Accounting & Auditing Conference

Eugene J. Ristaino, CPA/ABV/CFF, ABAR, MT
Retired Partner
Isdaner & Company LLC

Gene Ristaino is a retired partner of Isdaner & Company, LLC, a local firm of 65 people in Bala Cynwyd PA (Philadelphia area), and was the director of accounting, auditing and quality control for the firm. Gene managed a diversified accounting practice (over 40 years of experience) specializing in the construction and real estate industries. He currently provides consulting services for developers and contractors in cost certification and analysis, claim support and documentation, expert witness, business valuation and job cost system implementation and improvement.

Gene has provided expert testimony and/or issued expert reports in numerous litigation support engagements involving real estate transactions, construction claims, family disputes and embezzlement cases. He has provided expert testimony in two Court appearances. He has also prepared construction contract claims, back charge reports, and damage reports in dispute litigation and arbitration.

Gene's diversified accounting and auditing background includes a concentration in the governmental and not-for-profit auditing sectors, including HUD, Circular A-133 and the Single Audit, as well as experience with healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, retail and service organizations.

Gene is “Accredited in Business Valuation” (ABV) and “Certified in Financial Forensics” (CFF) as designated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Gene has recently achieved his designation of “Accredited in Business Appraisal Review” (ABAR) from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA).  Valuation and/or litigation engagements include construction contractors; leisure transportation; travel and tour agencies; manufacturing; real estate investment limited partnerships and LLCs; specialty restaurants; and family limited partnerships. Cases have included dissenting stockholder disputes; buy/sell transaction prices; estate and gift tax issues; and owner disputes. Gene has attended the Business Valuation Course, and the Fair Value Forum developed by the AICPA, the national Valuation Conference presented by the AICPA, as well as many national Forensic and Valuation Programs presented by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA).

Gene has a Masters in Taxation (MT), concentrating in corporate taxation, with a specialization in the real estate and construction industries.

Gene is a national instructor for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and many state societies. He also lectures for many industry associations, and has authored numerous professional education programs, including several one-day seminars.

Gene is a member of the American and Pennsylvania Institutes of Certified Public Accountants, and currently serves on the Peer Review and A&A Procedures committees for the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Gene is a team captain for the AICPA Peer Review Program, and has performed numerous peer reviews under the AICPA Standards.

Gene is a former adjunct professor of tax law for the Masters in Taxation Programs for Villanova University and Philadelphia University. He received his undergraduate BS degree in accounting from Drexel University, and earned his Masters in Taxation from Villanova University.

Sept. 2016

John M. Fleming, CPA, MBA
Executive Vice President
SmartPros LTD

John M. Fleming, CPA/MBA, licensed as a CPA in Pennsylvania, has served as the Director, Content Development for SmartPros Ltd., and previously President and Director of Accounting and Auditing for Loscalzo Institute, both divisions of Kaplan Professional Education.  John is retiring on October 1st, 2017.  In retirement, John will continue to provide seminars as a discussion leader for Loscalzo Institute on a part-time basis.

John’s prior practice experience includes audit, tax, consulting, office management, and human resource responsibilities with Deloitte LLP, Richard Eisner & Company LLP, and Ernst & Young LLP. John is a graduate of LaSalle and Drexel Universities with degrees in accounting and finance.

John, a Pennsylvania CPA, served as the 1999/2000 President of the 8,300 member Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA). In 2006, the PICPA recognized John as a Joseph E. Sterrett Fellow for his contributions to the accounting profession and in 2007, the Philadelphia Chapter recognized John with their Champion Award for his contributions to the PICPA, Chapter, profession and community.  John has also served as the 2002/2003 President of the American Accounting Association’s Mid-Atlantic Region.

John and his wife Marge live in Medford, New Jersey.

