Grand Fraud
By Nemexis GmbH
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH (Berlin, Germany), a corporate crime investigations company working in Central and Eastern Europe: nemexis.de
Grand FraudJul 11, 2022
015 - The 1MDB Heist (Malaysia), 2/2
1MDB, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, was described by the US DoJ in 2016 as “the world’s largest case of cleptocracy to date”. I talked to the person who brought the facts to light: Xavier Justo, a Swiss banker and 1MDB whistleblower.
This is the second and last part of my interview. It starts with Xavier describing his arrest in Thailand. In the first part, Xavier recounted how his career had started in Swiss banking, what his work entailed at PetroSaudi, why he passed 227.00 emails to the media and how he was arrested after the first articles started to appear.
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH, a corporate crime investigations company based in Berlin, Germany (nemexis.de).
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD.
Do you want to suggest a speaker or topic? Do you want to send us feedback? Get in touch at grandfraud@nemexis.de
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
014 - The 1MDB Heist (Malaysia), 1/2
1MDB, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, was exposed as a massive fraud in 2015. In 2016 the US DOJ described it as "the world’s largest case of cleptocracy to date". $4 billion were stolen, 10 different countries initiated criminal investigations, $8 billion in loans are still due. In this episode, I talk to the person who braught the fraud to light: Xavier Justo, Swiss banker and 1MDB whistleblower. In this first of two parts, Xavier recounts how his career started, what his work entailed and why in 2015 he passed 227.00 emails to the media.
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH, a corporate crime investigations company based in Berlin, Germany (nemexis.de).
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD. You can reach us at grandfraud@nemexis.de
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
013 - Why and How to Learn Crypto
Kevin Hart (CFE) is the president of ACFE’s Ireland Chapter and director of risk and advisory at the Fraud Prevention Training Center. In this episode, he argues that while crypto is far from being the money-laundering instrument of choice, investigators can and should learn how to investigate virtual currencies. He also points to a number of new developments which will make a significant impact in helping corporations and individuals who fall victim to crypto scams.
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH, a corporate crime investigations company based in Berlin, Germany (nemexis.de).
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD. You can reach him at grandfraud@nemexis.de
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
012 - Is Corruption the Main Problem of Our Time? (2/2)
This is the second and last episode of my interview with Sarah Chayes, award-winning international journalist, author and former advisor to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen. Our discussion revolved around a core question: Is corruption the most important issue of our time? Can anyone hope to tackle any other global problem – be it climate change, migration, security, wealth inequality – without addressing grand fraud and corruption first?
Sarah’s article mentioned in this episode can be found here:
· https://aeon.co/essays/corruption-has-shaped-history-why-do-we-still-ignore-it
Sarah’s books mentioned in this episode can be found here:
· Thieves of State (2015): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25622863-thieves-of-state
· On Corruption in America (2020): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/585789/on-corruption-in-america-by-sarah-chayes/
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH, a corporate crime investigations company based in Berlin, Germany (nemexis.de).
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD. You can reach him at grandfraud@nemexis.de
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
011 - Is Corruption the Main Problem of Our Time? (1/2)
Is corruption the most important issue of our time? Can anyone hope to tackle any other global problem – be it climate change, migration, security, wealth inequality – without addressing grand fraud and corruption? This is the first in a series of episodes where I discuss this question with Sarah Chayes, an award-winning international journalist, author and former advisor to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen.
Sarah’s article mentioned in this episode can be found here:
- https://aeon.co/essays/corruption-has-shaped-history-why-do-we-still-ignore-it
Sarah’s books mentioned in this episode can be found here:
- Thieves of State (2015): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25622863-thieves-of-state
- On Corruption in America (2020): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/585789/on-corruption-in-america-by-sarah-chayes/
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH, a corporate crime investigations company based in Berlin, Germany (nemexis.de).
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD. You can reach him at grandfraud@nemexis.de
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
010 - Crisis Communication (Germany)
Bad communication can harm an organization as much as the fraud itself. So what's the role of a communicator in a crisis team? What should the other team members expect from a crisis communicator - and what should the crisis communicator expect from them? How did digitization and the fake news discussion affect crisis PR? For this episode, I talked to Ulf Mehner, co-founder and director of WeichertMehner, a public relations consultancy based in Dresden, Germany.
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH (Berlin, Germany), a corporate crime investigations company specialized on Central and Eastern Europe: nemexis.de
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD.
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
009 – Eastern Call For Listener Suggestions
Easter edition. We are seeking listener suggestions for speakers and topics. Full details in the audio. Email us at: grandfraud@nemexis.de
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH (Berlin, Germany), a corporate crime investigations company specialized on Central and Eastern Europe: nemexis.de
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD.
