Staff Reporter.
Recently, the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI) announced its 2022 International Awards recipients, one of the top awards went to recognise the “outstanding investigative efforts in 2021” of Forensic Executive Steven Powell of ENSafrica and IAFCI Western Cape Chapter member.
Powell was presented with the Rick Brady Financial Crimes Investigator of the Year Award, bestowed annually on financial crimes investigators for investigative excellence of financial crimes, outstanding service and dedication towards meeting the goals and objectives of the IAFCI.
Christo Snyman, Director at Mazars – Forensic Services, accompanied Powell to receive the award in Washington DC, US from IAFCI International President Michael Carroll.
IAFCI is a non-profit international organisation, with over 6 000 members headquartered in the US. South Africa hosts two Chapters, in Gauteng and Western Cape, of which Snyman is the President.
Snyman says: “The 60-member strong IAFCI Western Cape Chapter was established eight years ago through the efforts of previous president Marius Pretorius with myself, plus invaluable support from Suzanne Viljoen as Secretary and the Treasurer Heike Beck. The focus of the Association is to provide a platform where members – which include all levels of law enforcement, banking and retail services – can network and share information.”
Local members consist of members from the SA Police Service (SAPS), Hawks, prosecutors, South African Revenue Service (SARS), forensic investigators of private, legal, and audit firms, banking, and insurance investigators, telecommunications investigators, cyber forensic specialists, and polygraph and handwriting specialists. Snyman also thanked all the sponsors especially Mazars who played a key role in sponsoring this chapter in its foundational years and continues to do so.
An important aspect of membership is the provision of training regarding financial crime, with regular guest speakers invited to present on financial crime at monthly meetings.
“Over the past year, we as an Association in the Western Cape have achieved several successes with financial crime matters and, working closely together, have ensured that several suspects were arrested and prosecuted. In the process, substantial fraud loss was prevented, and stolen funds recovered.
“A recent example was the arrest and extradition of eight foreign nationals involved in an international dating scam involving bitcoin to the value of millions of rands, as well as local and foreign currency. Certain of our members were instrumental in the investigations that led to these arrests, working closely with local and international law enforcement,” says Snyman.