Lisa A. Ritter, CPA, CFE
Partner
Maher Duessel
 
Lisa joined Maher Duessel in 2009 after previously being a shareholder, a supervisor, and head of the audit department for a regional accounting firm in Harrisburg. She has over 23 years of public accounting experience. She is the winner of Pennsylvania’s Best 50 Women in Business Award and was a past recipient of the 40 under 40 Award presented by the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal. Lisa has been a speaker and organizer for continued education programs as an approved sponsor by the Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy.

Professional Activities:
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) – Member
Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) – Member
PICPA Accounting and Auditing Procedures Committee – Chair
PICPA Not-for-Profit Committee -Member
PICPA DPW Working Group – Member
PICPA Not-For-Profit Tech Issues Subcommittee – Member
AICPA Auditing Standards Board – Past Member
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Not-for-Profit Resource Group
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) – Member
Association of Governmental Accountants (AGA) Central Pennsylvania Chapter – Member
Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO) – Treasurer and Board Member

Speaking Engagements:
AICPA – Alphabet Soup: Explaining the Acronyms that Affect Financial Reporting
Maher Duessel Annual Non-Profit Seminar

Community & Civic Involvement:
Leadership Harrisburg – Class of 2011
Susquehanna Art Museum – Treasurer and Board Member
PANO – Finance Committee and Board Member

Education:
B.S. in Accounting – The Pennsylvania State University

Allison M. Henry, CPA
Vice President, Professional & Technical Standards
PICPA

Allison is presently the Vice President - Professional & Technical Standards for Pennsylvania Institute of CPA’s (PICPA) where she is responsible for overseeing the administration of the AICPA’s Peer Review Program in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the Virgin Islands. She also administers PICPA’s Joint Ethics Enforcement Program with the AICPA, and serves as the technical staff liaison to seven state-wide committees and two newly-created task forces; specifically, the Peer Review, Professional Ethics, Accounting and Auditing Procedures, Forensic and Litigation Services, Business Valuation, Not-for-Profit and Employee Benefit Plan Committees and the Healthcare Reform and Marcellus Shale Task Forces. In addition, she fields technical inquiries, writes columns for the CPA Journal and Pursuit publications, provides technical updates at PICPA chapter events, and assists in writing responses to technical exposure drafts.

Allison has been in the profession for about twenty years, including twelve years in public accounting and over eight years with PICPA. Her public accounting experience consists of several years as senior manager with a regional accounting firm and nine years at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, where she worked in their assurance and advisory services group. Her diverse client service experience includes many not-for-profit, healthcare, and world relief organizations, as well as small and large manufacturing, distribution, and other service-oriented entities. She has also served as the designated employee benefits specialist. Prior to her experience with Deloitte, she spent four years in internal accounting positions including the Department of Defense, while her husband was serving on active duty with the U.S. Army.

Allison is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and holds an accounting equivalency from the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She is also a member of Washington Crossing United Methodist Church, where she serves on the financial accountability team, and volunteers for the children’s ministry. She is a native of St. Louis, Mo. and is an avid runner.

Louis R. Pichini
Director
Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP

Mr. Pichini is the leader of the Philadelphia office of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP (Deloitte FAS) and has nearly forty years of experience investigating complex crimes in both the private and public sectors. Mr. Pichini specializes in forensic investigations and has testified in federal court as a financial fraud expert and a forensic investigative expert. He has performed forensic investigations for public and private companies as well as non-profit entities. Before joining Deloitte FAS, Mr. Pichini was a federal prosecutor for twenty-five years. He served as the longtime Chief of the Criminal Division for the United States Attorneys Office in Philadelphia where he supervised 75 prosecutors, worked closely with federal and local law enforcement agents to detect and prosecute fraudulent schemes and patterns of fraudulent activity, and reviewed and approved all fraud indictments including Ponzi schemes, corruption cases and tax fraud. One of the cases Mr. Pichini supervised was the John Bennett/New Era prosecution, one of the largest philanthropic Ponzi schemes in the country. His background and skills offer clients the services of a former Justice Department career prosecutor highly experienced in sophisticated and sensitive financial investigations. Mr. Pichini also served as the Assistant-Attorney-in-Charge of the Organized Crime Strike Force and was an adjunct professor in Trial Advocacy at the Temple University School of Law.

