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- Lo Furneaux
October and November Events Recap
Chartered Accountants Ireland - 6th October
Our co-founder & CEO Aidan Larkin was recently invited to speak at the annual Fraud and Forensic Investigation Conference hosted by the Chartered Accountants Ireland in conjunction with the Association of Fraud Examiners (ACFE) in Ireland.
Aidan gave an informative presentation on digital assets that covered many of the common scams that hackers use to target victims with cryptocurrency assets; like phishing, rug pulls or pump-and-dump attacks. He went on to discuss many of the challenges for digital asset recovery practitioners when trying to repatriate assets across international borders.
Also in attendance was our Cyber Risk & Investigations Officer Kevin Hart. He acted as the event host for ACFE Ireland, delivering two talks during the day’s schedule. His first talk with Susan Doris-Obando from Matheson took a look at the new legislation designed to protect whistleblowers in Ireland from an employer’s perspective, while the second outlined the risks of corruption for Irish companies involved in international economic crimes with Hannes Jansen van Vuren from the FCG Finnish Consulting Group.
Kevin was thrilled to highlight the crucial role that accountants play in detecting and preventing fraud:
“Chartered Accountants Ireland has consistently raised awareness of fraud in Ireland, by providing expert training and awareness to members, through collaboration with the ACFE Ireland Chapter. As experts in crypto-related fraud, Asset Reality was pleased to demonstrate the importance of complex asset recovery in disrupting illicit financial activity. Feedback from CAI members was very positive and the Asset Reality team looks forward to working with the members in industry and accounting practices.”
Northern Irish Fraud Forum - 16th November
The first-ever annual conference of the Northern Ireland Fraud Forum recently took place at the Hilton Hotel in Belfast. NIFF was established earlier this year to encourage collaboration amongst its members to increase their collective knowledge of fraud prevention techniques.
Aidan was invited to speak at the inaugural conference as a member of the forum’s board of directors. His presentation highlighted the growing levels of crypto-related fraud despite the worrying lack of options for its victims. He concluded by detailing the tools being built at Asset Reality to help crypto companies give their users the very best chance of recovery.
ARIN-CARIB - 25th November
Last week, our co-founder & CEO Aidan Larkin flew to the Cayman Islands to discuss crypto asset management with the members of the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for the Caribbean (ARIN-CARIB).
Those in attendance at the Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa Georgetown enjoyed several days of panel discussions, success stories and jurisdictions updates that covered everything from recovering and managing crypto assets to the importance of international and cross-border cooperation.
Aidan took to the stage to launch the network’s new asset management project and delivered an informative presentation on the best practices of crypto asset management. He
discussed the current challenges being faced by international asset recovery professionals before stressing the need for better collaboration between the public and private sectors.
SOCEX Economic Crime Conference - 28th November
The Serious and Organised Crime Exchange (SOCEX) held its annual Economic Crime Conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon on the last weekend of November. Aimed at professionals working to combat fraud and financial crime, the conference featured two days of informative panel discussions, workshops and keynote addresses outlining the best practices for detecting, prosecuting and strategically managing financial crimes.
The first day of the programme concluded with an after-dinner speech on international confiscations from our Chief Operations Officer, Thomas J. Abernathy.
After spending nearly 30 years working in financial crime investigation alongside the United States Marshals Service, TJ used his experience in international asset recovery cases to explain why thorough investigations will always form the basis of proper confiscation. He also discussed the benefits of seizing stolen assets despite the numerous barriers, and the best practices for choosing the kinds of assets to seize and confiscate.
TJ was delighted to receive the speaking invitation from SOCEX:
“An unbelievable group of Investigators all in one location discussing cases and lessons learned and one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended. I was honoured to have been asked to speak to such an amazing and professional group of investigators. SOCEX is beyond impressive and we look forward to working with them again.”
If you would like to know more about our work in crypto-related frauds and asset recovery, contact connect@assetreality.com
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