Juliette Gust, CFE

Juliette Gust, CFE, got her start fighting fraud in the hospitality industry. Since then, the current lead investigator for tech company ABB Motion has conducted bribery, money laundering and embezzlement investigations across the globe. She also founded ethics hotline and case management system company Ethics Suite.

Interview by Anna Brahce

I grew up in New Jersey. I’m a first-generation American; my parents are from Cuba. I started dance classes when I was six years old and was an avid reader. My mother took me to the library often for a new stack of books.

My first career was in hospitality administration. I was an operations manager for many years at hotels, restaurants and casinos and found myself fighting fraud and theft. I wanted to be a better operator, so I returned to school to study accounting and finance. 
My accounting professors encouraged me to study forensic accounting and become a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and I took their advice. I haven’t looked back since.

I’m currently the lead investigator for the Americas for ABB Motion, a global company headquartered in Switzerland. I’m also the founder of Ethics Suite, a company that provides an ethics hotline and case management system.
Throughout my career, I’ve conducted thousands of fraud investigations, including financial statement fraud, embezzlement, corruption, bribery, improper payments and money laundering. I’ve also investigated many employee relations complaints, from discrimination to sexual harassment.

When I find fraud, my procedures vary depending on the situation, allegations, location, resources available, and level of confidentiality and sensitivity. Rather than stick to a set of routine procedures, I determine the investigative steps after reviewing the matter and consulting with other professionals from legal, human resources or compliance, if needed. 
I consider public relations, crisis management, and notifications to insurers and other third parties. I also consider whether the investigation should be conducted under attorney-client privilege, whether I need to be concerned about data preservation and privacy, and whether I need to conduct the investigation in a specific time frame to accommodate local law if disciplinary action might result. I also determine who “needs to know” and establish communications updates.

I have several favorite cases due to their complexity, loss amount, location and the team I worked with during the investigations. These include bribery investigations in Mexico and China, money laundering in Japan, vendor kickbacks in Italy, embezzlement in Argentina, and ghost employees in Texas and Florida.

It’s important to know case details inside and out; not being able to defend work with solid evidence hurts credibility.

The most important lesson I’ve learned from experience — and from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) founder and Chairman Dr. Joseph T. Wells, CFE, CPA — is to be nice. It’s disarming to someone who’s expecting an adversarial exchange. I’ve also learned not to jump to conclusions or form judgments until I’ve completed all the necessary steps of an investigation. 
Another valuable lesson is to prepare a case by doing the investigative work, not cutting corners and leaving no stone unturned. It’s important to know case details inside and out; not being able to defend work with solid evidence hurts credibility.

The biggest benefit of the CFE credential is being part of a community of professionals with similar interests and challenges. Attending conferences, seminars and online classes has helped me learn new skills and techniques over the past 18 years. It’s also helped me connect with other CFEs and develop a global network of experts I can reach out to when I need a second set of eyes, a sounding board or reference materials.
The CFE credential has opened doors for me throughout my career as it’s often a requirement for certain employment and consulting opportunities. The ACFE offers many benefits for a low annual membership fee compared to other associations.

My first piece of advice for those starting out in the fraud-fighting field is to forget about your ego when investigating a case, having conversations with other professionals, conducting interviews, and preparing reports and recommendations. Worrying about how you look or how smart you seem is counterproductive. What matters is the case and how best to get the information you need to prove or disprove the allegations.
My second piece of advice is to always be professional and remember not to let emotions, biases and opinions dictate how you conduct your investigations. I’m proud that of the hundreds of interviews I’ve conducted, none have resulted in a complaint that I was unprofessional or coercive or anything that hurt the results of an investigation.

One challenge to working in the fraud-fighting field is knowing how best to treat victims of fraud while trying to conduct an investigation. It’s important to understand and empathize with someone who feels betrayed and possibly embarrassed that a fraud occurred on their watch, at their company or by their coworker. 

Outside of work, I like to engage in hobbies that are physically active and involve music, such as dancing and going to group fitness classes. Working as a CFE can be stressful, so having this outlet helps a great deal and keeps me using both my left brain and right brain.

Anna Brahce is an assistant editor for Fraud Magazine. Contact her at abrahce@ACFE.com.