Jeffrey T. Harfenist, CPA *

Transcription

1 Jeffrey T. Harfenist Managing Director Navigant Consulting (PI) LLC ** 909 Fannin, Suite 1900 Houston, Texas Cell: Tel: Fax: Professional History UHY Advisors HTE Harfenist & Associates Education University of Texas at Austin, B.B.A Accounting, 1980 Rice University, M.B.A. - Accounting, 1999 (Graduated top 5% of his class, receiving the Jones Scholar Award) Professional Associations CPA Licensed in the State of Texas American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Board of Editors Financial Fraud Law Report *Jeffrey Harfenist is a licensed CPA in the State of Texas. Neither Jeffrey Harfenist nor Navigant Consulting provide audit, attest or public accounting services in Texas or any other state. **Wholly-owned subsidiary of Navigant Consulting, Inc. and licensed by the Texas Private Security Board, #A14814 Mr. Harfenist is a Managing Director in Navigant s Disputes and Investigations practice with over 25 years of investigative experience. He has managed investigative teams on some of the most high-profile investigations in US history, including the Tyco, Enron and AIG matters. He has extensive, hands-on expertise leading multidisciplinary forensic teams in government initiated investigations, including matters implicating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as well as matters where allegations of theft of assets by insiders and financial statement manipulations are present. Over the past 6 years, his practice has focused on matters involving the FCPA, specifically on reactive engagements pursuant to a government subpoena, as well as proactive compliance reviews. He is an expert in the application of forensic tools used to identify anomalous transactions and highrisk relationships, and has effectively managed and interrogated data sets in excess of 50 million documents. His engagements have spanned the globe and have at times required the deployment of multiple forensic and document review teams in excess of 100 individuals lasting up to 3 years. He is a CPA and earned his MBA from the Jones School of Management where he graduated in the top 5 of his class. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Served as the National Fraud and Forensic Service Line Leader for the Forensic, Litigation and Valuation Services Group for UHY Advisors. Led the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act team within the Fraud and Forensic Service Line and the FCPA Special Interest Group within UHY International. Served as a Partner with UHY LLP. Managed and directed domestic and international forensic, fraud, FCPA and internal investigations for both public and Page 1

2 private companies in various business sectors. His grasp of technical issues, logistical hurdles, staffing requirements, and project management challenges inherent in investigations brings efficiencies to each project and overall value to his clients. As a senior partner, he gained experience in analyzing damages in commercial litigation, preparing business plans, investigating fraud, and performing due diligence analysis. SIGNIFICANT PROJECTS In connection with disputes involving Enron and Dynegy, Mr. Harfenist managed a team of 15 forensic accountants in order to investigate the impact that structured finance transactions and the use of Special Purpose Entities had on each company s reported results, and investigated any alleged financial statement manipulation. During this threeyear project, he and the team under his direction analyzed over 100 structured finance transactions to determine their effect on the balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, and compliance with GAAP and internal policies. Mr. Harfenist coauthored a 1,000 page report of findings, and his team produced detailed deposition binders for over 200 deponents, including investment bankers, consultants, lawyers and accountants. For this project, Mr. Harfenist supervised over 50 members of a document management team who worked with over 50 million pages of electronic documentation. For an energy-related software and services company with global operations, Mr. Harfenist lead a team that investigated alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by analyzing suspect payments, questionable expense reimbursements, unusual contractual arrangements and irregular travel expenses incurred in countries throughout Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Latin America and Africa. For a Fortune 100 company with worldwide operations, Mr. Harfenist was engaged to perform on-site due diligence examinations throughout South and Central America related to compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This work involved a detailed risk assessment, analysis of the control environment, the review of transactions, interviews with key personnel, and the use of forensic tools to identify red flags for follow up. During the course of the engagement, Mr. Harfenist and his team uncovered sophisticated schemes to embezzle funds and funnel bribes to key decision makers. In addition, he provided training to the company s internal audit staff on matters involving fraud and corruption. For a public industrial services company Mr. Harfenist and his forensic team investigated allegations of behaviors and transactions that implicated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in company office across Asia/Pacific, Central/South America and the Caribbean. This engagement involved the performance of a detailed risk assessment, analysis of the financial reporting system and related controls, the acquisition of data from operating entities around the globe and the analysis of the data to identify potentially anomalous Page 2

3 transactions requiring additional analysis. UHY team members deployed to locations outside the US to review operations where suspected problematic activity and relationships existed. For a privately held services company, Mr. Harfenist lead a team investigating behaviors that may have implicated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The engagement involved transactions in South and Central America. He and his team preformed detailed risk assessments, analytics on the company s electronic data, captured images of numerous computers in various foreign locations, and analyzed company records to determine the status of any transactions with government officials. For a Fortune 100 company with worldwide operations, Mr. Harfenist was engaged to perform anti-corruption related due diligence for a pending transactions. This work involved a detailed risk assessment, the review of transactions, interviews with key personnel, and the use of forensic tools to identify red flags for follow up. At a leading global insurance firm, Mr. Harfenist investigated allegations of market manipulation, kickbacks and the use of structured finance and related party transactions to manipulate the company s financial statements. Over a two-year period, Mr. Harfenist managed a team of 15 forensic accountants and 35 document management professionals working with an electronic database of over 27 million pages of documentation. In the post Dennis Kozlowski era, Mr. Harfenist worked on behalf of Tyco s new CEO to investigate allegations of financial statement fraud, self-dealing, and misappropriation of assets. Mr. Harfenist was responsible for directing four forensic teams to investigate alleged earnings manipulation, misappropriation of corporate assets, and illegal payments at Tyco locations throughout the US, Europe and the Pacific Rim. In addition, he worked at the direction of the Department of Justice. In connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme, Mr. Harfenist and his forensic team assisted the court appointed receiver in identifying and securing all of the electronically stored information, reviewing all of the cash flow and accounting records, analyzing the individual investor accounts, traced assets between investment vehicles and prepared reports for submission to the Court. Mr. Harfenist was engaged to investigate allegations of improper usage of public funds made against the CEO and Chief of Staff of METRO in Houston, Texas. The review consisted of a detailed analysis of expenditures and interviews to determine whether conflicts of interest existed and whether public funds were used for personal benefit. In connection with a bankruptcy filing for a diversified energy generating and trading operation with worldwide operations, Mr. Harfenist and his team investigated allegations of financial statement manipulation and false and/or misleading disclosures by the entity and its parent in the periods prior to the bankruptcy filing. This work involved the close coordination of teams across the US. Page 3

