ACFE Foundation awards Ritchie-Jennings Memorial Scholarship recipients $85,000 in funds for 2023–2024 term

The ACFE Foundation has awarded $85,000 in funds to the recipients of the 2023-2024 Ritchie-Jennings Memorial Scholarship. Twenty-three university students from across the U.S., Europe, Asia and Africa received scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 for demonstrating academic achievement in a fraud-related field of study and a desire to pursue a career in fraud examination or similar anti-fraud profession.

“The Foundation provides a unique opportunity for students across the globe to further their fraud examination careers and contribute to the important work we all do, every single day,” says ACFE Foundation Chair Jala Attia, CFE, who is also President and Founder of Integrity Advantage.

The Ritchie-Jennings Memorial Scholarship program was named to honor Larry Jennings, CFE, and Tracy Ritchie, CFE, who were among five Union Texas Petroleum Inc. employees who died in a fatal terrorist attack in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1997. As part of the ACFE Foundation’s initiative to increase the body of anti-fraud knowledge and support future anti-fraud professionals worldwide, the scholarship program awards students who have a declared major or minor in accounting, business administration, finance, criminal justice or similar fraud-related subject. The Foundation also provides scholarship winners with a full year of ACFE membership.

“By investing in future fraud fighters, we not only shed light on schemes impacting us today, but we also potentially uncover newer, emerging frauds before they target industries and companies around the world,” says Attia. “That’s the significance of what these awards mean and why contributions from our members are so important.”

The application period for the 2024-2025 academic year opens on Sept. 11, 2023, and ends Feb. 5, 2024. Current students who are interested in applying must be enrolled full time at an accredited, four-year college or university through the 2024-2025 school year. Undergraduates must be enrolled in nine semester hours per term and at least be in the second half of their sophomore year when they apply. Graduate students must be enrolled in six semester hours per term.

The ACFE Foundation selects scholarship winners based on their completed applications, fraud-related interests and goals, academic transcripts and letters of recommendation. The Foundation will announce the 2024-2025 winners in April 2024 and distribute the awards in May 2024. Students who’ve won in the past aren’t eligible to reapply. For more information about the scholarship and how to apply, visit ACFE.com/scholarship.

The ACFE presented these students with Ritchie-Jennings Scholarships:

Justin Ockey, Brigham Young University (BYU) – $10,000 scholarship (United States)

Ockey first became interested in forensic accounting and corruption prevention after serving in South America as a missionary, and his interest only grew when he collaborated on fraud-related academic papers as a teacher’s assistant at BYU. He’s obtaining a bachelor’s degree in accounting this year and plans to pursue a master’s degree in fraud examination. Ockey maintains a 3.98 GPA and serves in the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and is vice president of his university’s ACFE chapter. He plans to sit for the CFE exam and intern with a large forensic accounting practice.

Kayla Richard, University of South Florida – $10,000 scholarship (United States)

Richard is completing a bachelor’s degree in accounting and plans to pursue a master’s degree in forensic accounting and fraud examination. She also plans to study and take the CFE and CPA exams. Richard completed the Illicit Finance Certification through the Department of Treasury while interning for the Department of Defense’s Defense Intelligence Agency. Richard is an honor’s student and maintains a 3.87 GPA.

Brooke Davis, The University of Texas at Austin – $7,500 scholarship (United States)

Davis demonstrated her interest in fighting fraud early on when she participated in the FBI’s Teen Academy. Now she’s majoring in accounting with a minor in information systems at the University of Texas at Austin. Davis interned for Deloitte and participated in leadership programs at EY and Plante Moran. She received the National Association of Black Accountants Scholar award in 2022. Davis also holds several leadership positions, including co-president of the National Association of Black Accountants and co-president and treasurer of the Black Student Union. Davis plans to get a master’s in a professional accounting program and become a CPA.  

Andrea Palasciano, Columbia University – $7,500 scholarship (Germany)

Palasciano is a fellow in Columbia University’s Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism. Prior to attending Columbia, she was a journalist focusing on significant fraud and corruption and worked in Russia where she covered the country’s oligarchs. In 2021, Palasciano co-hosted the award-winning documentary podcast “The Poisoning.” This five-part series was about the poisoning and jailing of Alexei Navalny, a political rival of Vladimir Putin. Palasciano intends to seek CFE certification and take on a more research-based role. She is particularly interested in “greenwashing” and its potential for fraud.

