Six candidates selected for Board of Regents' ballot

ACFE News

The ACFE Nominations Committee has selected six candidates to compete for two positions on the 2015-2016 Board of Regents. The board sets standards to promote professionalism and ensure the reputation of the CFE credential.

"Every year the committee receives many applications from highly skilled CFEs," says James D. Ratley, CFE, President of the ACFE and chairman of the ACFE Nominations Committee. "Trying to select so few from such a large field of well-qualified professionals is always difficult."

Beginning Nov. 1 and ending Dec. 31, CFEs will be able to vote online at ACFE.com for their selections to replace two retiring Board of Regents members. The newly elected Regents will be installed in February 2015 and will each serve two-year terms.

Tiffany R. Couch, CFE, CPA, CFF
Acuity Forensics
Vancouver, Washington

Tiffany Couch, CFE, CPA, CFF, is founder and principal of Acuity Forensics, a boutique forensic accounting firm with national presence, based near Portland, Oregon. She has more than 17 years of experience in accounting, with the last 10 years focused solely on forensic accounting-related engagements. She has conducted dozens of financial investigations, managed high-profile litigation cases and has testified in state and federal jurisdictions. She has worked with local, state and federal officials to support their work in several significant embezzlement cases.

Couch holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting, cum laude, from Central Washington University. She's an ACFE faculty member and a nationally recognized speaker and media resource on fraud and forensic accounting.

Couch is the recipient of the ACFE's 2014 James R. Baker Speaker of the Year award, presented to an individual who has demonstrated the true spirit of leadership in communication, presentation and quality instruction. She's also an honoree for the 2007 Accomplished and Under 40 in Clark County, which recognizes individuals younger than 40 for their professional, personal and community accomplishments.

Francis B. Hounnongandji, CFE, CFA, CAMS
Allied Business Controls
Neuilly-Sur-Seine, France

Francis Hounnongandji, CFE, CFA, CAMS, is the founding president of the ACFE France Chapter, and is the editor and co-author of "Histoires Ordinaires de Fraudes," a French fraud casebook. Hounnongandji teaches fraud examination and financial investigation at several French higher education institutions: Ecole Nationale d'Administration, Université Paris-Dauphine and France Business School. He also taught these subjects at HEC Paris until 2013. Hounnongandji is a Certified Fraud Examiner, Chartered Financial Analyst, and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist.

As CEO of Allied Business Controls — a corporate governance and financial advisory firm — Hounnongandji performs cross-disciplinary assignments and research in financial investigation, corporate governance, and business and corporate strategy in more than 30 jurisdictions within Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa.

After graduation from college, Hounnongandji conducted audits in financial services and energy and utilities sectors for Arthur Andersen in Paris. He subsequently joined corporate internal audit at United Technologies Corporation for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He then worked for Alstom Power Systems at which he built and led the internal control team and was responsible for developing and implementing the improvement of their internal controls strategy.

Hounnongandji has appeared in several leading international and French media outlets, such as Financial Times, The New York Times, Bloomberg News, The FCPA Blog, TopLegal, TopLegal International, TheLawyer.com, Financial News, Le Monde, Les Echos, l'Expansion and Option Finance.

Janet M. McHard, CFE, CPA, CFF
McHard Accounting Consulting, LLC
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Janet M. McHard, CFE, CPA, CFF, is the founding partner of McHard Accounting Consulting LLC, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a firm that exclusively provides forensic and investigative accounting services across the U.S.

McHard conducts examinations — with her partner and staff — of alleged white-collar crimes, embezzlement, employee theft and other disputed accounting issues. She has investigated allegations of fraud in industries such as construction, health care, professional services organizations, non-profits and governmental entities.

McHard provides expert witness testimony and consulting expert services in cases in which fraud is suspected. She's a Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Public Accountant, Master Analyst in Financial Forensics, is certified in Financial Forensics and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant. She's the president of the New Mexico Chapter of the ACFE.