4 For a diversified restaurant company with national operations, Mr. Harfenist managed a team of forensic analysts and ediscovery consultants looking into allegations of options back dating. He and his team performed the detailed analysis and quantified the impact of the alleged misconduct on the company s earnings over a period of 9 years. In connection with the merger of two Fortune 250 companies, Mr. Harfenist lead a team that analyzed alleged pre-merger manipulation of revenue recognition. He and his team analyzed over 80 customer relationships, their impact on revenue recognition, and compliance with GAAP and internal policies. For a large private company with international operations, Mr. Harfenist investigated the alleged misappropriation of assets by the company s CFO. Mr. Harfenist worked at the direction of the audit committee and managed a team of over 20 consultants with backgrounds in accounting, fraud, electronic data recovery/analysis, and background investigations. For a privately held exploration and production company with domestic operations, Mr. Harfenist lead a team of forensic accountants analyzing claims by federal prosecutors that distributions due to investors were underpaid as a result of gross production from the producing wells being understated. For a privately held chemical distribution company with operations around the country, UHY was hired to mine through the company s electronic data using forensic tools looking for anomalous transactions within the company s data set and to investigate those transactions and relationships exhibiting high-risk attributes and patterns. For a large privately held oilfield services company experiencing high growth, investigated suspicions that over a two year period, the Chief Financial Officer had misappropriated corporate assets and mischaracterized transactions in the financial statements in order to meet critical debt covenants. He and his team uncovered multiple schemes used to misappropriate cash, as well as numerous instances of transactions not being recorded in accordance with the underlying substance of the transactions. LITIGATION SUPPORT ENGAGEMENTS Fraud Damage Analysis Relating to Breach of Contract Business Interruption Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes Franchise Disputes Insurance Fraud Lost Profits Page 4

5 ARTICLES AND PRESENTATIONS Anti-Corruption Risk Assessments: A Primer for General Counsels, Internal Auditors, and Other Compliance Personnel, Financial Fraud Law Report (October 2010), Co-authored with Saul Pilchen TalkingPoint: Dealing With The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Financier Worldwide (September 2010) Fraud s Emerging Sophistication, Financial Fraud Law Report (January 2010) Building a Better Database: Construction and Use of Electronic Databases in Criminal and Regulatory Investigations and Litigation/Prosecutions, American Bar Association, White Collar Crime Conference, Miami, FLA (February 24-26, 2010) Contributing author to White-Collar Crime & Regulatory Enforcement 2009 Digital Guide, Executiveview.com "FCPA Individual-Liability Prosecutors Want YOU!" The Corporate Counselor (December 2009) Avoiding Corruption in Mexico, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (August 2009) Using Bankruptcy or Receivership to Uncover Fraud, Financial Fraud Law Report, Coauthored with Paul Andrews (June 2009) Managing Internal Investigations, Financier Worldwide (June 2009) How the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is Changing International Business, The Chamber, Co-written by Jeffrey Harfenist and Patrick Hughes (May 2009) Rote Reliance Without Common Sense, Financier Worldwide, Co-written by Jeffrey Harfenist, Bernard Fay and Joseph Jaffe (February 2009) Beware of the Thieves at the Back Door, UHY International Business (January 2009) Fraud and the House of Cards, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (November and December 2008) Conducting Targeted & Cost Effective Investigations Masters Conference, Washington, DC (October 15-16, 2008) Conducting and Handling Internal FCPA Investigations, MarcusEvans, FCPA Compliance & Sustainability Conference, Washington, DC (September 11 12, 2008) Protecting your Company against Financial Fraud and Corruption, Government Investigations, and Regulatory Reform, presented in conjunction with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP (April 2008) Controlling Costs of Financial Fraud Investigations, Business in the Eye of the Storm (March 2008), co-authored with Saul Pilchen, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP Page 5

6 The Importance of International Investigations Continuing Legal Education Presentation, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (January 16, 2008), presented with Thomas Bottini, Armstrong Teasdale Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Compliance, - Live Teleconference, The Knowledge Congress (November 12, 2007), presented with Lori A. Leonovicz, DOJ; Chris Conte, SEC; Raja Chatterjee, Global Head of the Anti-Corruption Group for Morgan Stanley and George Terwilliger with White & Case Global Compliance Readiness Legal Advisors: U.S. Companies Could Be Implicated As China Aggressively Prosecutes Bribe Recipients : - Parts 1 & II, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (October and November 2007) Conducting International Investigations, UHY International Global Convention (September 2007) Proactive Solutions For FCPA Investigations And Compliance, Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (August 2007) Understanding Financial Statement Fraud, Presented at Arizona Society of CPAs 2007 Conference, and over 25 other law firms in association with their in-house CPE requirements Financial Fraud What Directors Need to Know, The Corporate Board (November 2006) Firms Should Measure Fraud Risk in Light of Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Houston Business Journal, co-authored with Bryne J. Liner (February 10, 2003) Page 6