Top experts in the asset recovery* field from private firms, law enforcement and the international community are represented on the IAAR Advisory Board.
These opinion leaders guide the Association in its efforts to provide the most comprehensive training, education, networking opportunities and information exchanges for IAAR members. This distinguished group provides insight and recommendations that benefit the membership as well as the asset recovery* community. The IAAR Advisory Board offers support and advice on critical issues that affect asset recovery* professionals and practices.
The IAAR Advisory Board consists of law enforcement officers, public officials, lawyers and independent policy specialists who are recognized experts in matters related to asset recovery*. Under the guidance of our Advisory Board, IAAR serves members with top quality educational and career development programs, information exchanges, and peer networking opportunities that advance their professional skills and enable them to achieve their professional objectives.
Linda Candler
A former federal prosecutor and attorney* in the Office of International Affairs of the US Department of Justice*, she negotiated and drafted asset sharing agreements and extradition and mutual assistance treaties. Also a barrister in England, she has recovered proceeds of crime in many countries, including substantial assets linked to the infamous BCCI bank case in which she served as international coordinator on appointment by the US Department of Justice* to the British Serious Fraud Office. Formerly a barrister at Furnival Chambers in London, she has represented the Crown Prosecution Service in asset confiscation cases. She is a member of the IAAR Advisory Board.
James P. Carino
Carino, the executive director of
Intellenet International Intelligence Network, is a retired USAF Lt. Colonel who served 20 years with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) as a Special Agent. In his last position he served as Director of Criminal Investigations. Post retirement employment was as a Security Consultant for two firms prior to establishing his own company. He currently provides security consulting services, security training, expert witness testimony (security cases), and investigative services including background investigations.
He holds a BA from Colgate University and an MA from the University of Hawaii. He has taught security courses at both Alvernia College (baccalaureate) and St. Joseph's University (masters level).
He is a licensed PI in Pennsylvania and is an active member of ASIS, NCISS, AFOSISA, HAPS, NALI, CII (among others) and is Past President of the Montgomery County (PA) Private Detectives Association. He was co-founder of the Pennsylvania Association of Licensed Investigators (PALI), serving as Chairman of the Board (1997-2001 and 2008-2010) and President (2003-2007). He is also a Region Director/Board Member for NCISS (1998-2010), a Lifetime CPP and served as a member of the ASIS Investigations Council from 1999-2007.
Edward Davis, Jr.
As a founding shareholder of the law firm of
Astigarraga Davis in Miami, Florida, Edward Davis conducts financial fraud investigations, prosecutes civil claims for fraud and pursues misappropriated assets on behalf of individual, corporate and institutional victims of fraud through the world. He has pursued funds across multiple jurisdictions including Japan, the Bahamas, Latin America, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Davis is a member of the American Bar Association Anti-Corruption Committee and lectures frequently before the International Financial Crimes Investigators Association, He is also vice chair for the Caribbean and Central America of the International Bar Association Anti-Corruption Committee, and a Certified Fraud Examiner.
His knowledge of financial transactions comes from over 22 years representing banks and other financial institutions in litigation involving disputes over wire transfers, letters of credit, forged checks and other issues. He is lead counsel in the Piacro Airport civil claims for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and represents numerous victim depositors in claims against Stanford International Bank and those associated with it.
James Earp
A partner in the Recovery and Reorganisation Practice at
Grant Thornton UK LLP, Earp has more than 20 years experience in all aspects of recovery and reorganization. He specializes in investigation and proceeds of crime work.
He leads a team of more than 70 professionals focused on recovery actions in the UK and overseas and his international experience has included assignments in Europe, Australia, South Africa, Canada and offshore jurisdictions. He has received court receivership appointments under the Criminal Justice System to investigate the proceeds of crime, as management receiver
* and to enforce confiscation orders. He is a frequent speaker on fraud and asset tracing and is a regular contributor to publications including two chapters in the book "Fraud: Law, Practice and Procedure."
Stanley I. Foodman
Stanley I. Foodman, president and CEO of Foodman & Associates, P.A., is a respected forensic accounting and litigation support practitioner with more than 35 years experience in the industry. A pioneer in the field, he has served as an expert witness and forensic accountant
* for some of the nation’s most complex high-profile criminal defense and divorce cases.
