Forensic Accountant White Collar Crime Expert Witness

Summary

Expert is a Forensic Accountant who has recently moved to the Asheville area with her family and has begun to offer her services to local attorneys and their clients. Expert has over ten years of experience working exclusively in litigation. She has provided litigation support to attorneys for a broad range of matters including commercial litigation, marital dissolution, investment frauds, lost profit disputes, fraud investigations, asset tracing, money laundering, bankruptcies, and damage calculations.  Throughout the course of her career, Expert has worked on numerous civil and criminal investigations including reviews of alleged misconduct by a state senator and local politicians. She has participated in several high profile divorce cases and investment fraud cases. Expert participated in financial record reconstruction and lost profit analyses for two large scale disasters – the BP oil spill in 2010 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.   She is well versed in a number of industry areas including real estate, insurance, construction, and securities.

Expert was a financial advisor in an earlier career and developed extensive securities related experience during those years. She has assisted in many reviews involving financial instrument frauds on both the State and Federal levels and has also contributed her expertise to international cases involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  Expert is adept at utilizing technology to optimally assimilate data from multiple sources. She takes pride in her ability not only to analyze mountains of data, but also to effectively communicate her findings. She considers her role to be both that of an accountant and that of a financial translator of sorts – converting complex findings into easily digestible facts.  Many of the fraud cases Expert 2965 has worked on involved presenting findings to juries.  These cases presented special communication challenges in that many jurors were not well prepared to understand the intricate financial concepts necessary in order for them to render well informed decisions.  Working on these cases helped Expert 2965 to hone her skills in creating clear and concise trial graphics and reports.

Expert has been granted a temporary license to practice in the state of North Carolina while her application is pending and has also been accepted as an expert witness here in the 28th Judicial District.

EDUCATION

• Master’s Degree, Forensic Accounting, Florida Atlantic University (2006)
• Bachelor’s Degree, Mathematics, Florida Atlantic University (2000)
• Mathematics Study Abroad Program, Glasgow University, Scotland (1997)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

A Private Company ∙ Plantation, FL
Forensic Analyst                                                                    
8/09-Present

• Assisting with the defense of a variety of criminal charges including tax evasion, mortgage fraud, embezzlement and insurance fraud.
• Litigation support for plaintiffs and defendants involved in civil suits primarily related to commercial damages.

Private Consulting Firm, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Forensic Accounting Consultant
1/09-8/09

• Freelance work as sub-contractor for local forensic accountants, attorneys and directly for clients.
• Engaged to perform a wholesale clothing business commercial damages report, assisted in criminal defense of a mortgage fraud case and performed a voluntary disclosure filing.

Berenfeld, Spritzer, Shechter & Sheer, LLP, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Case Manager – Litigation Department                                                              
4/07-12/08

• Responsible for managing white collar crime and commercial litigation cases.
• Common types of cases include money laundering, embezzlement, investment fraud and partnership disputes.
• Duties include engagement planning, budget development, client and interested party interviews, research, case strategy development and management of additional staff when necessary.
• Specific tasks include the following:
• Tracing funds through multiple accounts
• Reconstructing books using bank statements, canceled checks and other available data
• Sourcing funds used to purchase assets and identifying usage of illicitly gained funds
• Reviewing legal documents to determine nominal usage of money
• Researching publicly available information online (asset ownership, corporate entities, criminal histories, etc)
• Working with Forensic IT professionals to retrieve hidden data from hard drives
• Creating visuals to illustrate flow of funds and interrelationship amongst accounts, individuals and entities
• Writing reports communicating findings for use in court and by clients
• Software used includes CaseMap (Case Management Program), Excel and Access

Alvarez and Marsal, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Forensic Accountant                                                               
1/06 – 4/07

• Contract position involving a single long-term engagement requiring weekly travel to New Orleans, LA
• Foundation of project revolved around recreating balance sheet in the absence of records (both electronic and hard-copy) as a result of Hurricane Katrina damages.  Fraud and mismanagement of the Orleans Parish School Board resulted in a mandatory restructuring effort requiring a consulting forensic team
• Assorted responsibilities included participation in the FEMA and insurance claims and strategizing process, overseeing document flow and preparing analyses for use by Alvarez & Marsal, the Orleans Parish School Board, the Louisiana Recovery School District, FEMA and Congress
• Developed familiarity with public bidding protocol, coordination amongst several government agencies, large construction projects and asset and liability tracing
• Supervision of 3 – 5 staff

Covers Credit, Ft. Lauderdale, FL ∙ Mortgage Lender/ Real Estate Developer
Accounting Manager/Controller                                                                     
10/04 – 1/06

• Senior internal accountant for a small company engaged in private mortgage lending, real estate investing, residential and commercial development and property management
• Responsible for eleven corporate entities; Set-up books and performed corporate filings for three corporations
• Managed cash in the range of $8-$12 Million
• Prepared monthly balance sheets and quarterly financial statements
• Generated capital gains reports and determined time of sale for properties
• Performed calculations of contributions and distributions
• Handled construction draws and tracked properties and financial instruments owned and managed
• Assisted with purchase of properties through public auctions and traditional means
• Investor relations, bank relations & reconciliations
• Due diligence and contract execution for complex purchase, sale and financing agreements

The Triton Newspaper  ∙ Ft. Lauderdale, FL ∙ Print Newspaper
Financial Columnist                                                                
6/04 – 1/06

Wrote a financial column for a monthly newspaper with international distribution dedicated to “nautical news for captains and crews”. Topics explored include all facets of investing.  Articles can be viewed online at www.the-triton.com

Investors Capital, Ft. Lauderdale, FL ∙ Independent Branch of National Brokerage Firm
Financial Advisor/Branch Manager                                                             
9/03 – 1/05

• Actively traded stocks, bonds, options and mutual funds on behalf of clients
• Recommended and sold financial plans, insurance products, investment products and mortgages.
• Developed knowledge of securities regulations and employed knowledge gained from Series 7, 63 and 65 securities licenses as well as Life, Health and Variable Annuities insurance license
• Responsible for all aspects of running my own financial planning, mortgage & investment advisory services business including sales, service, back office and compliance issues
• Made presentations of ongoing financial analyses to clients and gave seminars to the public
• Supervised part-time loan officers
• Bookkeeping and accounting functions for my branch
• Extensive networking within Fort Lauderdale

American Express Financial Advisors, Ft. Lauderdale, FL ∙ Financial Planning Company
Financial Advisor                                                                    
2/01 – 9/03

• Learned equities, options, fixed income and insurance markets
• Active trading of stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds
• Recommended and sold financial plans, life, disability and long term care insurance as well as fixed and variable annuities
• Designed strategies for individuals and small businesses that incorporate all available investment products
• All functions of financial planning from the solicitation of prospective clients to marketing events, closing, developing and writing financial plans, implementing the strategies recommended within my plans and servicing clients over time

PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS/AFFILIATIONS

• Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Candidate (Anticipated Completion 12/10)
• Series 7, 63 and 65 Securities Licenses (Inactive)
• Life, Health and Variable Annuities Insurance Licenses (Inactive)
• Member AICPA, FICPA, ACFE
• Co-chair of Ft. Lauderdale City Commission Education Advisory Board

 

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