Join us on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 for our April Houston IMA Chapter virtual meeting. The cost is free for all attendees (members, students and guests), but you need to register to receive the link.
This month's topic is, "Mitigating Fraudulent Claims, Assessing Fraud Risks and Enhancing Your Corporate Fraud Defense" and will be in panel format.
Panel members:
Helga Zauner, CFE, CVA, MAFF
Managing Director, Forensics and Litigation Services, Weaver
Brandi Kleinman, CPA, CFF
Managing Director, Forensics and Litigation Services, Weaver
Melanie Fordyce
Associate, Brown Sims
Travis Casner, CFE
Director, Forensics and Litigation Services, Weaver
You must register to attend this meeting https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/3107157/7652DCD5524068D41527993F19B111B7
Registration is mandatory to participate. To ensure accurate CPE reporting, please provide your correct IMA member number as listed in your IMA membership profile. Your first and last name should also be as per your IMA profile. If any details are incorrect this could delay your CPE credits being reported to your transcript and error with your certificate of attendance.
Non-IMA members, put "N/A" in Member number field.
Session Description / Learning Objectives:
As companies continue to push through the pandemic economy, they’re also fighting the threat of fraud. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a typical organization loses an estimated 5% of its revenue to fraud annually!
Join our panel discussion to learn more about the different types of fraudulent claims impacting today’s business. From medical billing and personal injury fraud, to the Paycheck Protection Program and loan application scams, this informative session will provide insight on how to increase your company’s fraud defense and limit opportunities for fraud in your organization.
Attendees will walk away with a better understanding of the following:
- How fraudulent claims can impact the cost of personal injury cases
- Ways that health care fraud effects business and the techniques used by different players to perpetrate health care fraud
- Why the Paycheck Protection Program is a target for fraud and the tricks that fraudsters are trying with loan applications
CPE Credits: 1.5
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None
Course Level: Basic
Field of Study: Auditing
Course Delivery: Group Internet
About the Presenters
Helga A. Zauner
Weaver Managing Director, Forensics and Litigation Services
Helga A. Zauner, CVA, CFE, MAFF, is a testifying expert witness with 25 years of experience in litigation consulting, financial analysis, banking, research and teaching. She focuses on financial modelling and statistical techniques, with extensive experience in quantitative data analysis. In addition, Helga has built a successful practice as an expert witness in personal injury, divorce and commercial litigation. She has served as a consultant, financial advisor and financial manager in banking, corporate credit, construction, retail, energy, health care, real estate and other industries.
Helga is recognized as a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) by the Association of Fraud Examiners and a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) and Master Analyst in Financial Forensics (MAFF) by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the Facultad de Matemáticas of the Universidad de Guanajuato and an MBA from Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management; she also studied for a Ph.D. in statistics, econometrics and time series analysis at the Centro de Investigación en Matemáticas in Guanajuato.
Brandi Kleinman
Weaver Managing Director, Forensics and Litigation Services
Brandi Kleinman, CPA, CFF, has 20 years of experience evaluating the financial and economic aspects of complex, commercial litigation disputes, including serving as an expert witness in state and federal court, as well as in arbitration. She regularly directs multi-disciplinary teams of accountants, engineers, statisticians, industry experts, and data specialists in the development and critique of large, complex data sets and damage models to evaluate the impact of specific business events including breaches of contract and duty, business interruption, business torts, and fraudulent conveyance. Brandi’s experience spans the banking, construction, energy, health care, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, retail, and technology industries, among others.
She performs fraud and forensic accounting investigations for her clients including those involving allegations of white-collar fraud, employee misconduct and alter-ego. Brandi has directed numerous engagements involving the quantification of intellectual property damages resulting from the infringement of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. She has been involved in the review and analysis of construction claim issues on a wide variety of industrial, commercial, residential, public works, and infrastructure projects. She has worked on high profile engagements including sports stadiums, multi-family developments, office towers, pipelines, power plants, health care facilities, and other special use facilities.
Brandi is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and is Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). She is a frequent speaker to students, clients and colleagues on topics including the quantification of damages and forensic accounting investigations. Brandi received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance from the University of Texas and her Master of Science in accounting and information management from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Melanie Fordyce
Brawn Sims Associates
Melanie Fordyce is an attorney at Brown Sims, in Houston, Texas, specializing in personal injury defense. She also has represented clients in matters involving construction defects and professional liability. Much of her practice’s focus is spent investigating the amounts charged plaintiffs for medical treatment, and to determine problems with the stated charges.
Ms. Fordyce received a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a reporter for The Daily Texan. Before starting law school, she was the assistant sports editor for The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Florida, for six years. Ms. Fordyce graduated magna cum laude from South Texas College of Law in 2008.
Travis Casner
Weaver Director, Forensics and Litigation Services
Travis has over 10 years of experience assisting clients with the analysis and evaluation of the financial and accounting aspects of litigation and investigative matters. Travis has managed numerous financial forensics investigations involving allegations of fraud, financial mismanagement, financial misrepresentation, misuse of government funds, conflicts of interest, employee misconduct and theft, and other types of white-collar crime. He also has extensive experience in analyzing financial statements, asset tracing, reviewing and evaluating governance practices and internal controls, as well as analyzing complex data sets and locating and analyzing various types of electronic data including emails and financial records.
Examples of engagements that Travis has assisted and led during his career which required financial forensics include the City of Austin, City of Del Rio, DeSoto ISD, Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Public Utility Commission of Texas, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Texas Attorney General and Austin Police Department.
Travis is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and is a frequent speaker to clients and colleagues on topics around fraud, waste and abuse.