PNW Chapter Annual Fraud Conference - ONLINE VIA ZOOM 

Date/Time: Monday, May 17, 2021. The Conference begins at 8:00 a.m. and ends around 4:45 p.m.  

Location:
The Conference will be held entirely online through Zoom. Meeting login information will be sent up to a week prior to the event.

CPE:
There are 8 hours of Continuing Professional Education available to all who attend this event.  

Registration:

Registaration Now Closed

Speakers and Topics include:

Special Agent Eric Hunter and Special Agent in Charge Weston King, U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General

Topic: SBA CARES Act Loan Fraud:  Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans 

Has your bank or credit union received suspicious SBA CARES Act funds in customer accounts? Has your agency received complaints from community members that their ID was stolen and used to obtain COVID relief funds?  In this course, we will discuss the explosion in COVID-19 relief fraud related to the SBA’s Payroll Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) programs. Both programs were created by the CARES Act to assist small businesses economically impacted by COVID-19. We will discuss current trends in online fraud targeting government programs and the tools we can use to protect your customers, your programs,  and your organization. 

SBA-OIG Website:  https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/oversight-advocacy/office-inspector-general

Eric Hunter’s Bio

Eric Hunter is a husband, a father of two, and a combat tested leader that enjoys working hard on the clock and equally playing hard off the clock. Eric was raised in the small community of Mechanicsville, Virginia where he spent many hours riding dirt bikes and playing basketball on the dirt courts. After high school, Eric attended Virginia State University where he was an active member of the Army ROTC program and he earned a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems and Decision Sciences in 2003. The day after graduation, Eric was commissioned into the Army’s Military Intelligence Corp as a Second Lieutenant. Eric drove his Honda Accord from Virginia to Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington State, thinking he’d be in the Army for a few years and then return to Virginia…that was 18 years ago!

Eric served two combat tours in Iraq, where he learned to gather and report actionable intelligence that drove military operations. This is where Eric discovered his passion for bringing wrongdoers to justice. After 5 years in the military, Eric was honorably discharged in 2008 and he joined the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a financial analyst in Tacoma, WA. At the DEA, Eric gained an appreciation for financial investigations and the power of asset forfeiture. Eric learned the best way to target criminal organizations was to “follow the money”.

In 2014 Eric joined the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of Inspector General (OIG) as a contract financial analyst. Eric enjoyed the OIG mission so much, he elected to become a Special Agent with the SBA-OIG in 2017. Since joining the OIG as an agent, Eric has been responsible for cost avoidances in excess of $20,000,000 and has become an integral part of SAC Weston King’s team of experienced investigators. 

Eric is experienced in cyber fraud, wire fraud, theft, bank fraud, bribery, and internal investigations. Eric demonstrates a growth mindset and continues to look for new opportunities to grow in his profession as a criminal investigator.

Weston King's Bio:

Weston King is the youngest of three boys raised by a single mother on a horse & chicken ranch in the small town of Hooper, Utah. After failed attempts at ranching, he unwittingly began his law enforcement career as a Utah State Probation Officer. Due to his youthful appearance (at that time) his career transitioned into assisting the local Community Policing Division and Drug Strike Force where he self-registered into the police academy and became a Police Officer to assist in UC operations.  After the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Weston joined the Federal Air Marshal Service and was tasked to the FBI’s Field Intelligence Group (FIG). Since leaving the Federal Air Marshal Service he continued to serve as a Criminal Investigator (Special Agent) for the U.S. Social Security Administration, and the U.S Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) 

Weston was promoted from Special Agent, to Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) in November 2017. He was again promoted from ASAC to Special Agent in Charge (SAC) in April of 2019.  As SAC for SBA-OIG, Weston oversees the Western Region, covering all 14 western states to include Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam.  

Weston’s experience covers a broad range of criminal investigations experience ranging from theft, assault, arson and homicide to drug enforcement, domestic / international terrorism, and major fraud schemes against the United States. 

