2018 Fraud Conference Speaker Bios
Thomas Allen
Thomas Allen is an experienced prosecutor with extensive background in complex litigation. Versatile and ready to handle a variety of cases. Demonstrated professionalism and expertise in financial crimes, organized criminal activity, and elder exploitation.
Barb Barrett
Barb Barrett is a licensed social worker. She has a Bachelor’s Degree, Social Work from Bluffton College in 1991. Barb worked in Corrections field for 10 years as a Case Manager and a Unit Manager. She worked in Medicaid Transportation for 6 years. She worked with Developmentally Disabled individuals for 5 years. Barb also worked with Job and Family Services in Southern Ohio for 8 years in APS and then transferred to Franklin County 3 years ago.
Courtney Beckett
Courtney Beckett, CPA, is a Senior Charitable Funds Auditor in the Charitable Law Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. Courtney has investigated hundreds of cases involving financial waste, skimming, cash larceny, and many other types of fraud and abuse. Her previous experience includes working as a Forensic Accountant at Ohio BCI and a Tax Auditor at the Ohio Department of Taxation. Courtney received her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the Ohio State University.
Steve Bodge
Steve Bodge is a SIU Major Case Manager for Nationwide Insurance. He is responsible for the identification and investigation of complex fraud cases in multiple states.
Mr. Bodge has over 25 years of insurance investigation experience as a field investigator, regional fraud claims consultant and SIU Manager. He is currently the president of the WV Chapter of the International Association of Special Investigation Units.
Mr. Bodge is a former law enforcement officer and detective and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and Fairmont State University. For over 25 years he served as an adjunct criminal justice instructor at the college level, and has extensive experience in developing and presenting training at the local, regional and national level. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Insurance Fraud Investigator.
Eric Burns
Since 2009, Eric Bums has been a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation where he specializes in the investigation of white-collar crime. Prior to joining the FBI, Special Agent Bums worked as an external auditor at Deloitte & Touche.
Craig Catlin
Craig Catlin, graduate of Florida State University, is a Vice President on the Fraud Investigations Team at Synchrony Financial. Craig covers the southeast United States. Craig retired from the North Miami Beach Police Department in early 2017 after 20 years of service and was a detective in the Gang Unit for 10 years. Craig was Officer of the Year four times during his career with the City of North Miami Beach Police Department. In 2012, he was named IAFCI Officer of the Year. Craig was a Task Force Officer with the United States Secret Service, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the Internal Revenue Service- Criminal Investigations. Craig’s gang fraud investigations have led to numerous federal indictments of gang members including cases involving IRS Tax Refunds, fraudulent Unemployment Benefits and fraudulent counterfeit credit card schemes. Craig’s investigations have been featured on the local news, in the Miami Herald, on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, on CBS’s 60 Minutes, on Fox Business and in Bloomberg Businessweek.
Ashley Clifton
Ashley Clifton, CFE, is a Senior Charitable Funds Auditor in the Charitable Law Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. Ashley has investigated numerous charities involving making false statements to obtain outside funding, different forms of expense reimbursement schemes, and other types of fraud and abuse within the non-profit sector. Ashley received her Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic Accounting from Franklin University.
James Dommer
James Dommer is a Charitable Funds Auditor in the Charitable Law Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. James investigates all types of fraud schemes including self-dealing, skimming, larceny, misuse of grant funds, etc. He’s worked on numerous cases to uncover sham charities. His previous experience includes working as a Staff Accountant at a CPA firm (preforming compilations, audits, reviews and tax returns) and another section within the Attorney General’s Office. James received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Franklin University.
Tomi Dorris
Tomi Dorris serves as the Major Case SIU Director. Prior to coming to Nationwide, Tomi worked over 27 years in public service serving as a police officer, assistant prosecutor, magistrate judge, director of the Ohio state police training academy, and chief counsel for the Ohio State Highway Patrol. In her last position with the state of Ohio, Tomi prosecuted criminal insurance fraud cases for the Ohio Department of Insurance.
Tomi earned her undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice from The Ohio State University and her Juris Doctorate degree from the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University. She has also earned her CFE, CIFI, and SCLA designations since joining Nationwide.
