Resolution #1: Largest. Annual. Conference. Ever.

#1: HOST THE LARGEST GLOBAL FRAUD CONFERENCE EVER

There are only a handful of things that I completely “geek out” over. For a few years in high school, pictures of Buffy the Vampire Slayer tattooed my room, binders, notebooks and tennis bag. In college, my friends and family rarely saw me not wearing a velour jump suit and a trucker hat (thank goodness that phase was short). And now, at the ACFE, I am not embarrassed to say that every fall I become giddy at the thought of researching possible keynote speakers for the ACFE Global Fraud Conference.

The “Sheriff of Wall Street,” the undercover agent, the storyteller and the Enron mastermind are just a few of the keynote speakers to address fraud fighters at this year’s largest-ever 24th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conferencein Las Vegas, Nev., June 23-28, 2013.

We hope to welcome more than 2,400 anti-fraud professionals this June to make this Conference the largest the ACFE has ever held in its history. With 12 parallel tracks and more than 70 sessions, the ACFE Global Fraud Conference continues to get better year after year.

Here is a recap of the keynotes, just in case the description above didn’t quite capture everything:

Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York

Known as the “Sheriff of Wall Street,” U.S. Attorney Bharara has been prosecuting high-profile corporate crime and insider trading cases since taking office in 2009. Bharara has been named by TIME magazine as one of “The Most Influential People in the World,” and one of the Bloomberg Markets Magazine’s “50 Most Influential.”

Chris Mathers, Former Undercover Agent, Consultant

For 20 years, Mathers was employed as an undercover agent for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, personally infiltrating criminal groups in Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. He conducted numerous international investigations for the FBI, DEA, U.S. Customs Service, Interpol, Scotland Yard and various European federal agencies. Mathers now operates his own crime and risk consulting firm providing advice on organized crime, terror, fraud and money laundering.

Stacy Keach, Actor, Narrator of CNBC’s American Greed

As an award-winning actor of stage, film and television, Keach is currently the narrator of CNBC’s American Greed, an original primetime series that examines high-profile corporate and white-collar crimes.

Andrew Fastow, Convicted Fraudster*, Former Enron CFO

Fastow was one of the accounting masterminds at Enron behind a complex web of off-balance sheet special purpose entities used to conceal years of massive loses. He pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy before serving five years in prison.

I look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas this June! To find more about the Conference, visit FraudConference.com.

*The ACFE does not compensate convicted fraudsters.

Anti-Fraud Expert to Give Keynote Down Under

AN INTERVIEW WITH

Dr. Russell G. Smith, Principal Criminologist, Manager, Global, Economic and Electronic Crime Program at the Australian Institute of Criminology and keynote speaker at the 2010 ACFE Pacific Rim Fraud Conference, Nov 14-16 in Melbourne, Australia

What specific fraud themes or trends do you plan to focus on at the conference?

I’ll consider the 21^st century drivers of change that have created a criminogenic fraud-risk environment and the effects of the global financial crisis, in particular. Some of the examples relate to how information and communication technologies have been misused for financial gain and how criminals have disseminated consumer scams on an increasingly wide scale. I’ll look at international, Australian and New Zealand general fraud trends, trends in plastic card fraud and the current extent of business victimization. I’ll also look at the ways in which these risks can be addressed including those that derive from the application of conventional principles of crime prevention, as well as the policy and payment card solutions being adopted by businesses. I’ll conclude with some observations on the need for ongoing education and further research in this area.

What do you most hope attendees will take away from the conference?

I’d really like for people to understand how fraud is having an impact on those living and working in Australia and New Zealand – those in government agencies, businesses of all sizes, as well as individuals. I hope that some of the solutions adopted here might be of interest to those from other countries, and that the work we’ve done here – identifying the risks likely to emerge in the future – can be used by others to circumvent fraud through the use of good planning and innovative technological and policy approaches.

What is unique about this group of fraud fighters and how do you plan to customize your presentation to this audience?

Members of the ACFE have unsurpassed knowledge of fraud typologies and the most effective ways in which they can be investigated. I don’t want ‘to teach my grandmother how to suck eggs’ and I’ve tried to focus on new developments that might be less well known in other places, and some of the policy and fraud-control measures that have been developed here in Australia and New Zealand. I’ll also be presenting research that might be well known to locals, but quite hard to locate for people from other countries. Finally, I hope to alert delegates to the work of some of Australia and New Zealand’s most active anti-fraud agencies and organisations.

Save up to AUD 200 if you register here by Oct. 14!