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
008 - Risk Assessment: The Guide’s Update 2022
The COSO/ACFE “Fraud Risk Management Guide” published 2016 is the global benchmark for investigators performing fraud risk assessments. In this episode, I interview one of the Guide’s principal authors, David L. Cotton (CPA, CFE, CGFM). David describes the key elements of a successful fraud risk assessment and outlines the Guide’s current structure. He also announces the upcoming publication of the Guide’s 2022 update and describes some of the added elements, including a massive expansion of the Guide’s popular online (free) tool.
Fraud Risk Management Guide here
Fraud Risk Management Guide’s online tools here
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH (Berlin, Germany), a corporate crime investigations company specialized on Central and Eastern Europe.
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD.
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
007 – Investigating Russia
Russia sanctions: What should investigators worldwide focus on? What risks - other than those associated with UBO, AML, cyber - have just sky-rocketed? I talked to Olga Belikova (CFE) from Kiev. Like many Ukrainian CFEs, since 2014 she gathered a wealth of experience investigating Russian sanction evasion patterns.
This episode is the second and final part of an interview recorded on March 12th. For part 1 see “006 – A Message From Ukraine”.
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH (Berlin, Germany), a corporate crime investigations company specialized on Central and Eastern Europe.
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD.
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
006 - A Message From Ukraine
This episode looks at the everyday reality of a colleague living in a war zone. Olga Belikova (CFE) from Kiev talks about February 24 and how her life has changed since then. She also describes her 48 hour, 600 km trip across Ukraine, from Kiev to Lviv, during the war's second week. The episode was recorded on Saturday, March 12th.
In a second episode, to be published next Monday, we ask what she thinks the global corruption investigator community in general and CFEs in particular can or should pay attention to in the course of their work post 2/24. As Ukrainian investigators have gathered a particularly valuable set of expertise with sanction busters since 2014, we ask what scams are particularly popular? What conduits and locations are being used more often?
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH (Berlin, Germany), a corporate crime investigations company specialized on Central and Eastern Europe.
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD.
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
005 - The Whistleblower Paradox
Whistleblowing is by far the most important way to detect fraud and corruption. But what do we know about it – and how much of that is based on rumours? After having analyzed the world’s largest dataset of internal whistleblower tips (n= 2 mio), in 2020 Professor Kyle Welch (George Washington University) published a paper (link below) that refuted many wide-spread assumptions. As it turns out, whistleblowing is as effective as it is paradoxical.
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH (Berlin, Germany), a corporate crime investigations company specialized on Central and Eastern Europe: nemexis.de
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD.
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
Sources: Stubben, Stephen and Welch, Kyle, Evidence on the Use and Efficacy of Internal Whistleblowing Systems (February 29, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3273589 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3273589
004 - Crypto-Currencies in Corruption Investigations
In this episode we talk to Karhrman Ziegenbein, a seasoned crypto-investigator and law enforcement instructor. Why do criminals favor crypto-currencies when hiding or laundering illicit income? Is governmental regulation of crypto-currencies just useless busywork? What should fraud- and corruption-investigators focus on – and why is a lack of digital know-how sometimes crucial when investigating crypto? How does the quality of a law enforcement crypto-investigation in China compare to Europe or the US? As always, the interview concludes with the question: What would be the one decision making the biggest impact in fighting fraud and corruption?
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH (Berlin, Germany), a corporate crime investigations company: nemexis.de
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD.
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
003 - TI’s Corruption Perception Index 2021
Anti-corruption in the public sector is at a ten-year standstill and low point in all areas of the globe, according to Transparency International (TI). In this episode of The Grand Fraud podcast, Paul Milata talks to Karin Holloch, lawyer and head of a regional TI chapter in Germany, about the recently published CPI 2021: What are the consequences of a lost decade? Can business continue as usual? What are the alternatives? And what are some of the weak spots of TI’s CPI?
Send your comments to: grandfraud (at) nemexis (dot) de
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH, a corporate crime investigations company based in Berlin (DE).
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
002 - The Global Tax Evasion Industry
Paul Milata (CFE) talks to Charlie Middleton (CFA), the former global head of tax planning at the world’s largest corporation. In this exclusive interview, Charlie describes the global tax evasion industry’s structure, players, motives, options and links to grand fraud and corruption. Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH, a corporate crime investigations company based in Berlin (DE).
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.
001 - Fraud Investigation (South Africa)
This episode presents a recent investigation from South Africa. Craig Pedersen (CFE, CCCi) used OSINT to assess a company’s fraud risk. What started as a tick-box exercise led to the identification of major risks. Note that in South Africa CFEs receive privileged access to additional data sources.
Direct support for this podcast comes from Nemexis GmbH (Berlin, Germany), a corporate crime investigations company: nemexis.de
Your host is Paul Milata, CFE, PhD.
Views expressed by podcast guests are their own and not the view of The Grand Fraud Podcast, Paul Milata or Nemexis GmbH.