Wendy Evans
Wendy Evans is a Senior Corporate Ethics Investigator for Lockheed Martin. She joined the company in 2006 after a career in law enforcement, including service as an FBI agent and police officer. Wendy is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP) and is a member of the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI) organization and the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics. She is also a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and member of ACFE. Wendy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government Studies and Communications (Broadcasting) from Western Kentucky University.
Maritsa Flaherty
Maritsa Flaherty is a Principal Assistant Attorney General of the Ohio MFCU, where she has been employed for over seven years. She has over eleven years of prosecution experience. Flaherty is part of the Ohio MFCU’s Pill Mill Steering Committee, designated to investigate and prosecute physicians and Medicaid providers who illegally distribute controlled substances. She is adjunct faculty at Columbus State Community College, where she teaches classes in criminal justice. Flaherty is designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA) in both the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio for the past four years. She is a 2003 graduate of TheOhio State University and a 2006 graduate of the Moritz College of Law, again at The Ohio State University. Flaherty has presented on numerous occasions in the past including: NAMFCU Annual Training Programs (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017), National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (2016), and various in house trainings.
Jason Frantz
Jason Frantz is a Compliance Executive currently serving as the Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (“FIU”) where he manages Anti-Money Laundering Investigations, SAR filing, and AML/Fraud Quality Control processes for Discover Bank. He also designed and built the initial CDD/EDD Operations Team at Discover Bank. Prior to joining Discover, he served in a variety of AML, CDD/EDD, and Quality related roles during his 10+ years with JPMorgan Chase.
Jason graduated from The Ohio State University with an undergraduate degree in Criminology, and subsequently obtained his MBA from Capital University, both in Columbus, Ohio. He is currently an adjunct MBA professor at Capital University teaching Financial Crimes, Communication for Leaders, and International Business. Jason is also a successful blogger (www.jasonfrantz.com), focusing on topics in leadership at home and the workplace, bridging the generational divide, and transparent leadership
Matthew Gilligan
Matt has over 25 years of experience in security operations, internal /external investigations, financial crimes, money laundering, risk assessment, strategy and business management. He currently serves as Executive Director and Head of Electronic Crime and Card Investigations at JP Morgan Chase Bank (JPMC). In this role, Matt leads and sets the strategic vison for a large, highly skilled team of investigators responsible for the investigation and prevention of digital based fraud schemes impacting all client accounts.
During Matt’s tenure at JPMC, he has held leadership roles as Executive Director of the Anti Money Laundering and Know Your Customer Program, Head of Business and Program Management for Global Investigations and Vice President of Internal Investigations. Prior to Matt’s tenure with JPMC, he was a member of the Global Security leadership team at the The Limited Incorporated.
Matt holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology / Criminology from Bowling Green State University and is board certified as a Fraud Examiner (CFE) and a Forensic Interviewer (CFI). Among other affiliations, Matt is a current member of the USSS Electronic Crimes Task Force, FS-ISAC, ACAMS, ACFE and former President of the Public Eyes Reward Committee. Matt has served as a guest speaker and expert panelist for various organizations including the US Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
As a volunteer, Matt serves the community as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and guardian for severely abused and neglected children. Matt also served honorably in the United States Army for 8 years on both active duty and Reserve assignments.
Originally from Providence, Rhode Island, Matt and his family currently reside in Central Ohio.
Tom Golden
Tom Golden is a retired partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers. As the Partner-in-Charge of PwC’s Chicago Investigations practice, Tom has led large-scale financial fraud investigations on nearly every continent. He literally wrote the book on financial crime investigation as lead author in the award-winning Wiley publication A Guide to Forensic Accounting Investigation. Tom now brings his professional experience to the literary world in Sunday Night Fears, the first in the Sam Halloran accounting crime series.
Greg Haines
Greg Haines is a Special Agent Supervisor in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Ohio Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Section. Haines is the supervisor of the Ohio MFCU’s Pill Mill Team, designated to investigate and prosecute physicians and Medicaid providers who illegally distribute controlled substances. Haines is a graduate of the Ohio State University with a degree in Criminology. Haines has nineteen years of law enforcement experience including service as a Special Agent with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and a Probation Officer with the Franklin County Common Pleas Court. Haines has presented on numerous occasions in the past including: NAMFCU Annual Training Program (2010), NAMFCU Opioid Epidemic Symposium (2016), and various trainings for the Ohio Department of Medicaid, Ohio Department of Aging, and Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities.
