Money laundering cases rise in the UAE in 2009

Hossam M. Abd El-Rahman

CICA, CFS, CFCI, ARB, CAMS, CAMS-FCI, CAMS-Audit,
AMLP

Group Chairman & Managing Director
Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC”

Hossam M. Abd El-Rahman is the Founder, Group Chairman & Managing Director of Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC”. He is a well known international consultant, trainer & speaker with more than 22 years of experience in the fields of Public Accounting, Banking, Fraud, Forensics, Financial Crimes, Corporate Governance, Compliance, Anti-Money Laundering, Counter Terrorism Financing, Internal Control and Business Re-Engineering.

Hossam is also outsourced compliance officer, money laundering reporting officer and internal auditor for many financial institutions in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). He is also a financial crimes consultant for many financial and nonfinancial institutions. Throughout his career; Hossam worked for leading Conventional and Islamic banks in the MENA region where he assumed senior positions. He was Compliance, AML & Fraud Head at Samba Financial Group – Dubai, UAE. Prior to that, he was Compliance Supervisor at Kuwait Finance House – Kuwait. . In addition to 8+ years of extensive public accounting experience in “BIG FOUR” International CPA firms including PriceWaterhouseCoopers & Arthur Andersen.

Hossam is frequently being invited as an expert on TV where he spreads awareness and comments on political, economic and financial happenings and situations. Hossam was interviewed at City 7 TV, CNBC Arabia TV and other channels about fraud, corruption and money laundering issues in the MENA Region and he commented on the current Egyptian Revolution.

Hossam wrote the Arabic CAMS Exam study Guide, CAMS Supplement Study Guide, CAMS Exam preparation Seminar & CAMS Exam Online training. He is among the pioneers in setting up the Arabic AML terms & definitions. In addition, he wrote many articles and white papers in the areas of AML, Fraud & Financial Crimes that were published in various International professional Magazines.

Hossam is a Certified Internal Controls Auditor “CICA”, Certified Fraud Specialist “CFS”, Certified Financial Crimes Investigator “CFCI”, Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist “CAMS”, , Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist Financial Crime Investigator “CAMS-FCI” , Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist Auditor “CAMS-Audit” , Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist Auditor “CAMS-Audit”& Certified Anti-Money Laundering Professional “AMLP”. He received his Bachelor Degree in Commerce in accordance with the American Accounting principles & Auditing standards from Cairo University – Accounting major.

Mr. Abd El-Rahman is a member of various professional organizations as follows:

• Certified Member of the Institute for Internal Controls “IIC”
• Certified Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners “ACFE”
• Certified Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Specialists “ACFS”
• Certified Member of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators “IAFCI”
• Certified Member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist “ACAMS”
• Professional Member of the International Federation of Accountants “IFAC”

Mr. Abd El-Rahman is a native of Egypt and speaks fluent English and Arabic. He spoke at various regional and international conferences, seminars and workshops worldwide, in addition to providing trainings around the globe in the fields of his experience.

Karen O’Brien CAMS

Advisory Board Member
Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC”

Karen O’Brien is an accomplished investigator with expertise in Fraud and Financial Crime. She was a police officer for sixteen year with the Toronto Police Service, Ontario, Canada, leaving with the rank of Sergeant after spending the last five years in the Fraud and Forgery Squad.

She spent two years investigating financial crime in the Cayman Islands as a Detective with the Royal Cayman Islands Police before branching out to the private sector and specializing in compliance and Know Your Customer issues. Karen has assisted in investigations in the USA, Scotland, Isle of Man and the UK.

As a professional consultant, Karen has experience in the design and implementation of anti-money laundering (AML) policies and procedures, Know-Your Customer program reviews, risk analysis and risk management strategies, and AML training. Karen has created a designed Longbow Compliance Manager TM, a web-based training program and compliance tool that provides anti-money laundering training specific to various jurisdictions.

Karen is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering specialist and currently Chair of the Caribbean Task Force for the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists and she is also a member of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators. She also an Executive Committee Member of the Cayman Islands Compliance Association and sits on the Policy sub-committee’.

Saskia Rietbroek CAMS

Advisory Board Member
Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC”

Saskia was the founding Executive Director of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS).

She is president of AML Services International, a money laundering consulting and training firm, and Financial Crime Advisor to Fiserv Inc. She serves on the Advisory Board of ACAMS and formerly Money Laundering Alert. She is frequently quoted, including by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

AL Macdonald CAMS

Advisory Board Member
Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC”

Al Macdonald is the CEO/Founder of Nominodata – LLC. With over 13 years of experience in the AML Market, Al has architected, project managed and implemented the Anti-Money Laundering systems used by some of the largest financial institutions in the world.