He has in-depth knowledge and experience in the areas of taxation, complex commercial, economic crime and family law litigation. He has been sought out as a forensic accounting and tax expert in commercial and family law litigation cases in county, circuit and federal district courts in various jurisdictions. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFF), Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and is Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF).
Foodman is a former auxiliary special agent for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with specialization in economic crime – money laundering, bank fraud, public corruption and discovery of hidden assets. He is also a former consultant to the Miami office of the U.S. Attorney
* for civil RICO money laundering recoveries.
S. Gregory Hays
S. Gregory Hays is Founder and Managing Principal of Hays Financial Consulting in Atlanta and is a first-rate fiduciary appointed as trustee and receiver
* for insolvent companies and companies in bankruptcy
*. He serves as a corporate financial consultant, specializing in providing fiduciary financial management services for insolvent companies. Hays has worked to unwind Ponzi schemes and other complex frauds and has stepped into the shoes of other fraudsters whose criminal empires have crumbled, including national investor fraud cases. Hays had a hand in the development of the Certified Specialist in Asset Recovery
* (CSAR) study materials, has contributed content to IAAR and is widely regarded as a top-mind in the field of asset recovery
*.
Alana Heller
An experienced commercial litigator in federal and state court for more than 12 years, she has devoted her practice in recent years to the delivery of efficient and cost-effective e-discovery and document review services. A partner at K&L Gates in Seattle, she is an active part of the firm's e-Discovery Analysis and Technology (e-DAT) Group. She oversees projects involving all aspects of the discovery process, from custodian identification and retention to collection, processing, review and post-production litigation support. A frequent advisor to public and private organizations, she also assists in designing and implementing document retention systems. At the start of her legal career she served as law clerk to the chief US Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Florida.
Laurie Holtz
A senior advisor within Marcum Rachlin's Advisory Services division, he has more than 35 years of experience and is a nationally recognized, experienced professional in the specialized practice of forensic accounting, Mr. Holtz has dedicated most of his career to helping clients and attorneys trace and recover funds in financial fraud cases. He also provides management advisory services to a wide range of corporate clients.
One of the nation’s pioneers in the area of investigative accounting, Holtz is known for his keen ability to track financial footprints and to present valid, accurate evidence of the nature and logistics of fraud. Throughout his career, he has provided litigation support services and appeared as an expert witness in state, federal, and bankruptcy* courts for some of the most complex national fraud cases in U.S. history.
Holtz’s clients include receivers, lawyers, trustees, corporate clients ranging in size from sole proprietors to major corporations, and state and federal government agencies.
Cynthia Hetherington
A national expert on Internet and Online intelligence investigations, steganography and cryptography, Cynthia is president of the
Hetherington Group, a consulting, publishing and training firm. She applies her command of information science to provide strategic insight into complex investigations. She has conducted asset-tracing and recovery investigations for Fortune 500 companies and government agencies in the United States, Middle East, Asia and Europe, with notable success in fraud and embezzlement cases. She trains government and military agencies and corporate clients in online investigative and intelligence practices.
An adjunct faculty member at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, she teaches cyberterrorism investigation. Widely published, she is the author of the Manual to Online Public Records (Facts on Demand Press, 2008), and the publisher of
Data2know.com: Internet & Online Intelligence Newsletter. Previously, she led the corporate strategic intelligence group of Aon Consulting.
Charles A. Intriago
Founder of
AssetRecoveryWatch.com and the
International Association for Asset Recovery (IAAR), he launched Money Laundering Alert in 1989, MoneyLaundering.com in 1996, and the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) in 2001, the world's leading credentialing organization for persons with money laundering control responsibilities.
His international money laundering conferences in South Florida drew some 1,500 attendees, including large numbers of law enforcement and regulatory officials and bankers. Previously, he served as chief counsel to an investigative subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives which oversaw the Department of Justice
*, Treasury Department, FBI, DEA, IRS, Postal Service and others involved in law enforcement, prosecution and the recovery of criminal assets.