Bret Hood
After serving 25 years as a Special Agent in the FBI, Michael “Bret” Hood became the director of 21st Century Learning & Consulting, LLC upon his retirement in 2016. During his tenure with the FBI, Bret worked many complex financial crime, money laundering, corruption and major cases such as the 9/11 terrorist attack, the HealthSouth fraud and the Maricopa Investments case.
In 2010, Bret was selected to be part of an elite team tasked to develop a new executive leadership program for the FBI. As such, Bret joined the FBI Academy staff in 2012 and became an adjunct professor of leadership for the University of Virginia teaching classes on leadership and psychology as well as contemporary issues in leadership. In addition to these duties, Bret has led over 50 international delegations on behalf of the FBI teaching our foreign partners about leadership, financial crimes, anti- money laundering and anti-corruption prevention and investigation. Bret has also worked with various private sector entities facilitating discussions about the psychology, patterns, methods and motives of offenders.
Bret is a federal-court certified expert in money laundering and financial crimes. Bret is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, Eat More Ice Cream: Succinct Leadership Lessons for Each Week of the Year. Currently, Bret serves as an investigative consultant, an expert witness and as an instructor for 21st Century Learning & Consulting LLC.
L. Wayne Hoover
L. Wayne Hoover, CFI®, is Senior Partner of Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates, Inc. (WZ) and the International Association of Interviewers (IAI), a company affiliated with WZ, as well as Vice President of Certified Forensic Interviewer (CFI®) Programming. IAI provides the certification process for qualified Interviewers and Interrogators to become a CFI®.
He is a Certified Forensic Interviewer (CFI®) and a member of the CFI® Advisory Board, Senior Editor and Publisher for the CFInsider Journal as well as a member of the International Law Enforcement Educators Trainers Association (ILEETA). Starting his career with WZ in 1991, Wayne has conducted thousands of interviews and interrogations for both the private and public sectors. He has also conducted well over 1000 seminars on Interview and Interrogation Techniques, both domestically and internationally. He has spoken at numerous national and international conferences including the ILEETA Conference, National Child Advocacy Conference (NCAC), National Retail Federation (NRF), Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), and numerous Chapters of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), among many others.
Wayne was a member of the Illinois Fire & Police Commissioners Association for 6 years and Police Commissioner for the North Aurora, Illinois Police Department. Wayne graduated from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois where he received a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice. He currently resides with his family in the Chicago area.
Wayne is a Certified Forensic Interviewer (CFI®). To qualify for this distinction, a person must pass a standardized examination, which covers a series of topics regarding the interviewing and interrogation process. The CFI® demonstrates understanding of legal aspects of interviewing and proficiency in interview preparation, behavioral, analysis, accusatory and non-accusatory interviewing, documentation, and presentation of findings. The objective of this certification program is to create comprehensive, universally accepted professional standards combined with an objective measure of an interviewer’s knowledge of those standards.
Greg Kelley
As co-founder of Vestige Digital Investigations and CTO, Greg leads Vestige’s Digital Forensic and E- Discovery services. Greg’s responsibilities include helping to determine strategic direction of the company, overseeing the day-to-day operations and internal Information Systems infrastructure, and personally handling some of Vestige’s engagements. He helps in performing as well as managing the digital forensic investigations and leads the Data Evidence Specialists and Forensic Analysts on the Vestige team. Greg has 20 years of experience working in the computer industry. His various positions and responsibilities included custom software design and implementation, network management and security, database programming, disaster recovery and end-user support. For the past 15 years, Greg has helped Vestige become one of the few companies capable of performing comprehensive digital forensic investigations. He has worked on criminal and civil matters covering areas such as intrusion and incident response, intellectual property theft, fraud and uncovering hidden assets. Greg is experienced and has testified in State court and Federal court in both civil and criminal cases. Greg graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering and a minor in Artificial Intelligence from Case Western Reserve University. He holds the professional designation of Encase Certified Examiner (EnCE) and Digital Forensics Certified Practitioner (DFCP). He is Vice President of the national Digital Forensics Certification Board. He is an active participant in the digital forensics industry having spoken at conferences such as Techno Forensics, ISS World (Intelligent Support Systems), Computer and Enterprise Investigations Conference (CEIC) and Paraben Forensic Innovations Conference (PFIC). Headquartered near Cleveland, OH, Vestige supports litigation work primarily in the Great Lakes Region, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, and routinely supports cases nationally and internationally as well.Prior to Vestige, Greg was founder of two predecessor computer consulting companies in the Ohio region. Originally from Chicago, IL, Greg and his wife, Stacey have two children and reside in North Royalton, a suburb of Cleveland.
