Whistleblowing, IOT, Health Care Fraud During a Pandemic and More to Be Discussed at Virtual Anti-Fraud Conference

Danske Bank whistleblower Howard Wilkinson, security expert Jules Kroll, WIRED magazine Editor-in-Chief Nicholas Thompson and other experts will address thousands of anti-fraud professionals, June 22-24, at the virtual 31st Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference.

Wilkinson first raised concerns about potential money laundering in 2013 while employed at the Estonian branch of Danske Bank; however, the bank did not launch an investigation into the allegations until 2017 — after Wilkinson submitted four separate whistleblowing reports. Wilkinson was exposed as the whistleblower by an Estonian journalist shortly after Danske Bank hired a law firm to investigate the allegations. “I’ll have a lot more satisfaction if authorities manage to recover suspicious money and if and when those involved have been held to account,” he told Fraud Magazine. For his efforts to expose wrongdoing, he has been named the 2020 recipient of the Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award “for choosing truth over self.” 

Kroll was one of the first people to recognize the need for preventive corporate investigations and founded Kroll, Inc. in 1972. “We built a business around due diligence for investment banks, primarily, and then commercial banks, where we went into quite a bit of depth as to people’s business histories, which there hadn’t been very much of that at the time,” he said in an interview with Fraud Magazine. “That was preventative. That was before the fact. That, probably, was the first area that we were able to have an impact in any meaningful way.” Kroll, now the chairman of K2 Intelligence, is the 2020 Cressey Award winner, bestowed annually by the ACFE for a lifetime of achievement in the detection and deterrence of fraud.

Nicholas Thompson has spent decades in the news industry and most currently serves as editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine, along with being a regular contributor to CBS News. During his keynote address, Thompson will discuss the current landscape of fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Fraudsters like to take advantage of our fear and our emotion: and there's plenty of both right now. So we're seeing lots of scams that involve the coronavirus. People are running scams that involve fake tests, fake treatments, and fake cures,” he said. “And they're taking advantage too of the fact that people are now all working from home, outside of the security zone provided by the office. It's a moment where we're uniquely vulnerable, and where I hope the good guys in this fight can come together to help make everyone safer.” 

ACFE President and CEO Bruce Dorris, J.D., CFE, CPA, announced that the conference would be held entirely online due to the continuing pandemic. “Fraud thrives in times of chaos, and the current pandemic is proving to be a perfect environment for fraudsters to strike,” said Dorris. “Because of that, now, more than ever, it’s imperative to continue anti-fraud training. Even though we can’t be together in person, this conference will still allow attendees to share best practices and learn from experts.” Attendees can still expect eight different tracks of sessions taught by leaders in the anti-fraud field. They will cover topics ranging from ransomware and tracing digital money laundering to emerging trends in compliance and health care fraud during a pandemic.

Visit FraudConferenceNews.com for video clips, articles and live updates from the conference.

For media credentials for this conference, please contact Public Information Officer Sarah Hofmann, CFE, at PR@acfe.com.