An ACFE faculty member since 2004, McHard teaches fraud prevention, financial investigation and forensic accounting techniques. She was the inspector general for the City of Albuquerque.

McHard holds a Master's in Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Mexico. She has significant board experience including non-profit arts and environmental organizations and is a commissioner for the Albuquerque Housing Authority.

Eric Rodriguez, CFE, CCS
Nelnet, Inc.
Lincoln, Nebraska

Eric Rodriguez, CFE, CCS, is the financial crimes risk manager at Nelnet Inc., with cross-functional expertise in business and forensic financial analysis. He's responsible for the generation and validation of new approaches to detect and prevent fraud, waste and abuse, and serves as the company representative for multiple industry groups and associations focused upon this international problem.

He recently participated in the negotiated rule-making sessions, "Program Integrity and Improvement," in Washington, D.C., hosted by the U.S. Department of Education.

Rodriguez is a 34-year veteran in the prevention, detection and control of fraud. In addition to Nelnet, his employment history includes American Express, JP Morgan Chase and First Data Resources. His experience, knowledge and expertise are focused on creating unique solutions to mitigate fraud risks in the private and government sectors. He has consulted with Pershing, Morgan Stanley, Chase Panama, Raymond James, Bank of Cayman, Budapest Bank, Bancomer and many other companies.

Rodriguez has lectured on neural network fraud prevention technologies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and he spoke on student loan fraud during a meeting of the ACFE Heartland Chapter.

He's a Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Financial Crimes Analyst and Certified Control Specialist. Rodriguez is in his second term as vice president of the ACFE Heartland Chapter.

David C. Rule, CFE, EnCE, CISM
Xione Group, Ltd.
Singapore

David C. Rule, CFE, EnCE, CISM, has more than 30 years of professional experience in investigations and project management, and has lived and worked in Asia for more than 23 years.

He began his career with the British Royal Navy. After leaving the service, he founded PGI Consultants, a successful risk management company, which Deloitte & Touche Forensic Services Ltd. Hong Kong subsequently acquired in 2006.

Rule then became director of analytics and forensic technology services for Deloitte & Touche, overseeing computer forensics, e-discovery and investigation services before becoming senior manager for Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP in Boston, Massachusetts.

In 2008, Rule began David R & Associates and also formed the Xione Group to address corporate security concerns across the Asia-Pacific region.

Rule is the president of the ACFE Singapore Chapter, a member of numerous professional bodies and has delivered lectures on the subject of information security in Asia and in the U.S.

He directed computer forensic teams that investigated two of Asia's biggest fraud cases. Rule's experience includes project managing multi-jurisdictional investigations and data collections in Europe and for multinational corporations and international law firms in the U.S.

Raymond T. Sloane, J.D., CFE, CPA
Berkeley Research Group, LLC
New York City

Ray Sloane, J.D., CFE, CPA, is a managing director in Berkeley Research Group's Forensic Accounting and Investigations Practice. He brings more than 35 years of financial and consulting experience (24 years with public accounting firms) to the ongoing battle against fraud.

A proud member of the ACFE since 1991, Sloane has had leading roles in the investigation of several of the largest fraud cases in the U.S., including Madoff, National Century Financial Enterprises, Towers Financial and Walsh Greenwood Trading Corp. He has also conducted internal investigations on behalf of audit and special committees of boards of directors in connection with restatements of financial results, suspected embezzlement, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations and other fraudulent activity.

Sloane has authored several articles that appeared in legal, business, and accounting publications, including The CPA Journal, "The Attorney's Handbook of Accounting" and The Corporate Law & Accountability Report published by Bloomberg and the Bureau of National Affairs.

He has given presentations to many groups, including The New York State Bar Association, The Practicing Law Institute and the Institute of Internal Auditors. Sloane also served a three-year term on the Professional Ethics Committee of the AICPA.

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