Milan Kosanovich
Milan R. Kosanovich is a Supervisory Special Agent in the Complex Financial Crimes Unit at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. He graduated with a B.S from Syracuse University and a J.D. from Georgetown University. He is admitted to the bar in Ohio and the District of Columbia. Kosanovich specializes in White Collar Crime investigations and currently serves as the FBI detaileé to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington. He has been previously assigned to the Cleveland Field Office and the Bridgeport Resident Agency of the New Haven Field Office. Kosanovich has coordinated and led various international trainings and working groups, most recently in Estonia and The Netherlands. He is a member of the national Corporate Fraud Response Team and is a Certified Hostage Negotiator. Wolfgang Krenzer
Wolfgang is a 13 year employee of Marathon Petroleum, having started at Speedway, Marathon’s wholly- owned subsidiary that today has 2,700 Stores. He has served in his current position as Fraud Analyst for nearly five years, where he supports Marketing Department field personnel, a network of 5,400 independently-owned and -operated Dealers, and Law Enforcement Officials and other external investigators as needed. His team works proactively to prevent crime, such as credit card counterfeiting. He is also a member of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI), an organization with more than 5,000 members worldwide and 39 chapters, and is in his second year as Ohio Chapter Treasurer. He obtained his Certified Financial Crimes Investigator (CFCI) designation through the IAFCI last April.
Becki LaPorte
Becki is the Vice President and AML Compliance Officer for Advisor Group. The four broker-dealers that comprise Advisor Group are FSC Securities, Royal Alliance Associates, SagePoint Financial and Woodbury Financial Services. Advisor Group is one of the largest networks of independent broker- dealers in the United States. Becki’s team is responsible for reviewing and investigating activity across the financial crime spectrum including AML, fraud, and account intrusion. Prior to Advisor Group, Becki served as an Associate Director and Lead Compliance Trainer for FINRA®. FINRA® is the largest independent regulator of the securities industry in the United States. She developed and delivered training to FINRA examiners and investigators. She also provided guidance and consultation on open examinations and investigations specific to fraud and AML. She possesses nearly 20 years of financial services experience including 8 years in the banking industry. Becki is a member of the ACFCS (Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists) Advisory Board and Charter Class. She is an alumnus of Penn State University.
Roxane MacGillivray
Roxane MacGillivray is a Sr. Corporate Ethics Investigator with Lockheed Martin. In this role, she conducts enterprise wide Ethics investigations at the direction of the Corporate Ethics Director of Investigations and/or the Senior Vice President of Internal Audit, Ethics and Sustainability. She is very involved in the creation and execution of internal investigations training and has been a national speaker on numerous Ethics and Compliance related topics.
For over 15 years, Roxane has been with different business areas of Lockheed Martin in positions of increasing responsibility including leadership positions in the Missiles and Fire Control Legal department; Corporate EEO and the Ethics and Business Conduct organization. She ensures compliance with the LM Code of Conduct and Corporate values of “do what’s right; respect others and perform with excellence” by defining and enforcing policies and practices, conducting corporate investigations, providing counsel to employees and leaders and overseeing the effectiveness of the ethics and compliance program.
Roxane holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Legal Studies from the University of Central Florida, is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP) and became a Certified Fraud Examiner in 2016. Prior to her employment at Lockheed Martin, Roxane spent over 17 years working in a large commercial law firm as a litigation paralegal manager overseeing complex litigation matters in state and federal courts. She has also worked as an adjunct professor teaching legal studies courses at the University of Central Florida, Sonoma State University and Valencia College. She currently sits on the Paralegal Advisory Board of Valencia College in Orlando, Florida.
James Manken
James Manken is currently serving as the Chief Legal Counsel in the Office of the Ohio Inspector General. Formerly, Mr. Manken served as Assistant Chief Legal Counsel for the Ohio Auditor of State, Assistant Attorney General for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Franklin County, and Special Assistant United States Attorney. Additionally, Mr. Manken served as a special prosecutor in numerous white collar cases and public corruption cases throughout the state of Ohio. Mr. Manken received his Juris Doctorate from Capital University Law School and his undergraduate degree in economics from The Ohio State University.