Natalie Chalico, University of Houston-Downtown – $5,000 scholarship (United States)

Chalico, a dean’s list student with a 3.9 GPA, is pursuing a career in forensic accounting. She’s been offered an internship in Weaver’s forensics and litigation services practice and serves as the vice president of development for the TXCPA Houston Student Auxiliary. Natalie will complete her graduate studies in 2024. 

Dieudonne Tai Mandja, Wilmington University – $5,000 scholarship (Chad)

Mandja is pursuing a MBA degree at Wilmington University. He has volunteered with an international organization investigating potentially fraudulent activities within USAID-funded programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and traveled with investigators to interpret and translate supporting documents into English. He’s supported similar investigations in Chad and Senegal. After graduation, he intends to take the CFE Exam and focus his career in a role that allows him to utilize his anti-fraud skills.

Hasmik Meloyan, Armenian State University of Economics – $5,000 scholarship (Armenia)

Meloyan is a junior at the Armenian State University of Economics and is working towards completing her bachelor’s degree in finance. Living and working in a developing country and witnessing how fraud has affected the development of Armenia has led Meloyan to pursue a career in the anti-fraud field and educate others about fraud.  

She was an audit intern for KPMG and attended the Anti-Corruption Summer School sponsored by the International Anti-Corruption Academy and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Meloyan completed the Financial Audit Virtual Case Experience sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). She plans to get an MBA degree after completing her bachelor’s degree and become a CFE.

Joshua Wallentine, Utah Tech University – $5,000 scholarship (United States)

Wallentine is pursuing bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. His experience as a professional in a forensic accounting firm helping people avoid becoming victims of fraud triggered his interest in fraud examination and prevention. He has served as vice president of an accounting club at Utah Tech. Wallentine seeks opportunities to learn more about careers in accounting and fraud examination and plans to become an audit manager. He also helps seek out potential employers to recruit from Utah Tech, is a student member of the ACFE, and maintains a 4.0 grade point average.

Emmaline Baas, Dordt University – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Baas is a double major in accounting and criminal justice at Dordt University where she maintains a 3.91 GPA. Throughout her life, she’s been drawn to criminal justice, which she hopes to integrate into a future career in forensic accounting, perhaps even at the FBI. 

Potencia Mulolo Baraka, Champlain College – $2,000 scholarship (The Democratic Republic of Congo)

Baraka is an undergraduate student majoring in business administration and minoring in accounting. She has a 3.9 GPA and is an audit intern at Crowe LLP, a public accounting firm. Baraka plans to obtain a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in sustainability and innovation and take the CPA and CFE exams. Baraka is an interpreter for the United States Committee of Refugees and Immigrants.

Grace Brenner, Saint Martin’s University – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Brenner is a double major in accounting and business administration with a concentration in finance. She’s also in a dual degree program for a master’s degree in accounting at Saint Martin’s University. She has a 3.48 GPA and maintains her status on the dean’s list. Her college curriculum includes an elective fraud examination class, which will help prepare her for the future when she graduates in 2024. Brenner plans on becoming a CPA and CFE after graduation and work as a forensic accountant.

Lily Chen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Chen is a mathematics and computer science major at MIT and maintains a 3.50 GPA. She’s using her technical and research background to build methods for countering fraud and cybersecurity threats through machine learning. Chen has interned for Brightech International as a research scientist and worked as a crypto tech intern at Hudson River Trading, where she built an optimal routing modified bi-directional BFS algorithm for the internal decentralized exchange (DEX) Aggregator, where her algorithm outperformed a leading industry DEX Aggregator in multiple cases. She interned at DRW and, while there, created a Bayesian Skew Fitter based on historical trade data to produce Bayesian skews at any historical timestamp. Chen is founder and president of her local Girls Who Code organization. She intends to continue her studies, but she ultimately aspires to help spearhead a movement of anti-fraud professionals, researchers, and others in the aim of detecting and combating fraud online with machine learning and other specialized techniques.

