5 Highlights from Day 1 of the ACFE’s 28th Annual Global Fraud Conference

With over 3,000 professionals from more than 60 countries, this year’s conference is off to a great start. The day was packed with exciting presenters who shared their experience and knowledge. Here are a few highlights from day one of the ACFE’s 28^th Annual Global Fraud Conference:

1. The Creesey Award was presented to Jessica Shasky Calvery, former Director at FinCEN and Global Head of HSBC’s Financial Crime Threat Mitigation. This award is for her lifetime achievement in the detection and deterrence of fraud, and she is only 46 years young. This was an amazing accomplishment and humbling for us all who fight fraud every day because she has done so much in such a short time. I look forward to seeing her future accomplishments.
2. The ACFE’s President presented the inaugural Hall of Fame Award to Dr. W. Steve Albrecht. This is a man who has contributed so much to help advance the ACFE since the beginning.
3. For the first breakout section, I attended a session on the Panama Papers, which did not disappoint. The presenter, David Weber, shared a lot of relationships that have been identified through researching the largest leak in history of over 11.5 million financial and legal records. It was a great session that helped me see the potential value hidden in the 2.6 terabits of data.
4. At lunch, we heard from keynote speaker Cliff Lansley about spotting the truth because when people lie, they leak the truth. All the details are included in his book, which I can’t wait to read and apply some of his scientifically proved techniques.
5. In the afternoon, I attended sessions related to disclosure of information by whistleblowers and risk governance related to vendor relationships. Both were very informative and provided me with numerous ideas that will help me advise my clients with insights to help them fight fraud in the future. I will also be able to share some of the ideas in future blogs.

I can’t finish the blog without mentioning our brief delay/interruption at the beginning of our first breakout session, which started with an announcement to calmly evacuate the building. We received the all clear after a few minutes and most of the people on our floor hadn’t even boarded the escalator. No worries because we were all safe and sound.

If you ever have an idea for a future blog or a question about a published blog, please contact me with your thoughts. I would love to hear from you.

For weekly insights on fighting financial fraud, click here: