The Houston ACFE invites you to join us for our March Monthly Virtual Training, including 1.5 hours of Ethics
Speakers: William "Doug" Wallace, 378th Judicial District Court, Judge, Ellis County
Lisa Lawler, The White-Collar Wives Project
Description:
Presentation 1: “Insurance Fraud Prosecution: 5 Case Studies”
The presentation will explore the SIU investigation, Law Enforcement interaction, EUOs, and Prosecution of two insureds, an agent, a beneficiary, and a lawyer…all motivated by the insurance payoff.
Presentation 2: "The White Collar Wives Project"
Lisa Lawler, the founder of the White Collar Wives project, has mentored over a hundred white-collar wives through what she calls “the white-collar crime machine” helping them navigate the dire legal, economic, and negative social impact families experience over the course of a white-collar criminal investigation, prosecution, and sentencing of a spouse/father. She experienced this personally as the spouse of a white collar criminal who was convicted for fraud. She will speak about the challenges innocent family members face when their loved ones are convicted of fraud, and how their ethical choices affect the loved ones in their lives.
Speaker Bio: William D. Wallace
William Wallace is the presiding judge of the 378th Judicial District Court in Ellis County, Texas. Prior to his election he was a white-collar crime prosecutor. In that capacity he was employed as a Special Prosecutor by the Texas Department of Insurance focusing on Insurance Fraud and associated crimes and was embedded with the White Collar Crime Section of the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. Prior to joining T.D.I., Mr. Wallace was an insurance defense, coverage, and subrogation attorney for Nationwide Insurance and the former General Counsel of Standard and US Lloyds Insurance Company. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law and has been employed as an Adjunct Professor of Insurance Law at Texas A&M School of Law for the past fourteen years. Prior to his career in insurance and law he served as a combat engineer officer in the United States Army.
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Speaker Bio: Lisa Lawler
I have been called many things since I began working in the field of white-collar crime advocacy nearly ten years ago, among them; innocent spouse coach-consultant/ innovative compliance and deterrence thought leader, trailblazer, media and legal consultant, author, speaker and white-collar family advocate. As the former wife of an embezzler, I know the ruinous consequences families face as a result of a marital partner's occupational/financial crime. In 2013 I began a blog called The White-Collar Wives Club for the purpose of reaching out to women in need of support and education on the massive fallout white-collar crime investigation, prosecution and conviction can trigger. A year later, I created a private online support group, "The Secret Lives of White-Collar Wives," which now has triple digit membership from four continents.
My own exposure to the white collar crime machine began twelve years ago when my family experienced this egregious familial betrayal of trust when my husband embezzled more than two million dollars from a prominent east coast teaching hospital. He was well liked and well respected in his professional as well as his personal life, however, he traded that value for "easy money" that had been earmarked for his own “special project.” But this wasn’t easy money at all. In fact, as is true for all white-collar criminals, it was the hardest money he ever came by.
Those who commit workplace crimes lose sight of what is truly important in life, and the cornerstone of our existence; family. My husband's actions ultimately led to a very public catastrophic life changing event for us. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but because most of the funds were recovered, he was incarcerated for only a year, followed by five years of probation. Like all who commit occupational crimes, my husband had to lose everything before being jolted into remembering what was truly important to him, but by then it was too late. He is now a productive and law-abiding citizen and continues to feel deep remorse and regret every day for his actions and will for the remainder of his life. Although we were separated when I learned of his being investigated, (we later divorced), this event had far reaching and long-lasting consequences for everyone in our family.
Most innocent spouses are not given any notice and are blindsided by civil asset seizure and forfeiture and are provided no due process to either prepare, prevent or recover their rightfully owned fair share of untainted assets. Additionally, innocent spouses are hit with heavy tax fines that come about as a result of a spouse’s financial crime because fraudulent income is taxable. How can a spouse report income that was not reported to her? Through no fault of their own, and by merit of marriage only, wives and children are too often caught in the web of investigation and prosecution and forced to endure unjust punitive damages. The perps who commit these crimes have no understanding of the deep and irreparable harm their actions will bring to their families prior to or over the course of their crimes. The common response from them is "Had I known the far reaching consequences to those closest to me, I would never have gone down this path.” This is where the WCWP's innovative and effective deterrence program comes in.
What was once kept under tight wraps and handled privately by the family has now become a global movement to curb occupational crime so that workers and their families don't have to suffer this egregious and highly preventable catastrophe and the dire hardships that come with it. White-collar crime is not a sustainable profit strategy, rather it is a wrecking ball that destroys reputations, careers, finances, emotional stability and most of all, the family unit. I have written a book for those who are facing this nightmare called The White-Collar Wives Survival Guide, available on Amazon. (See my Book page for more details).
My work has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, The American Bar Association Journal, Market Watch, the ACFE and other esteemed chronicles. Although there is nothing new on the offender side, there certainly have been some interesting developments in deterrence because after years of research and one on-one mentoring to over a hundred white-collar families, I have received a unique and valuable education regarding the men and women behind occupational crime that has led me to be recognized as an expert in the emerging field of compliance and deterrence consulting. In fact, the leading deterrent has been with us all the time.
Learning Objectives:
1) Learn how judges and prosecutors interact in a fraud case
2) Learn the effects of conviction and restitution on families of those who commit fraud
3) Understand how family members of those involved in fraud move on with their lives
11:50 am Zoom Opens
11:55 am: Houston ACFE Board Member Remarks
12:00 pm - 12:55 pm - Presentation 1 - William Wallace
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm - Presentation 2 - Lisa Lawler* (Ethics)
Recommended CPE hours: 2.5 credits.
Event Policies:
Program Cancellation Policy
If you have registered and/or paid for an event and you need to cancel, you MUST cancel online through your account no later than 5 days prior to the event, unless otherwise indicated in specific event policies, to request a refund and/or cancel your registration. The Chapter must confirm event registrations with the venue prior to the event and any changes after this time period can become a financial cost to the Chapter. The Chapter reserves the right to make the final determination on what percentage charge/refund will be returned for cancellations made after the cutoff. The default condition is that cancellations made after cutoff will be charged at 100% and/or no refunds will be allowed. In the event the Chapter determines that partial charges or refunds will be allowed, they will be made on a case by case basis.
In the event of having to cancel one of the events, the Chapter would immediately send an email blast to all registrants with the emails they used for registration. The Chapter media relations officer would post on all social media platforms notifying members of the cancellation, and the Chapter webmaster would also post cancellation on the Chapter website.
In the event an attendee does not show up to the event, the registration cost will be forfeited. If payment at the door was the selected method, then the attendee will be billed for the full cost of the event. The Chapter reserves the right to bar future registrations for any attendees who routinely register and fail to pay and/or attend the event. If you have any questions you may email events@houstonacfe.org."
For more information regarding refund, complaint and/or program cancellation policies, please visit the Terms & Conditions section of the website, or email us at events@houstonacfe.org.
Additional Information:
Delivery Method: Group Internet Based
Prerequisites: Not Applicable
Field of Study: Specialized Knowledge (1), Ethics (1.5)
Who Should Attend: Anti-fraud professionals, Auditors, Accountants, Attorneys, Investigators, Law Enforcement, Educators, Students
Advanced Preparation: None
Program Level: Basic
NASBA Sponsor No. 125230
The Houston Area Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its web site: www.nasbaregistry.org
For concerns regarding course offerings, certifications or complaints, please contact: Gabriella Marshall, Training Director at the Houston ACFE.