Mr. Pichini twice received the Justice Department’s Special Commendation for Outstanding Service and the John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement for the investigation and prosecution of the Philadelphia mob and its boss, Nicky Scarfo.

Prakash Santhana
Director - Deloitte Advisory
Cyber Risk | Payments Integrity
Deloitte Transactions and Business Analystics LLP

Prakash Santhana, Director, Deloitte Advisory, leads the Payments Integrity work for financial services, retailers, and service providers. He has worked in the fraud/risk management groups of large credit card issuers and payment startups for over 20 years. He has extensive experience in the types of fraud committed and the behavioral analytics required to detect anomalous patterns at the point of sale including Credit and Debit card fraud, ACH fraud, check fraud, online fraud, and online application fraud. Previously, he was responsible for issuer fraud mitigation, acquirer compliance, and account compromise detection for one of the largest global credit card networks. He was one of the leads for the Global Fraud Advisory Committee at the card network in helping facilitate a discussion on strategy for payments integrity by participating issuers and acquirers. He is also the inventor of an ‘out-of-band’ mobile fraud prevention solution to help card issuers combat non-face-to-face fraud worldwide.

Michael K. Cheng, CPA
Supervising Project Manager - Private Company Council Coordinator
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)

Mike Cheng joined the staff of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in 2012.  Mike serves as the Private Company Council (PCC) coordinator where he is responsible for all PCC related matters. He also led the Board’s private company decision making framework project focused on determining whether and in what circumstances it is appropriate to adjust financial reporting requirements for private companies following Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Currently, Mike is leading a project to help the Board decide its future agenda.

Prior to joining the FASB, Mike held various management positions with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Most recently, he was an Audit Senior Manager―Private Company Services in the firm’s Stamford, Connecticut office.  From 2003-2011, he also held roles of increasing responsibility in PwC’s Core Assurance divisions in Buffalo and Rochester, New York.

Mike earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting with a concentration in Finance from Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York.

Sept. 2016

John R. Roberts, CPA
Senior Manager
Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP

John Roberts is a Senior Manager in the Forensics practice of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP. Mr. Roberts has nearly 30 years of experience as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and as a Special Agent and Supervisor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mr. Roberts specializes in providing investigative and litigation support, compliance and internal control reviews, risk and gap analyses, expert witness testimony, and regulatory consulting services, with the emphasis on complex financial matters, anti-corruption, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) for both domestic and international clients. Mr. Roberts has successfully led multi-disciplined teams assigned to investigate and report on these matters, both domestically and internationally. Mr. Roberts is a frequent domestic and international speaker on these topics, including developing the course curriculum for multiple presentations on complex financial crimes, corruption, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the UK Anti-Bribery Act, and AML. Recently, Mr. Roberts developed a 40 hour block of instruction on the application of the complex financial crimes and the FCPA/UK Anti-Bribery Act, and presented the course in Budapest to senior-level prosecutors and investigators. 

Mr. Roberts’ FBI career, financial background, and first-person involvement in these matters has enabled the long-term development and thorough understanding of processes, procedures, and practices inherent in various industries; as well as the inter-relationships between co-dependent internal departments, their functions and responsibilities, and the regulatory oversight governing their operation.
 