Nicole Cuevas, University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Cuevas wants to become a forensic accountant for the FBI, and she’s working toward that goal by completing a master’s degree in accounting and working for a CPA firm in its audit division. Upon completing her master’s degree, Nicole plans to take the CPA exam and CFE Exam to advance her career. 

Lane Dudley, Utah State University – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Dudley first realized his love for accounting when he was a finance major in his first accounting class. Now he’s working towards a master’s degree in accounting. Dudley would like to work for a Big-Four accounting firm after he graduates and become a manager. He plans to become a CPA and CFE to further his career as an auditor.

Michael Hartt, University of Michigan – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Hartt is a business major with a 3.92 GPA. Through his studies and fellowship with the University of Michigan Library System, Hartt has become interested in tax law and the anti-fraud field. He’s conducted research into the relationship between political polarization and wealth inequality, which has also influenced his academic and career planning. Hartt was recently recognized by the Democracy and Debate project and the Hillel Campus Leaders Cohort for his leadership in promoting respectful debate and discouraging misinformation. He plans to attend law school and focus his studies on tax law and policy, and then work in the public sector in a tax-focused role, ultimately running for political office. 

Eli Hayrynen, Whitworth University – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Hayrynen is an accounting student on track to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in 2024. He has a 3.88 GPA and will intern at the Larson Gross accounting firm this summer. His interest in fraud examination started with an introduction to fraud examination class. After learning that it’s the only anti-fraud class offered at his university, he met with the dean of the Whitworth School of Business in the hopes of getting other anti-fraud classes added to the school’s curriculum. After graduation, Hayrynen plans to obtain the CPA license and CFE credential. 

Sean Lin, Santa Clara University – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Lin is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in accounting and is an active member of the Santa Clara University Boxing Club, holding multiple leadership roles in the club. Additionally, Lin competed in the SmartSims Business Simulation World Championship, winning 5th place out of 80 competitors. He will be an audit intern with PwC for the summer of 2023 and intends to work as an auditor after graduation.

Kyndall Mason, Susquehanna University – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Mason plays for the Susquehanna University Women’s Volleyball team and maintains a high GPA. Additionally, she volunteers with a local rabbit shelter in a variety of roles. After graduation, Mason intends to earn a CPA license and CFE credential while working in the fraud examination or forensic accounting field.

Jay Meyers, University of Colorado Boulder – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Meyers has a 3.8 GPA and is studying finance. He plans to pursue a career in the anti-fraud field and use his education and skills to drive change. Meyers hopes to create more diverse and inclusive solutions in the fight against fraud, ultimately making a positive impact on businesses and communities. He’s an active member of KOBU, a student nonprofit organization that delivers food to people in need.

Jacob Nelson, King’s College – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Nelson is an undergraduate accounting major and minoring in forensic accounting. He currently works for a credit union but plans to take both the CFE Exam and the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exams and work for the FBI as a forensic accountant after he graduates. Nelson is also a student-athlete and a representative for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Daniela Ruiz-Mendez, California State University – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Ruiz-Mendez is a first-generation college student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice. She’d like to become a Customs Border Patrol agent and eventually have a career in fraud prevention and deterrence. Ruiz-Mendez maintains a 3.85 GPA and plans to take the CFE Exam after graduation. She was a police explorer in her local community and is well-versed in recognizing the signs of domestic abuse. Ruiz-Mendez is also passionate about helping immigrant families who are among the most vulnerable to becoming victims of fraud.

Caroline Tucker, University of Mobile – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Tucker has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her time pursuing a Bachelor of Science in public accounting and a master’s degree in business administration. Tucker’s interest and passion for forensic accounting and fraud examination grew during her college auditing course and her internship with the Alabama Department of Revenue. She discovered that she truly enjoys learning the process involved in conducting an investigation and intends to pursue a career in auditing or fraud examination when she graduates. 

Abbi Turner, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale – $2,000 scholarship (United States)

Turner is an undergraduate student pursuing a double major in accounting and supply chain management and has a 3.9 GPA. She received the Top-of-the-Class award in her criminology and criminal justice class. Turner is also vice president of the Accounting Society and the treasurer of the Women’s Business Association. She plans to obtain a master’s degree in accounting, take the CPA and CFE exams, and work in public accounting.