Mr. Manken has lectured in fraud, professionalism and trial advocacy trainings across the country for organizations including the National College of District Attorneys, National Institute of Trial Attorneys, National Association of Attorneys General, and Association of Inspectors General.
Walt Manning
Walt Manning is an investigations futurist who researches how technology is transforming crime, and how governments, legal systems, law enforcement and investigations will need to evolve to meet these new challenges. In his almost 40 years of experience in law enforcement and private practice he has consulted with or given presentations to organizations such as the Defense Intelligence Agenda, General Accounting Office, Texas Department of Public Safety and many more.
Walt Manning started his career as a police officer in Dallas, Texas, and later created the department’s first unit to provide support for criminal cases involving technology. After twenty years in law enforcement, Walt founded a consulting firm that specialized in providing digital forensics services in both civil and criminal cases. He later served as a Director with the AlixPartners e-Discovery practice, where he helped to manage e-discovery and digital forensics services in major international criminal and civil litigation matters.
Walt’s goal is to “drive and inspire the evolution of investigations” by helping investigators and organizations to prepare to meet these new legal and investigative challenges of the future.
Harry Markopolos
“It took five minutes for Harry Markopolos to figure out that Bernard Madoff was a fraud. But it took him nearly ten years to get the SEC – and the world – to accept the difficult truth...that the man regarded as the foremost investor of our time was actually behind the largest case of investor fraud in history. Thanks to Harry’s persistent flag waving and years of covert communications with the SEC, the veil covering Madoff’s “financial magic” was eventually lifted, revealing an intricate $65 Billion Ponzi scheme built on equal parts deception and SEC ineptitude, and making Harry Markopolos a true hero for the ages. A story you must hear to believe, Harry and his amazing journey have been featured on 60 Minutes, in The Wall Street Journal and in the documentary Chasing Madoff. Markopolos candidly explains his long fight to “gift wrap and deliver to the SEC the biggest Ponzi scheme in history” and reveals a captivating cloak-and-dagger story of one man and his tightly knit, highly-trained team of trusted allies that never gave up. By relying on his unique combination of skills as a 22-year veteran of the finance industry, he pieced together the facts and numbers and blew the whistle on Madoff.
With modesty, steely integrity and self-deprecating humor, Markopolos offers not only an insider account of his actions, but a vivid examination of our financial system. He articulates what mistakes and holes in our system lead to Madoff’s “success” and how we can prevent similar crimes in the future. It was a broken system that allowed Madoff to slip through unnoticed, and Markopolos is using his voice to help protect the public from financial predators. One man making a big difference, Markopolos continues to fight the good fight against the many forces that have ripped apart our nation’s financial practices and compromised the U.S. economy. A crusader for the truth and justice, he forges ahead, working to ensure that a crime of this magnitude never happens again.”
Craig Morgan
Craig Morgan currently is a Special Investigator with the Auditor of State’s Public Integrity Assurance Team primarily covering the southern half of the state. He is responsible for conducting investigations involving allegations of potential criminal activity such as public corruption, fraud, and misappropriation of public funds throughout the State of Ohio.
Mr. Morgan has over 40 years of investigative experience in the areas of government program fraud, financial crimes, and public corruption. He has served as a police officer in Ohio, held investigative and supervisory positions with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and Ohio Ethics Commission, and is retired from Federal law enforcement after more than 21 years as a Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent.
Mr. Morgan holds a B.A. degree in Criminal Justice from Ohio Dominican University, and successfully completed the Management Development Program sponsored by The Ohio State University, School of Public Administration. He has served as an Adjunct Faculty member at Central Ohio Technical College in the law enforcement/criminal justice program, and has been an instructor and presenter for a number of organizations including the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and the U.S. Department of Justice National Advocacy Center (NAC).
Anil Patel
Anil Patel is an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, and is assigned to the Cyber and Privacy Unit where he performs cybersecurity outreach throughout Ohio, legal analysis of laws and their application to the current cyber landscape, and participates in helping revise proposed legislation. As part of the Cyber and Privacy Unit, he focuses on the CyberOhio Initiative, which is aimed at protecting Ohio businesses and law enforcement officials from cyber threats. Prior to working in the Cyber and Privacy Unit, Anil worked in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit as a prosecutor for the Attorney General’s Office. When he’s not working, Anil enjoys spending time with his friends and family.
