Highlights from the ACFE European Fraud Conference

GUEST BLOGGER: LIVE FROM THE ACFE EURO FRAUD CONFERENCE

Allan Bachman, CFE
ACFE Education Manager

It's snowing here in Prague this evening. This is a big difference from last year’s European Conference in London when the weather was surprisingly spring-like. This year the weather is more suitable for a native New Englander who has been describing the below freezing temperatures as "chilly."

Indoors at the Prague Marriott it is much different, as well, as the conference has welcomed representatives from 34 countries at last count. There is obvious European representation, of course, but I am excited to also see people from North America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Once again, like the rest of the ACFE conferences, this is truly an international event.

ACFE President and CEO James D. Ratley, CFE, opened the conference with a new session on professional skepticism which mixed sage advice with his unique brand of humor. The luncheon keynote, Ian Foxley, is a whistleblower who is still tilting at the windmill of the massive fraud and corruption he found as project leader on a large multinational contract which reaches to some of the highest levels of government.

Concurrent breakout sessions featured a couple of returning favorites and some new notables including Pauline Roberts. Pauline is a retired FBI special agent and spoke on international investigations and how to navigate the waters of differing jurisdictions and legal systems. For her first outing as a speaker, Pauline was very well received and a pleasure to work with.

Tomorrow rounds out the conference with three more keynotes and several breakout speakers, but until then I think a walk in the falling snow in Old Town Prague is the perfect way to end this day.

Find more coverage and photos of the ACFE European Fraud Conference on the ACFE's Facebook page.

Top photo: Marek Dandar, James D. Ratley and Stevan Villalobos

Bottom photo: Attendees at the ACFE European Fraud Conference