Author: FTI Consulting

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Fraud Eats Strategy

Chasing Bernie’s Billions: An Examination of the Largest Asset Recovery Effort in History – Part 1

Arguably there is no more major a case in modern history than the Ponzi Scheme perpetrated against thousands of victims for more than three decades by the notorious Bernie Madoff.

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, warlords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.
 

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Fraud Eats Strategy

How Transparent is the Corporate Transparency Act?

On April 3rd, 2016, information about 214,488 offshore companies established by Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca was leaked. Since the Panama Papers leak, a total of 81 jurisdictions worldwide have passed laws requiring beneficial ownership to be registered with a government authority. The U.S. Government has been openly critical of countries that act as money laundering safe havens and yet we were not taking any steps toward transparency. That changed on January 1, 2021, when both houses of Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which includes the Corporate Transparency Act (the Act).

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, warlords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.
 

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Fraud Eats Strategy

Examining Siemens’ Remarkable Turnaround Pt. 2

In the second part of this series, we discuss some important work my guests are involved with at the IBA’s Subcommittee on Non-trial Resolutions of Foreign Bribery Cases regarding the growing international use of settlements to resolve anti-corruption cases.

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, warlords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.
 

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Fraud Eats Strategy

From Systemically Corrupt to Above Reproach: Examining Siemens’ Remarkable Turnaround

In 2006, Germany-based Siemens was ranked 22nd on the Global Fortune 500 with revenues of $100 billion. It was a global leader and one of the world’s most admired companies. Until November 16, 2006 when the Munich Police Department raided Siemens corporate offices and several subsidiaries based on whistleblower allegations of bribery and misuse of funds. This Munich Police Department investigation triggered a global corruption investigation which revealed that Siemens had methodically violated U.S., German and other global anti-bribery laws for decades. When the settlement of the case was announced in 2008, law enforcement didn’t pull any punches. Yet what is equally remarkable is that a company that used corruption strategically and methodically to achieve its business objectives for decades remade itself in the wake of the corruption scandal to emerge as a model of corporate reform and business ethics.

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, warlords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.
 

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Fraud Eats Strategy

The Maturation of U.S. Anti-Money Laundering Laws – Part 2

Part 2 of this Fraud Eats Strategy series, Scott Moritz continues the conversation on the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA 2020) with Matt Biben, Partner of Gibson Dunn.

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, warlords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.
 

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Fraud Eats Strategy

Wiseguys, Drug Lords & Terrorists, Oh My! The Maturation of U.S. Anti-Money Laundering Laws

In this episode, we’re going to discuss the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA 2020). This is the most comprehensive set of reforms to U.S. anti-money laundering (“AML”) laws since the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001. While there is a lot to the Act, there are some important changes and enhancements that should have an immediate and long-lasting impact on anti-money laundering.

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, warlords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.
 

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Fraud Eats Strategy

The Third Line: The Critical Role of Internal Audit in Cyber Defense

Cybersecurity is at the top of most organizations’ list of critical risks and is often cited by C-suite executives and Board Members as their gravest concern. Threats that are this complex and amorphous require strong partnerships including the inside of the organization. At first glance, cybersecurity and internal audit would seem to have very little in common or little need to interact with one another. Indeed, that is probably still the case in many organizations. Our guests today however have taken a different approach.

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, warlords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.
 

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Fraud Eats Strategy

The Inherent Challenge of Thwarting Trade-Based Money Laundering

In this episode, we discuss trade-based money laundering. According to the intergovernmental money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), there are three primary methods that transnational criminal and terrorist organizations utilize to launder the proceeds of illicit activity and use illicit proceeds to finance terrorist operations. 1. Through the use of the financial system; 2. Physical movement of hard currency by use of couriers and smuggling techniques and; 3. Through the physical movement of commercial and consumer goods in international trade.

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, warlords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.
 

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Fraud Eats Strategy

The Missing Private Banker: When Bank Fraud Takes a Dark Turn

The Carrasco case is a cross-border financial crime that is worth revisiting. Its lessons remain as relevant today as they were in 1998 when the fraud first erupted.

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, warlords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.
 

Categories
Fraud Eats Strategy

Far from Home: The Future of Cross Border Investigations

Conducting investigations in certain parts of the world can be challenging because of the business practices, language barriers and cultural differences. In some of those countries, they are discouraged or even unlawful. When you overlay travel restrictions during a global health crisis, challenging doesn’t begin to describe it.

In this episode, we discuss how global organizations are a microcosm of the countries and cultures in which they operate. Understanding the customs, languages, business practices and cultural norms is an essential part of conducting effective investigations when operating outside of the U.S. In many parts of the world, business practices and cultural norms tacitly endorse bribery, corruption, and other financial and property crimes. Companies are expected to operate within the law in each country in which they operate and to follow the standards and practices delineated in the organization’s code of conduct and corporate compliance program. Compliance programs are expected to have certain program elements including mechanisms for confidential reporting of suspected wrongdoing and an efficient, reliable, and properly funded process for investigating the allegation and documenting the company’s response, including any disciplinary or remediation measures taken.

Join us each week as we take a deep dive into the various forms of fraud across the world and discuss crime families, penny stock boiler rooms, international money launderers, narco-traffickers, oligarchs, dictators, warlords, kleptocrats and more.

Scott Moritz is a leading authority on white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and in the evaluation, design, remediation, implementation, and administration of corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct. He is also considered an authority in the establishment, training, and oversight of the investigative protocols carried out by financial intelligence, corporate security, and internal audit units.