Kelly Paxton
Kelly Paxton has more than 13 years of law enforcement experience. Kelly is a Certified Fraud Examiner, Private Investigator and Social Media Intelligence Analyst.
Ms. Paxton started her career in law enforcement as a Special Agent for US Customs Office of Investigations in 1993. Ms. Paxton was recruited by US Customs for her expertise in finance. She worked white collar fraud, money laundering and narcotics cases. She also was responsible for the district’s undercover operations and financial reporting of these operations. She testified at Grand Jury in the Western District of Washington. Ms. Paxton has been the affiant on numerous search and seizure warrants.
Kelly has worked in the public and private sector. Her investigations include embezzlement, conflict of interest, intellectual property, Open Source Intelligence and fraud. Kelly is also the proud owner of pinkcollarcrime.com, a passion of hers about women embezzlers in the workplace.
Chuck Peirano
Mr. Peirano serves as the Chief Fraud and Security Officer. Mr. Peirano has over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. His background spans, Retail/Business Banking, Auto Finance, Mortgage/Equity, Treasury Management, Commercial, Risk Operations, and Credit & Debit Card Operations.
In his current role he is responsible for corporate oversite of fraud detection, prevention, and strategies, Physical Security, Investigations, Crisis Management, Threat Management, Business Continuity, Environmental Health & Safety and Executive Protection.
Sylvia M Pla-Raith
Sylvia Pla-Raith is currently the lead staff of the Attorney General’s Elder Abuse Commission and the Director of the Elder Justice Initiative. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, she served as the Chief Supervisor for Adult Protective Services in Cuyahoga County and served as the past Chair of the Ohio Coalition for Adult Protective Services. Her vast experience includes, hands on elder abuse investigation, training, and policy development in the field of elder abuse. Sylvia has served on several collaborative projects that have promoted the provisions of protective services through community education, outreach, advocacy, and coalition building. Ms. Pla-Raith holds a Master of Arts degree from John Carroll University and a Bachelor of Science from The Ohio State University.
Michael Pocalyko
Michael Pocalyko is managing partner of Special Investigations, based in northern Virginia in the Washington DC metropolitan area. He is also managing director of Monticello Capital. A decorated Navy pilot, Beirut veteran, and retired commander, he previously chaired Erdevel Europa in Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia, TherimuneX Pharmaceuticals, Advanced Environmental Resources, and Enterprise Applications, prior to its acquisition by Special Investigations. He is an experienced corporate director of both NASDAQ publicly-listed and private corporations and was audit committee chairman at Herley Industries and at Challenger Corporation. He is a CFE, investigator, compliance agent, and Sarbanes- Oxley “audit committee financial expert.” His best-selling novel The Navigator was published by Macmillan. Pocalyko is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors Board Advisory Services practice, an NACD Board Leadership Fellow, and on NACD’s teaching faculty for corporate governance. He graduated from Muhlenberg College and received his MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School and his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Jonathan Robbins
Jonathan Robbins is a Computer Forensic Specialist for the BCI Cyber Crime Unit. He graduated from Ferris State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Information Security and Intelligence. So far in his two and a half years at BCI, Jonathan has worked over 185 cases relating to various types of high technology crimes as well as attended over 200 hours of training related to investigating these crimes.
Howard Schwartz
Howard Schwartz retired from the FBI in April of 2011, after 23 years of service. He was the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans Division. Howard then joined the City of New Orleans Office of Inspector General (OIG) as the Assistant Inspector General for Investigations and was appointed Interim Inspector General on 10/20/2017. Under Howard’s leadership, the New Orleans OIG has produced 84 indictments/convictions, 43 administrative terminations/suspensions, and over $120 million dollars in fraud prevention for the City of New Orleans. Howard also created a Fraud Awareness Presentation which is now mandatory training for all City of New Orleans employees. During his tenure in the FBI, Howard directed all public corruption and government fraud investigations. He provided direct oversight in the prevention of potential government fraud in excess of $20 billion dollars in connection with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon. He provided direct oversight in the prevention of potential government fraud in excess of $31 billion dollars in connection with the rebuilding of the levees in New Orleans, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. After the storm, Howard initiated and led the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force in New Orleans. He also assisted in the formation of the National Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This Task Force developed into the National Disaster Fraud Center which is the central repository for all disaster related fraud in the United States.
