
because I was essentially tracing money from
one account to another account, which didn’t
require an expert opinion,” Newlan says.
“There was a lot of debate about whether
my report should or should not be tendered in
evidence. Ultimately, it was admitted.”
IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY
Expert witness reports require analysis
of copious documents and data points.
Technology now helps to capture digital
evidence and analyse data, Newlan says,
but expert witnesses require a high degree
of competence to comply with APES 215.
“We’re dealing with increasing
complexity in transaction processing and
financial reporting, and the technology