Previously Chief Technical Officer for Regulatory Data Corporation (RDC), RDC filed five patents based on his design and methods.

Prior to RDC, he spent six years at Compliance Data Center/Equifax directing their application development and computer centers. Al also worked in the city of London architecting, marketing and project managing networking computer solutions to financial institutions.

Sohir Mohamed

Director
Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC”

Sohir Mohamed is Director with Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC” with more than 45+ years of experience in Banking, oil & Gas, Economics and Research. She is a subject matter expert in Regulatory Compliance, Internal Controls and Anti-Money Laundering.

Sohir works closely with the board of directors of the clients to ensure that deliverables presented exceed the clients’ level of satisfaction. She also recruits and provides initial training for all functions of the clients and ensures compliance to the related frame work.

Prior to joining Allied Compliance Consultants, Sohir assumed various senior positions at international banks in the MENA region; she was the head of compliance with Qatar National Bank “QNB – Kuwait, Head of Compliance with Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Head of Reporting with Gulf Bank of Kuwait, Head of Research & Development with Export Development Bank of Egypt “EDBE”, Senior Economic Researcher with the Central Bank of Kuwait and Research Analyst with the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC).

Sohir provides our clients with assessments with a prospective focus or that synthesize information on best practices in addition to assessing Internal control, compliance with legal or other requirements and engaging in financial statements audits for government entities & programs as well as entities that the government has 25% interest or more.

Sohir holds various degrees as follows:

• Diploma in Statistics & Computer Sciences Cepia Institute, Rocquencourt, France,
• Bachelors Degree of Science (Accounting Major) from Cairo University
• French Baccalaureate, Majoring in Mathematics Lycee Du Caire.
• Sohir is a professional member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists “ACAMS”
• Sohir is a Canadian National and she speaks fluent English, Arabic & French.

Hassan Nasser MBA, CAMS, CCO

Director
Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC”

Hassan is a Director of Risk Management & Basel compliance with Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC” with over 45 years of experience. He is a risk management, compliance expert with an MBA in Risk Management. He is a Certified Compliance Officer (CCO) and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).

Hassan worked in various positions in the MENA region, including the GCC countries. He was Compliance & Inspection Director with Dubai Multi Commodties Center “DMCC, previously he was the Chief Compliance & Risk Management Officer with Arab International Bank in Egypt, a position that he held for five years. He established the Compliance & Risk Management Units at the bank. He developed and implemented the compliance and risk management policies, procedures and controls. He was also head of the Basel II steering committee, responsible for the necessary restructuring of the bank to be compliant with these international risk-management requirements.

In this capacity, Hassan developed a set of Basel II-oriented policies in credit, market and operational risks, risk-based auditing and a risk management framework.

Hassan is also an international lecturer & speaker in different banking & commodities topics including risk management (credit, operation & reputation risk), Basel compliance, regulatory compliance, fraud prevention and trade financing.

Guido Ravoet

Secretary General
European Banking Federation
Former member
>European Economic & Social Committee

Since January 2005, Guido Ravoet has been Secretary General of the European Banking Federation, following his 10 years office at the helm of the Association of Belgian Banks, currently called Febelfin (Belgian Finance Federation).

Previously, he was Secretary General of the European Association of Cooperative Banks and, throughout his career, he has remained focused on European affairs, e.g. as former member of the European Economic and Social Committee.

Guido Ravoet can rely on more than 10 years of banking experience, working with Cera bank (now KBC) first as Head of Research Department, then as Regional Director. Guido has a PhD in Law and a Master’s Degree in business economics.

Guido Ravoet is a member of the Supervisory Board of EFRAG, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group. This body gives European input into the IASB activities and gives advice to the European Commission on the acceptance into EU law of IFRS.

Mohamed Azeem Memon CAMS, CFE

Director
Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC”

Mohamed Azeem Memon is a Director, Country Manager – USA with Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC” with more than 40+ years of experience in Banking, Disaster Recovery. He is a subject matter expert in Regulatory Compliance, Internal Controls and Anti-Money Laundering.

Mohamed Azeem is one of the founding members of ACAMS, Freelancer International Trainer, regular conductor of ‘CAMS Preparation’ examination courses since 2004, regular visiting faculty member at Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (United Arab Emirates) over their Anti-money Laundering -Law, Regulations and best practices courses, holder of ‘Outstanding Member Award’ from ACAMS in 2005 in recognition to devotion to anti Money Laundering. Have participated a sizable number of conferences conducted by ACAMS.

In addition holder of CAMS credential, holder of some prestigious certifications like Certified Anti-Business Continuity Management BCI Diploma (DBCI) from Buckinghamshire New University -UK, as well as Diploma in Business Continuity Planning (DipBCP) from The Institute for Business Continuity Training – USA. Certified BCMS ISO-22301 Lead Auditor from BSI- UK. Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE-USA), Certified Bank Auditor (CBA-USA), Certified Risk Professional (CRP-USA), Certified Investment & Derivative Auditor (CIDA-USA).