Howard has provided public corruption and government fraud training to more than 2,000 law enforcement officers and prosecutors within the United States and more than 500 law enforcement officers and prosecutors internationally. He has also provided this training to more than 500 Office of Inspectors General personnel. He has been certified as an expert witness in three different Federal Judicial Districts. Howard was invited to Prague, by Richard Graber, the United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic, where he addressed a five nation symposium on public corruption and government fraud. Howard has been the key speaker, trainer, and instructor for multiple national and international conferences and symposiums on public corruption and fraud. For his work, Howard has received both the prestigious Attorney General of the United States Award for Fraud Prevention, and the Director of the FBI’s Award for Distinguished Service.
Howard Schwartz has served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Inspectors General (AIG) since 2012. He also currently serves as the course manager for AIGs Certified Inspector General Investigator (CIGI) Institutes. Robert Smith
Mr. Smith is currently Deputy Legal Counsel to Auditor of State Dave Yost. He serves as legal advisor to the Special Investigations Unit of the Auditor’s Office and as special prosecutor in many of the criminal cases filed as a result of Auditor of State investigations.
Mr. Smith previously served as Director of the Fraud & Enforcement Division for the Ohio Department of Insurance. He was with the Department from October of 2002 until March of 2009. He assisted in investigations of fraud committed by consumers, healthcare providers and insurance agents. In addition to conducting and directing criminal investigations, Mr. Smith also served as special prosecutor in the criminal prosecution of these cases, and testified as an expert witness in the area of insurance fraud.
Prior to joining the Department of Insurance, he was the Chief Trial Counsel for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Organized Crime Investigations Commission for 14 years. In that position, he directed investigations into a wide variety of cases under Ohio’s RICO statute. While with the Attorney General’s Office, he wrote Ohio’s money laundering statutes and wiretap statutes as well as many of Ohio’s computer crime statutes.
Prior to his state service, Mr. Smith was an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office for ten years, serving as head of the economic crime unit for 7 years.
Mr. Smith is a graduate of The Ohio State University of School of Law, class of 1978.
Doug Squires
Since 2000, Doug Squires has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Columbus, Ohio prosecuting white collar crime, corruption and now terrorism offenses. He also serves as the Senior Litigation Counsel in charge of training at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in addition to other assignments. Doug was honored in 2016 with the Exceptional Service Award from the National Association of Former United States Attorneys’, in 2009, with one of the highest honors from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Distinguished Service Award, and in 2001 with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General’s Integrity Award. From 1994 to 2000, Doug was a state prosecutor in California prosecuting violent crime and drug offenses and served as Interim Supervising District Attorney.
Doug is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law where he teaches courses in white-collar crime and criminal procedure. He has authored several published materials on fraud, including a chapter entitled "Forensic Accounting" in Scientific Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases, 6th Ed., 2013, Foundation Press, a legal textbook on scientific and technical evidence.
Doug received a B.A. from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, his law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Ohio and California.
Tom Speaks
Fellow co-founder of The Impact Group. Tom is a man of action with an expertise in motivating audiences to action. His background in political science and research methodologies has led to dozens and dozens of successful political, municipal and school-district campaigns. Tom is a fitness nut who also has a love of history, which led him to becoming a published author. His first novel, “Hannibal – The Forging” is available on Amazon, and his second novel “Lihn” is set to be released in 2018.
Paul Starrett
Paul Starrett is a licensed private investigator (CA, IL) and attorney (CA) specializing in high-profile investigations and legal consulting especially where electronic data is central. He is founder and CEO of Starrett Consulting, Inc., a full-service investigations firm that leverages API’s from open-source and commercial data-science applications to analyze structured and unstructured data. He is former General Counsel and Chief Global Risk Officer of an international, publicly-held data management corporation heading their global legal, operations and risk-management groups. His 25 year career began in law enforcement and corporate security and later progressed into information-security engineering, electronic discovery and information management. Paul's education includes a Master of Science in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation from Golden Gate University. He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and EnCase Certified Computer Forensics Examiner (EnCE).
