The Houston ACFE Chapter supports its members, the community, students and anti-fraud professionals by recognizing and awarding them for their contributions, achievements and dedication to the fight against fraud. The following list are those individuals and organizations that have been presented awards from the Houston ACFE Chapter.

Houston Area Certified Fraud Examiner of the year

The Houston Area Certified Fraud Examiner of the Year Award is presented to a Houston Area CFE who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fraud examination. Nominees are evaluated based on their contributions to the ACFE, The Houston ACFE Chapter, to the profession, and to the community.

Current Honoree

Dan Ramey, CPA, CFF, CFE, CIA, CISA, CRMA

Dan is the Founder and President of Houston Financial Forensics, LLC and Dan T. Ramey, CPA, LLC. Dan's professional certifications include: CPA/CFF/CITP/ABV, CFE, CVA, CIA/CRMA, CISA/CISM, and CMA. He is a past President of the Houston Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors and formerly a member of the Board of Governors.

Dan previously served as Chairman of the Houston CPA Society’s Forensic and Valuation Committee and served two terms as the Treasurer of the Houston Chapter of InfraGard. He is also active in the Houston FENG Chapter where he was held several leadership roles.

Dan is a Lifetime Member of the Greater Houston Partnership where he served for several years on the Ally Committee integrating new members into the organization. Dan is currently an adjunct professor at the C. T. Bauer School of Business at the University of Houston where he teaches Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination and Enterprise Risk Management courses at the graduate level. Dan was formerly the Director of Risk Advisory Services for RSM (McGladrey) LLP in Houston, Texas. Dan was awarded the 2018 Educator of the Year by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and 2017 Educator of the Year by the Houston Chapter.

Prior Recipients

Fraud Fighter of the Year

Current Honoree

Prior Recipients

Houston Area ACFE Educator of the year award

Current Honoree

Ronald J. Daigle, Ph.D., CPA, CFE, CGMA

Ronny Daigle, Ph.D., CPA, CFE, CGMA is a Professor of Accounting at Sam Houston State University. He has been on faculty at Sam Houston State University since 2006. He has long emphasized fraud prevention and detection in his teaching, particularly in courses on accounting information systems, auditing and intermediate accounting. He earned his undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of South Alabama in 1990, after which he was an auditor at Ernst & Young and then a comptroller before pursuing his career in academia. He earned both his master’s (1999) and Ph.D. (2002) degrees in accounting from Texas Tech University.

Ronny has approximately 40 journal publications and 80 conference presentations, workshops and panel discussions over the last 20 years. A number of his publications and presentations have focused on fraud prevention and detection, with a special emphasis on educational cases. He and his co-authors received two national awards for innovation in education for their case examining external auditor liability with regard to the multi-billion financial statement fraud at HealthSouth.

Ronny has served the Forensic Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association in a number of roles. He is currently Past President, after having served as President, Vice President of Academics and Secretary. He is also an editorial board member of a number of journals, including the Journal of Forensic Accounting Research and Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting. He has received a number of teaching and service awards and honors, including the Excellence in Teaching Award at Sam Houston State University, Service Award as President of the Forensic Accounting Section and Service Award as Co-Editor of the AIS Educator Journal.

Prior Recipients

Houston Area ACFE speaker of the year award

Current Honoree

Dorothy Haraminac, MBA, CFE, MAFF, PI

Ms. Haraminac used financial forensics to develop and testify to her expert opinion on cryptocurrency assets held by and on behalf of an individual, becoming the first U.S. court-qualified expert on bitcoin asset and cryptocurrency tracing.

Ms. Haraminac’s expertise includes oil and gas operator disputes, economic damage analysis, and technology process review and controls. She provides consulting and testimony in complex commercial disputes as well as matrimonial disputes. Her firm provides risk management for physical and digital asset security, including executive extraction, risk assessments (fraud, cyber, and traditional), and process recommendations.

Dorothy serves on the Council of Industry Advisors for Houston Baptist University where she provides industry insight and builds strategic partnerships to guide HBU’s three cyber engineering degree programs. She also volunteers her time to train law enforcement, attorneys, and licensed investigators on cybercrime, gathering digital evidence in emerging technology such as bitcoin, other blockchain implementations, business email compromise, and darknet investigations. She encourages collaboration and transparency because it engenders strength in best practices and propels her industry forward and as a result of her work was named to the Consultant's Training Institute's 2019 40 Under 40 list.

Prior Recipients

FRAUD impact Award

 The Houston Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Fraud Impact Award is presented to the individual who made outstanding, significant contributions to the worldwide effort to prevent, deter, or detect fraud. The fraud fighter must have played an important role in a significant fraud matter. In the spirit of the Houston Chapter slogan United Locally to Fight Fraud Globally, the winner must reside in the Houston Combined Statistical Area, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Liberty, Waller, Chambers, Austin, San Jacinto, Walker, and Matagorda counties. This award is not necessarily awarded annually.

President's award

Recognition from the Houston Area ACFE Chapter President to individuals who have had a significant impact on the chapter.

Current Honorees

executive leadership Awards

This award is presented by the Chapter President to the Executive Team as a thank you for leadership and dedication to the award-winning Houston ACFE Chapter at the end of their normal elected term.

Current Honorees

CFE Exam Awards

The CFE Exam awards are presented to chapter members who take and successfully pass the CFE exam.

Honorees

Global conference Awards

Every year, the ACFE holds the Annual Global Fraud Conference which is the largest anti-fraud conference in the world.  To encourage our chapter members to attend the Global Fraud Conference, the Houston Chapter Board selects a limited number of members and provides a financial award to offset related registration and travel expenses.

Current Honorees

• Chrysti Ziegler
• David Kirtland
  
• Suzon Bridges
  

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

This award is granted to the dedicated chapter members who have shown a commitment to not only the ACFE profession but to the local chapter.  The awards are granted at the Boards discretion.

Lifetime Members