Weston has been recognized for exposing anti-government clandestine websites, identifying terrorist financers, and establishing intelligence programs; all while being awarded multiple times for his fraud work.   

Weston’s scholastic education consists of two Bachelors of Science degrees, a graduate certification in counseling, a Certified Fraud Examiner Certification, and a Juris Doctor of Law Degree. Unique and to his educational experience, are over 20yrs of mixed martial arts, Recreational Therapist, and Advanced Hypnotherapist Certifications.

James Cronin, MPA, CFE, Seattle Insurance and Legal Investigations

Topic:  Insurance Fraud Investigation

Jim will address the scope and types of insurance fraud, and methods of recognizing, investigating and resisting insurance fraud.

Jim's Bio:

Mr. Cronin is the agency principal of Seattle Legal and Insurance Investigations, a private investigation agency specializing in insurance claims investigation and litigation support for both defense and plaintiff firms. Mr. Cronin has over 50 years of investigative experience, with more than 30 years specialization in insurance fraud investigation, asset searching and litigation support. He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, and has been a Certified Fraud Examiner since 1992. He is also a qualified retired police officer under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA). Mr. Cronin is a nationally recognized expert in online public and proprietary investigative information. He is a frequent guest speaker on a wide variety of investigative subjects. His investigative work has been featured in many regional and national news and trade sources.

Paul Richard Brown, Attorney at Law, Karr Tuttle Campbell

Topic:  Foreign Asset Recovery - Spiced with a Domestic Flavor

Foreign asset recovery can be challenging, particularly when dealing with potentially unsavory characters while remaining within the legal parameters of international and domestic jurisdictions. This talk will focus on best practices of foreign asset recovery while also showing the applicability to asset recovery within the US. 

Mr. Brown, a shareholder with Karr Tuttle Campbell, a Seattle law firm, has extensive experience in asset recovery and financial fraud matters, representing high net worth individuals and financial institutions.  He has been successful in identifying, freezing, and recovery of assets prior to removal to various offshore jurisdictions. Paul has secured assets by working with local counsel and an international team of investigators in 20 U.S. states and 20 foreign jurisdictions.  He is admitted to practice before all Washington State Courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Paul was designated a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers in 2015-2021.

Brian Steverson
Topic:  Ethics - Organizational Psychopaths and What to Do about Them
This year Brian will be talking about Organizational Psychopaths and What to Do about Them, the topic of his new book, The Ethics of Employment Screening for Psychopathy. 

Brian's info:  https://www.gonzaga.edu/academics/faculty-listing/detail/steverson

Brian's Bio:

Received Ph.D. from Tulane University in 1991. Faculty member at Gonzaga since 1992. Member of the Philosophy Department from 1992 through 2008. Assumed the Aram Chair in the school of Business Administration in 2008. Specializes in professional ethics, Integrative Social Contracts Theory, the ethics of entrepreneurship, and the Jesuit tradition of business education.

Robert Floberg, Forensic Document Examiner/Handwriting Expert  

Topic: Forensic Document and Handwriting Examination

Rob will cover the theory of handwriting identification, identifying a specific writer, handwriting exemplars and standards, disguised writing, and forged writing. 

Rob's website: http://www.robertfloberg.com/index.html

Rob's Bio:

Rob is a Tacoma native now semi-retired in Vaughn, Washington.  He spent most of his 28 years with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department as a Detective Sgt. assigned to white collar, forgery, and fraud cases.  Rob's time with PCSD working various document crimes offered him a great opportunity to study and apprentice with forensic examiner Bob Phillips of Olympia to learn how to identify the various authors of forged checks, deeds, and documents and become qualified to testify in court as an expert witness. Rob is a member and previous board member of the Pacific Northwest Tax, License, and Fraud Association.  He has presented training over the past 20 years in the field of handwriting identification, organized crime rings, and fraud schemes.