Kenneth Rijock

Financial Crimes Consultant

Kenneth Rijock is a financial crime consultant based in Miami.
He is believed to be the only former banking attorney-turned career money launderer who actively consults with law enforcement and the financial community.

He has more than 25 year’s experience in the field of money laundering, as a practising laundryman, financial institution compliance consultant, and trainer/lecturer to law enforcement and the intelligence services of both the United States and Canada.

After serving as a banking lawyer in an international law firm, he spent the decade of the 1980s as a money launderer and advisor to narcotics trafficking organisations operating in North and South America.

He has extensive experience in money laundering tactics and tradecraft.

Whilst serving a federal prison sentence for racketeering and money laundering, he assisted with the first joint Swiss-American money laundering investigation of bankers and lawyers which resulted in a major seizure of the proceeds of crime.
Since 1992, Mr Rijock has provided extensive professional anti-money laundering services, including:

• Testifying three times, in 1999 and 2000, before committees of the United States Congress in favour of anti-money legislation that was later included in the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001.
• Training undercover agents for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for field duty in Canada.
• Lecturing before most of the major law enforcement and intelligence services in North America, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, Federal Aviation Administration,
• California Bureau of Investigation, as well as in the financial community.
•  Acting as a money launderer in an undercover role on behalf of law enforcement in Florida, and on behalf of network television in the tax havens of the Caribbean.
• Acting as an expert witness and analyst in money laundering matters in US District Court in California.
• Providing technical assistance to the US Congress Office of Technology Assessment in its investigation of the use of artificial intelligence in money laundering investigations.
• Acting as consultant in money laundering tactics for a major Hollywood motion picture studio.
• Writing financial crime analysis articles for such publications as Money Laundering Alert and Complinet.
• Performing investigative, analysis and related services for America’s major private investigative firms and government contractors.
• Lecturing on such topics as the money laundering aspects of aviation & maritime smuggling, Russian organised crime money laundering, and terrorist financing in Latin America.
• Providing intelligence and data on money laundering activities from Latin America and the Caribbean to governmental clients.

Mr Rijock is a veteran of the conflict in Vietnam and Cambodia, and holds the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and Bronze Star Medal.

Dr. Mohammad Belgami

AGM – Risk Management & Compliance
Bahrain Islamic Bank “BisB

Dr. Mohammed currently is an Assistant General Manager – Risk Management & Compliance at the Bahrain Islamic Bank. His main role involves identifying, measuring, monitoring and reporting various risks the bank is exposed to. Besides, he fulfills role of compliance head and liaises with the Central Bank of Bahrain.

Dr. Mohammed is a professionally qualified risk manager and holds a certificate from Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). After obtaining his Masters Degree in Accounting and Finance, he pursued his PhD in finance.

Mohammed started his career as an academician having taught the students of MBA and M.Com for almost 15 years and later he became Training Consultant to BIBF, where designed customized programmes for bankers. He was with BIBF for 5 years and trained most of the bankers of GCC in areas like Derivatives, Risk Management, Capital Markets, Portfolio Management, Fixed Income and Implementing Basel II.

After leaving BIBF, he joined Kuwait Finance House (KFH), Bahrain as Investment Manager and later worked in the area of Credit Risk. He left KFH for a Saudi conglomerate, namely, SAAD Group, where he headed Business Development for two years.

He also does training assignments for Islamic Development Bank, Ernst &Young and BIBF on a regular basis. He is also a certified trainer for Series 7 examination.

He often presents and shares his view on burning issues related to the current financial crisis and general economic issues. He is often invited for speaking on important occasions. He was an invited speaker at the recent SunGard city open-Day.

Dr. Ashraf Gamal

Executive Director
Egyptian Institute of Directors “EIOD”

Dr. Ashraf Gamal is the Executive Director of the Egyptian Institute of Directors (EIoD), focusing on Corporate Governance in Egypt and the Arab Region and the Egyptian Corporate Responsibility Center working on the promotion of the concepts and application of CSR in Egypt.

Dr Ashraf is a board member of Thebes International, board member and audit committee member of Al Ahlya Insurance Company, Board Member and Head of Audit Committee of Egyptian Resorts Company, ERC, the head of Audit Committee of Egytrans. He is also a member of the General Assembly of the Holding Company for Transportation.

Dr. Ashraf is the Secretary General of Al Masry Foundation for Community Development, the National Coordinator for the EU project for Textile Development in Egypt, and a member of the youth and transportation committees of the National Democratic Party. He is also a member of the Pension Reform Plan Implementation Committee.