He was an Assistant US Attorney
* in Miami prosecuting white-collar criminals, drug traffickers, corrupt public officials and fraudsters, and Special Counsel on Organized Crime of Florida, where he wrote the statewide grand jury law. He is a member of the AssetRecoveryWatch.com Editorial Board of Advisors.
Aaron Kahler
Aaron Kahler is an Assistant Director with ICS Compliance (
icscompliance.com). He is a Regulatory Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering Services subject matter expert that specializes in Investigation and Due Diligence. He has experience in the consulting, banking, financial services and public sector industries. Prior to joining ICS Compliance, he was a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Kahler Forensic Solutions and has held positions with the Deloitte Financial Advisory Services (FAS) - Forensic & Dispute Services group, Protiviti - Regulatory/Anti-Money Laundering Services group, Citibank - Citibank Bank Secrecy Compliance Office (CBSCO), MasterCard International -- Security & Risk Management Department and New York State Office of the Attorney
* General -- Consumer Frauds Bureau.
His extensive experience in Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) writing, Lookback Review, KYC Remediation, System Effectiveness/Optimization and Policies & Procedures for the Commercial/Retail, Private Banking, Brokerage, and Correspondent Banking divisions for Financial Institutions allows him to assist in the development of workable processes to meet regulatory requirements.
Martin Kenney
The founder of a specialist,
multi-jurisdictional investigative and litigation practice in Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, Martin Kenney is "one of the world's leading authorities on the legal aspects of freezing and seizing assets in multiple jurisdictions," according to Offshore Alert of Miami.
In June 1999, Kenney was appointed to the Working Group on Government Corruption of the Society of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London, which issued proposals to reform the law on abuse of power and government corruption in the United Kingdom. He is an active member of the Business Crime Committee and Section on Insolvency*, Restructuring and Creditors Rights of the International Bar Association. He is also exclusive member for the British Virgin Islands of Fraudnet, a specialist network of leading fraud and business crime lawyers of the Commercial Crime Services Division of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Kenney's clients have included international banks, insurers and other private and governmental institutions. He is a practicing Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Civil Proceedings) of the Supreme Courts of England & Wales and of the Eastern Caribbean at the BVI, a non-practicing barrister & solicitor in British Columbia, and a licensed foreign legal consultant in the State of New York.
Tom Lasich
After a three year term as Head of Training for the
International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) in Basel, Switzerland, Lasich now works as a regular Asset Recovery
* Consultant for the ICAR. The Institute provides technical assistance to countries on political corruption and money laundering issues. Tom has thus far been responsible for the design, creation and management of the technical training programms that are delivered by ICAR in countries on all the major continents including Africa, Asia, South America and Europe. He continues to be actively involved in the development and implementation of such specialised training services. He has worked in federal law enforcement conducting financial investigations for 37 years.
He began his career as a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation, in 1972 and worked 20 years as a special agent and manager. In 1991 he accepted a position at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) as the Assistant Chief of the Financial Fraud Institute. In 1996 Tom returned to the IRS, Criminal Investigation, as a special agent in the international division. He has conducted money laundering and financial investigations of organized crime members, major corporations, narcotics syndicates and political figures throughout the United States, Europe and the Pacific Rim.
Brian Mahany
Brian Mahany is a principal in two law firms bearing his name, MahanyLaw and Mahany & Ertl, LLC. in Milwaukee. He has practiced law for over 25 years, much of it in the public sector combating financial fraud and tax crimes. Prior to opening his own firm in 2009, Brian served as the head of Maine's revenue department, served as Assistant Attorney
* General - Tax in Maine and special counsel to the Senate on tax policy. He also served as a former CID agent and a chief of investigations. Brian concentrates in all aspects of white collar crime and asset recovery
* with an emphasis in anti-money laundering, tax fraud and assisting victims of Ponzi schemes. He has lectured nationally and has been published in the national Journal of Accountancy. he also blogs frequently through his website, MahanyLaw.com.
