For Immediate Release
September 24, 2010
Contact:
David Quinones
786-517-2704
dquinones@iaaronline.org
Patricia Valdes
786-517-2715
pvaldes@iaaronline.org
For First Time Ever, CSAR Certification Marks Out Asset Recoveryi as Area of Certifiable Special Skills
Dozens of professionals who represent fraud victims, government agencies set to take first Certified Specialist in Asset Recovery certification exam Nov. 4-6
In a world where less than one-percent of fraud, corruption and criminal proceeds are ever recovered, the International Association for Asset Recovery (IAAR) is bringing on the dawn of a new day in international asset tracing and recovery. The association is about to do something no organization has ever done. It has delineated asset recovery as an area of special skill that needs, and is appropriate for, certification.
Working for eight months with more than 30 experts, including legal, forensic accounting, investigative and investigative analysis experts from public and private sectors, and guided by a top psychometric firm, IAAR, a global membership association, has built a rigorous examination that probes skills in nine areas.
Independent, verifiable evidence of skill
The CSAR certification will provide independent, verifiable evidence that professionals who earn it meet minimum standards of skill in the investigative, forensic, legal and analytic procedures that successful asset recovery requires.
The first examination will be administered at the IAAR Annual Conference at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas on Nov. 4-6, 2010. The conference program includes a four-session track for exam preparation. A diverse group of 38 persons have already signed up to take the exam at the conference. If they pass the exam and a background check, they will become Certified Specialists in Asset Recovery (CSAR).
"The wave of fraud sweeping the world creates a compelling need for a reliable way to identify persons who have the necessary skill to outfox fraudsters and criminals in locating and recovering the fruits of their crime," said IAAR founder and former federal prosecutor, Charles Intriago.
Many effective recovery tools now not known or used
"Public and private sector investigators, forensic accountants, lawyers or investigative analysts, are continually stymied by the barriers fraudsters and criminals create to protect and hide the money they stole. Yet, there are tools and skills available to both sectors that are often not known or used, such as how to penetrate secrecy havens or obtain "equitable" orders to seize records and computers," said Michael McDonald, a distinguished former IRS Special Agent who is Executive Director of IAAR.
"That is why there are extremely low rates of recovery of fraud, corruption and criminal proceeds, in addition to the lack of attention that this field sees," he added.
Asset recovery the endgame, CSAR the clinching credential
"Asset recovery is the endgame of all financial crime. It's one thing to be certified as a fraud examination specialist or as an anti-money laundering specialist, but it is the clinching credential to be known as a Certified Specialist in Asset Recovery, the vital third phase of all fraud investigations," said Patricia Valdes, Assistant Executive Director of IAAR.
Starting November 6, the examination may be taken at one of more than 500 Kryterion-IAAR testing centers worldwide, including 320 in the United States and 28 in Canada. Kryterion is a leading psychometric company that has been guiding IAAR in the construction of certification exam and provides proctored, secure testing centers worldwide.
CSAR constructed by same people who built CAMS
IAAR was created and is administered by the same people who established and launched the certification Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), which has been earned by nearly 8,000 people worldwide and is the global gold standard.
Until now, the skills required by fraud victims, government agencies, regulators of defrauded companies and institutions, and other defrauded organizations have never been identified as being certifiable in persons hired to recover assets.
Interested persons may visit IAARVegas.com for the full program, to register and to sign up for the CSAR certification exam. A link to the CSAR Candidate Handbook and exam registration is found at iaaronline.org. Coming in November, IAAR will offer an online, on-demand exam preparation course.
(Accredited members of the press may receive credentials to cover the conference. Contact David Quinones, Editorial Director, phone 786-517-2704 or dquinones@iaaronline.org.)