He is an Associate Professor of Management, Faculty of Commerce, Cairo University. He holds a PhD degree from Manchester University, UK, and a Masters degree in Public Administration from Carleton University, Canada. He further holds a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from Cairo University with highest honor. Dr. Ashraf worked as head of Business Administration Department at Nile University for Graduate Studied, affiliated with the Ministry of Communication & Information Technology. Since 1997, he taught a large number of management and business courses in Egypt, the US, and the Gulf Area. He has extensive experience in designing and delivering training courses in management and organizational behavior to multinational and well as Egyptian public and private organizations. Dr. Ashraf works also as an advisor to the Minister of Investment, Egypt.

Soha Nagy

Manager
Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC”

Mrs. Nagy currently occupies the position of Manager – Senior Consultant & Trainer wtih Allied Compliance consultants “ACC” after more than 5 years of experience in Training Sector being responsible for:

• Exercising Control over the Commercial Bank International – Dubai UAE Training Centre.
• Entrusted with the responsibility of formulating Annual Training Plan in Line with Business Requirements & Staff Performance Gaps, Competency & knowledge level along with their skills.
• Planning and providing appropriately training & development program internally & externally.
• Developing UAE National through conduct & sponsoring various internal & external UAE National Programs.
• Involved in carrying out review of all existing Policies & Procedures related MHRS, T&D & report all policy gaps & areas of improvement.
• Ensuring proper Banking Knowledge for Retail Banking Staff by conducting the entire basic training requirement for all Branches.

CERTIFICATIONS:

• Certificate of Appreciation Making valuable contribution in New Bank Tariff, Compliance Team, New Branches Task force and Comprehensive Banking Orientation Sessions in 2005.Piraeus Bank
• Received Retail Banking Group – Silver Star Certificate in 2008- Piraeus Bank
• Appreciated for planning & organizing United Arab Emirates National Development Program, 2013

Mrs. Nagy has extensive experience in Banking, Consumer Finance & Services for

20 years, whereby she held many leading positions in different prime banks, Regional & International.

Training courses delivered includes

Customer Service, Code of Conduct, Retail Banking Products, Operating Procedures, Business Ethics, and Security & Controls

BASKET OF COMPETENCIES

• Vision & Strategic Planning
• Devising Policy & Procedures
• Compliances Management
• Customer Service Management
• Process Enhancement
• Audit Management
• Service Level Adherence
• HR & Training Resource Optimization
• Key Accounts Management
• Legal & Statutory Compliance
• Relationship Management
• Liaising & Coordination
• Training & Administration
• Team Building & Leadership
• Problem Solving Skills

Mohamed Tareq Youssef

General Secretary
Arab Tax Society

Assistant General Secretary
Arab Organization for Certified Public Accountants (AOCPA)

Principal Partner
Grant Thornton – Egypt

Mohamed Tareq Youssef is Fellow of the Egyptian Society for Accountants & Auditors Principal Partner – Grant Thornton Mohamed Hilal – Egypt Egyptian Member Firm of Grant Thornton International.

He’s the General Secretary of the Arab Tax Society and the Assistant General Secretary of the Arab Organization for Certified Public Accountants (AOCPA).

Mr. Youssef is privileged with several memberships/fellowships of renowned professional institutions. His memberships include:
* Fellowship of the Egyptian Society for Accountants & Auditors.
* Arabian certified accountant.
* Membership certified of the international fiscal association.
* Membership certified of the Egyptian Society of taxation.

Since 1983, he’s been running a private professional practice in his own office with an effective employment staff. The office provides his clients accounting and auditing services, tax advisory, and management consulting and financial consulting services. Since 2008 , Principal Partner-Grant Thornton Mohamed Hilal-Egypt.

Kem Warner

Advisory Board Member
Allied Compliance Consultants “ACC”

Kem Warner has been working in the financial services sector for over 12 years, mostly in offshore services. He worked with several offshore institutions both in Antigua and Grenada and has held several executive positions to include, Operations Manager, Trust Manager, Private Banking and Business Development Manager and Compliance Officer and Coordinator.

He is a professional member of several organizations to include the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). He is also a member of the Society for Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He is currently a Director of the newly formed Antigua and Barbuda Association of Compliance Officers and a member of the International Financial Services Provider of Antigua and Barbuda.

He is an advocate on AML training and has conducted several training sessions both locally and internationally. He is also a lecturer and head of the Banking and Finance Department at the Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology and a tutor for the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Savings and Investment program.

Kem holds a fellow in Banking (FICB), he is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). Recently, he decided to form his own company KAW Management Services Limited, specializing in areas of AML, Anti Fraud, Risk Management and Operations Management Consultancy.