Jose Marrero
A partner with the
MRW Consulting Group in Miami, he brings experienced leadership and an extensive background in various law enforcement, investigative, consulting, and management capacities to the firm. During his more than 28 years of experience with the Internal Revenue Service he served in many roles, including revenue agent, special agent, group manager, regional analyst, division chief/special agent in charge, and deputy director in the Criminal Investigation Division. Marrero retired from IRS-Criminal Investigation as the Deputy Director, Strategy. Headquartered in Washington, DC, he directed the policies and programs of Criminal Investigation employees in the Office of Strategy. Before his retirement, he was the highest-ranking Hispanic in Criminal Investigation (Chief/SAC), a distinction he held since his initial appointment as Chief in Jackson, Mississippi in October 1989. Upon his selection as the Deputy Director, Strategy he became the highest ranking Hispanic to ever hold that position in Criminal Investigation. Mr. Marrero has a background in accounting and has worked to recover assets for more than 30 years in the public and private sectors.
Michael McDonald
Principal of Michael McDonald and Associates based in Miami, he is a retired IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent, former coordinator of the South Florida Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and supervisor of the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force.
He has trained thousands of state, local and international law enforcement and intelligence officers on asset recovery
* and diverse financial crimes. In 1980, he helped found the pioneering Operation Greenback, the first multi-agency money laundering task force that recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in assets from drug traffickers.
He has testified as an expert in many civil and criminal cases and was a "cadre instructor" in the elite Expert Witness Training Program of IRS Criminal Investigation. Since he retired in 1998 he has also advised foreign governments on their proceeds of crime and asset forfeiture
* laws and procedures. For the United Nations he has served as a specialist in Asia on asset forfeiture
* and sharing laws.
He has extensive experience in managing narcotics task force cases, organized crime, tax evasion, corruption and huge Ponzi and other fraud cases. He is a member of the AssetRecoveryWatch.com Editorial Board of Advisors.
William P. Olsen
A former official of the New Jersey Attorney
* General's Office, William Olsen is now a principal in the Economic Advisory Services practice of the international consulting firm
Grant Thornton in McLean, Virginia. While with the N.J. Attorney
* General's Office, Olsen served in Financial Crimes, Gaming Enforcement and Casino Prosecutions. He also worked as global manager of security for a Fortune 500 company, and was with Arthur Andersen before joining Grant Thornton. Much of his earlier duties involved investigating violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). He has assisted clients in retrieving and analyzing data to investigate allegations of fraud and in gathering evidence in response to legal disputes and government subpoenas. He has also performed due diligence investigations on organizations seeking licensure in the gaming industry, and has performed asset tracing services and net worth analysis for purposes of forfeiture and recovery. In addition, Olsen has advised several Global 1000 clients in developing comprehensive anti-fraud, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering programs.
Marilyn B. Peterson
One of the world's most highly respected criminal intelligence analysts, she is a widely published authority who spent 25 years in law enforcement, specializing in organized crime, narcotics, fraud, money laundering and corruption. Among the seven books she wrote or edited are authoritative guides to financial analysis of bank records, analyzing Bank Secrecy Act data, counter-threat finance investigations and intelligence-led law enforcement.
She has been honored with seven analytic awards, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Certified Criminal Analysts, and the Law Enforcement Intelligence Units Chairman's Award. She is past president of the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts, chair of the International Association for Intelligence Education, founder of the Society of Certified Criminal Analysts and a former regent of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. She currently is a senior instructor and program manager with a federal agency in Washington, where she is responsible for counter-threat finance intelligence training
Steven Rambam
STEVEN RAMBAM is the founder and CEO of Pallorium, Inc., a licensed Investigative Agency with offices and affiliates worldwide. Since 1981, Pallorium's investigators have successfully closed more than 10,500 cases, ranging from homicide and death claim investigations to missing persons cases to the investigation of various types of sophisticated financial and insurance frauds. Pallorium's online subsidiary, PallTech offers access to nearly 800 data sources and seven major proprietary databases, as well as provides online investigative support services to 2,800 investigative and law enforcement agencies. DataVerification.Net, a custom web portal owned and operated by PallTech, provides specialized identity verification and underwriting solutions to the insurance industry. PallTech recently coauthored two popular iPhone applications, "IdentityCheck" and "Investigators Everywhere". Steven has coordinated investigations in more than 50 countries, and in nearly every US state and Canadian province. He specializes in international and multi-jurisdictional investigations, investigations of sophisticated frauds and missing person investigations.