Experience

• Led the investigative efforts of 24 FBI direct reports responsible for investigating complex financial fraud, bribery, money laundering, and corruption, on both a domestic and global scale.
• Led the international investigative efforts into allegations of potential FCPA violations of a global pharmaceutical client.  The nature of this multi-country investigation necessitates ongoing coordination activities to gain consensus from key stakeholders, recurring executive-level updates, and effective planning and flexibility to achieve the investigative goals in accordance with agreed-upon timelines.
• Led the Americas team in a global project to identify and prioritize the Financial Crimes (AML, Sanctions, and Anti-corruption) risks associated with the operation of a global financial services organization. Supervised the prioritization of the over 15,000 controls in their existing control framework; conducted a prioritized risk/control gap analysis, resulting in a more effective risk mitigation strategy. Throughout the project, effectively coordinated and communicated efforts with global stakeholders. 
• Led forensic investigation into allegations of “self-dealing” by the Trustee of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Investigation necessitated developing an understanding of the intricacies of leveraging the ESOP’s tax-preferred status into a complex $600MM structured financing arrangement; and then applying that knowledge to the broader allegations of whether Trustee had breached his fiduciary duties for his personal enrichment.
• Led the investigation into the largest municipal corruption case in Philadelphia history. Effectively managed several investigative teams from various disciplines. Developed an easily-retrievable database to seamlessly integrate over 1 million items of evidence, proving itself to be invaluable at trial. As the primary government witness at 5 month trial resulting in 27 convictions, Mr. Roberts was commended by the FBI Director for investigations and perseverance.
• Identified, developed, and led multiple internal corporate investigations relating to insider abuse, AML/Bank Secrecy Act/U.S. Patriot Act violations, asset misappropriation, embezzlement, kickback schemes, construction and financial statement fraud, among others.
• Concurrent with managing ongoing investigative efforts, identified the underlying deficiencies and/or compromise of the existing system of internal controls.
• Effectively combined internal control reviews with investigative knowledge/experience, and emerging trends/“red flag” indicators to develop, implement, and test effective, remedial measures to prevent recurrence.
• Conducted comprehensive financial document review in support of fraud, bribery, corruption, and procurement investigations at public and private organizations.

Presentations/Newspaper Articles

• Extensive domestic and international speaking engagements/developing the course curriculum for multiple presentations on complex financial matters, corruption, FCPA, UK Anti-Bribery Act, AML, and White Collar Crime
• Annual speeches to Temple Law School, St. Joseph’s University Graduate program, and the National Procurement and Grant Fraud Conference attended by 500+ participants
• Three hour presentation to United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Alabama on planning an effective trial strategy during the investigative phase of a complex, multi-faceted case
• Multiple presentations of “Ethics in Government,” “Building Effective Relationships,” “Conducting Effective Internal Investigations,” and “Public Corruption” presented to universities, law firms, civic organizations, governmental entities, and bar associations

Testimony

Mr. Roberts has testified extensively in Federal Court.

Professional Qualifications and Associations 

Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - Maryland
 
Education

Frostburg State College, Frostburg, Maryland
Bachelor of Science Degree – Accounting; Minor - Economics

Virginia Collins, CPA, CITP, CFE
Director
Marks Paneth LLP

Virginia is a Director at Marks Paneth & Shron LLP in New York, NY, specializing in employee benefit plans and the real estate industry. She brings over 30 years of accounting, auditing and tax experience to her position. Virginia is also a member of the Professional Practices Group of MPS and specializes in the quality review of audits in the areas of employee benefit plans, HUD, real estate and commercial engagements.

In both her private and public experience, Virginia has done extensive work in internal controls and Section 404 compliance and has obtained the Certified Fraud Examiner designation as a result of her work in internal controls. Virginia has led numerous training seminars on internal control and in the 404 compliance area for both her clients and her professional colleagues.

She currently resides on the AICPA IMTA’s CITP Credential Committee.

Ryan A. Egan
Project Manager
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)

Ryan Egan joined the staff of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in 2013.  He focuses on accounting issues of concern to private companies and served as the project manager for PCC Issue No. 13-03, Accounting for Certain Receive-Variable, Pay-Fixed Interest Rate Swaps.

Before joining the FASB, Ryan was a Director in the Accounting Advisory Services practice of KPMG LLP in New York City. At KPMG, Ryan advised clients on technical accounting issues under both U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. Prior to KPMG, Ryan worked in market regulation and as a mergers and acquisitions analyst at an investment bank.

Ryan has a Master of Arts from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Georgetown University. He is a Certified Public Accountant in California and New York.