Michele Stuart
Ms. Stuart has over twenty five years of experience specializing in the areas of Open Source Investigations (OSINT), Threat Assessment, Financial Investigations, Corporate Investigations and Intelligence/ Counter Intelligence. She started her investigative career as an Economic Fraud Investigator focusing on conducting in depth national and international financial investigations primarily for the FDIC and RTC.
Ms. Stuart is an Adjunct Professor with University of Virginia and an Instructor at Quantico for international training programs. She provides seminars, and private training, on her specialized investigative techniques in Open Source Investigations (OSINT) to Fortune 500 companies and Additionally she has taught for both Federal and State Levels of Law Enforcement Agencies and Military Intelligence throughout the United States including attendees of Department of Homeland Security, Department of Treasury, Secret Service, US Marshals, FBI, DOJ, Border Patrol, CTTSO, Indian Tribal Nations and additional federal and local law enforcement agencies throughout the country as well as Insurance Special Investigative Units and numerous financial and state associations.
She has been asked to speak at local schools on Internet Security for kids as well as supplying specialized training for teachers and administration staff for school districts throughout the country.
Moreover, she has written and published several articles pertaining to investigative methods in various investigative publications and journals and is a featured author with her own column concerning Internet Profiling and Open Source Investigations titled “Internet FYI” in PI Magazine, a widely distributed trade publication of the private investigations industry. Gregory Tapocsi
Greg Tapocsi is a Senior Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Section of the Office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, where he is assigned to the Cyber and Privacy Unit. As part of the Cyber and Privacy Unit, Greg directs the Attorney General’s CyberOhio program, which is a collection of initiatives aimed at helping Ohio businesses fight back against data security threats. Through CyberOhio, Greg performs cybersecurity outreach throughout Ohio, legal analysis of laws and their application to the current cyber landscape, assists in workforce development for the cybersecurity field, and participates in introducing legislation to improve the legal cybersecurity environment.
Dave Thomas
DAVE THOMAS is a partner in the Corporate Compliance and White Collar Criminal Defense practice group of Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister, LLP, where he also leads the litigation practice for Taft Columbus. He counsels and represents companies, public officials, health care providers, and other professionals who are the subject of state and federal investigations and prosecutions involving the United States Department of Justice and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, as well as county prosecutors throughout the state. He also assists clients in responding to subpoenas from Government regulators, including federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Drug Enforcement Administration and state agencies such as the Ohio Auditor’s Office, Ohio Ethics Commission, and Ohio Inspector General. Dave has a broad range of experience in criminal defense. He has tried cases in state and federal courts throughout Ohio, in matters ranging from corporate fraud and federal conspiracy to aggravated murder. Dave has also argued in state and federal appeals courts and the Supreme Court of Ohio. He has served as lead counsel defending white collar cases ranging from ethics and public corruption to health care fraud, banking violations, Government contract fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, and environmental crime. Dave frequently provides presentations to attorneys on evidence and trial practice, and he is board- certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in Criminal Trial Law. He was also named 2018 Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” for Columbus White Collar Criminal Defense and a “Top 50 Columbus Super Lawyer” for 2018 by Super Lawyers Magazine. Dave is active in numerous professional organizations. He was elected to the Board of Governors of the Columbus Bar Association in 2016 and is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Central Ohio. Dylan Waggy
Dylan Waggy is a Computer Forensic Specialist for the BCI Cyber Crime Unit. He has worked for the agency for 2 and a half years processing and analyzing various types of technology. Dylan graduated from Defiance College with a Bachelor’s of Science in Digital Forensic and is recognized as a Digital Forensic Certified Associate by the Digital Forensics Certification Board.
K. Woliung
In 1999, Inspector Woliung received her Business Degree in finance and management from Mount St. Joseph University and started working for a local Cincinnati investment firm as a securities trader. In 2002, Inspector Woliung completed her MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University and shortly thereafter began her career as a U.S. Postal Inspector in Detroit, MI working mail fraud and money laundering investigations. In 2007, Inspector Woliung transferred to Cincinnati and continued investigating complex mail fraud and money laundering cases. In 2015, Inspector Woliung was promoted to Team Leader and relocated to Columbus, OH and in 2017; she transferred back to Cincinnati as a Team Leader and currently supervises the mail fraud and security team. In addition, Inspector Woliung is the Public Information Officer for the Inspection Service Cincinnati Field Office, has taught at the Inspection Service training academy, became a Certified Fraud Examiner in 2007, and became Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified in 2017.