Alphonse V. Ristuccia
An expert in global asset recovery*, at Ristuccia Investigations in Los Angeles, he spent 22 years with IRS Criminal Investigation, rising to the rank of Supervisory Special Agent. Now a private investigator, he provides investigative support in asset tracing and recovery. His cases involve Ponzi schemes, embezzlement, false vendor schemes, kickbacks, money laundering, manipulation of records and bankruptcy* fraud. CBS 60 Minutes featured a telemarketing scam he exposed, which yielded hundreds of millions of dollars. He also investigated a fraud on a South American bank, for which his team hunted down the assets of a Nigerian fraudster. He uses surveillance techniques skillfully, sometimes for up to 15 months nonstop, which has led him to identify property hidden under straw names, in brokerage accounts, and in secret holdings. He testifies frequently, helps lawyers with trial preparation, and speaks regularly at conferences of financial professionals and Intellenet, whose board he served on.
Ed Rodriguez
Founder and Principal at EORS Consulting LLC, Bethesda, Maryland, he is an expert on forensic audits and investigations and on U.S. Bank Secrecy Act requirements, including suspicious activity reporting, and Know Your Customer and customer due-diligence procedures. His work involves asset tracing, money laundering, tax matters and financial crime analysis. He advises clients on the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program, civil bank fraud analysis, and criminal health care cases. He was a Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent with IRS Criminal Investigation for more than 20 years, and for five years oversaw the IRS CI money laundering program worldwide. He coordinated 81 IRS CI suspicious activity review teams, served on Justice Department and Treasury Department units on bank, mortgage and check fraud, debit cards and cross-border remittances. He headed the financial section of Justice's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Fusion Center, directing agents and analysts from multiple agencies. Don Semesky
The immediate past Chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Office of Financial Operations in Washington, D.C., Mr. Semesky brings three decades of law enforcement and asset recovery
* experience to the IAAR Advisory Board. Currently with Financial Operations Consultants LLC in Riverwood, Maryland, Semesky has testified as an expert or modus operandi witness in 47 trials in 23 Federal Judicial Districts in the area of money laundering and related Bank Secrecy Act reporting requirements. As architect of DEA's worldwide financial enforcement program, he launched initiatives that in 2007 alone led to the seizure of more than $730 million in assets in the U.S. and more than $1 billion internationally from drug trafficking organizations. Previously, Mr. Semesky spent 30 years in the Criminal Investigation Division of IRS in various senior positions.
William J. Thomas
William J. Thomas provides due diligence and related services to the securities and financial services industries. Emphasis is on Due Diligence, Corporate Intelligence, Securities Analytics and Anti-Money Laundering. Thomas has a special experience in matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He applies Information Technology to contemporary issues involving the FCPA, securities analytics and intelligence collection. The process of Due Diligence is tailored to meet the unique needs of the specific event or decision. Employing a multi-disciplinary approach to the Due Diligence process, he simultaneously collects, analyzes and interprets information from a variety of sources to expand the knowledge base.Felicity Toube QC
Felicity Toube QC is an English barrister at 3-4 South Square, she specializes in the civil aspects of commercial fraud, corporate and personal insolvency
*, company law, banking and commercial litigation. She advises and appears as a trial lawyer in cross border fraud cases, including those involving Madoff, Stanford, Barlow Clowes, Versailles and Palmer. In the international field, she has specialist knowledge of cross-border bankruptcy
*, particularly the EC regulation and UNCITRAL. She frequently handles cases involving the laws of other jurisdictions including the United States, Jersey, Isle of Man, Mauritius, Iceland, Cayman Islands, Spain, France, Equatorial Guinea and Switzerland. She recently edited and contributed to the book, "International Asset Tracing in Insolvency
*," published by Oxford University Press, which dissects the asset tracing tools that are available in a number of jurisdictions, including England and the US.
