Investigations Archives

Elizabeth Buchanan

Elizabeth Buchanan is a Chartered Accountant with over 10 years of experience. She has assisted the named expert on numerous occasions.

Elizabeth has been involved in commercial litigation matters in Australia with disputed loss and damage values of up to AUS$ 500 million and high-net-worth family law litigation matters in the United States with disputed values of up to US$ 75 million. She has assisted with expert reports submitted in courts in Australia and the United States.

Elizabeth has experience in commercial disputes and financial investigations across a range of industries including, but not limited to, financial services, mining, white goods, healthcare, and personal care products. She also has experience in high-net-worth individual tax and family law litigation support in the United States.

Elizabeth specialises in commercial and intellectual property disputes, valuations, and complex financial investigations. She has expertise in preparing valuations of assets (including goodwill and intellectual property), small to medium-sized businesses, shares for commercial litigation and tax purposes, quantifying loss and damage, and performing asset tracking and funds flow analysis.

Elizabeth is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), and accredited as a Business Valuation Specialist by CAANZ. She holds a degree and graduate diploma in accountancy.

Stuart Ells

Stuart Ells has more than 30 years of experience in professional services and in the corporate media and entertainment sectors.

Stuart has overall responsibility for the delivery of advisory and expert services across HKA’s International FACD team throughout EMEA and APAC. From forensic accounting expertise covering business valuations and economic damages to compliance and risk management, complex investigations, class actions and anti-trust issues, his team deliver proactive and effective solutions.

Stuart’s experience as a chief executive officer includes responsibility for all operational planning, running and reporting of a global business. He has successfully recruited senior fee-earning individuals, grown a partner base by over 50%, and opened international offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He has held senior executive roles in professional services firms as well as in large global corporates involved in filmed entertainment, TV production, recorded music, music publishing, theatre production and theatre management.

Stuart identifies opportunities to support clients across the international region and identifies and secures senior talent (from individuals and team lift-outs to acquisitions) that compliment and grow the expertise and services to meet our clients’ needs.

Stuart is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Chelsea Cullum

Chelsea Cullum is a Certified Management Accountant with over 15 years of experience.

Chelsea has testified before various federal courts and boards of contract appeals regarding damages and government contracts. She has assisted clients with procurement analysis, forensic accounting and investigations, litigation support, and compliance analysis on hundreds of matters with amounts in dispute exceeding $2 billion.

Chelsea has experience with government regulations and statutes, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), the False Claims Act, and the Truthful Cost or Pricing Data statute (formerly known as “TINA”). She has advised contractors on compliance and government audits and assists with Service Contract Act (SCA) and Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) compliance, as well as labor mapping issues.

Chelsea has expertise in developing and analyzing disputes and REAs, conducting cost realism analysis in bid protests, supporting contractors in terminations for convenience, and conducting investigations related to alleged fraud and defective pricing. She has calculated and rebutted damages claimed in False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Act matters. Chelsea has also assisted clients in commercial litigation, providing expert analysis in areas such as economics, finance, and accounting, particularly for breach of contract and other commercial disputes. 

Chelsea is a Certified Fraud Examiner. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Institute of Management Accountants, and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Chelsea also served as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Business, where she taught a graduate-level course on pricing and cost issues in government contracts.

Katherine Odendaal

Katherine Odendaal is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years of experience. She has been appointed as a forensic accounting expert and has assisted the named expert on more than 20 occasions.

Katherine has testified in disciplinary hearings across Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as before the labour court of Mozambique. She has assisted private and listed corporations facing serious fraud and misconduct issues, accounting misstatements, and regulatory issues, including allegations of bribery, corruption, and money laundering.

Katherine has experience conducting high-profile and complex multi-jurisdictional forensic fraud, misconduct investigations, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance reviews across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the UK. She has previously been seconded as the global head of investigations for a FTSE 250 client, conducting internal investigations into whistleblowing, financial, conflict of interest, and misconduct matters in subsidiary operations across the UK and Africa.

Katherine assists clients to establish the facts surrounding wrongdoing, as well as to identifying related regulatory concerns and internal control failures. Her work has supported internal and external counsel, boards, and regulators for organisations across multiple sectors, including energy and natural resources, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, telecommunications, and financial services.

Katherine is an accredited Counter Fraud Specialist and an Advanced Cryptocurrency Investigator. She is an associate member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Association of Corporate Investigators, the Women’s White Collar Defence Association, the Female Fraud Forum, and the Fraud Women’s Network.

Priya Giuliani

Priya Giuliani is a Chartered Accountant with nearly 30 years of experience in financial crime investigations and compliance.

Priya has testified and provided witness statements and reports on UK criminal confiscation and civil recovery matters under the Proceeds of Crime Act.  She has supported experts in civil proceedings at the UK High Court and in HMRC tribunals regarding investigations, quantum analyses, and report writing.

Priya has experience as an investigator of money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, bribery, and corruption. She has worked with corporates, financial institutions, regulators, and law enforcement agencies.

Priya specialises in financial crime risk management matters, including anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist and proliferation financing, sanctions evasion, anti-bribery and corruption, fraud, and tax evasion.   Her recent expert work has been under the Financial Conduct Authority’s skilled person framework, where she has conducted numerous reviews and produced reports on financial services clients’ compliance with UK laws and regulations.

Priya is an accredited counter fraud specialist and holds an International Compliance Association diploma in anti-money laundering. She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

Guler Ann Wiefling

Guler Ann Wiefling is a Certified Fraud Examiner with over 25 years of experience in providing investigative, forensic accounting, financial analysis, litigation support, regulatory, corporate compliance, and advisory services.

Guler provides litigation support services with a focus on both commercial and matrimonial matters. She assists clients with forensic accounting, fraud investigations, asset tracing, breach of contract analysis, partnership disputes, business interruption, and the evaluation of lost profits and economic damages.

Guler’s extensive experience includes the assessment of third-party contracts and compliance, conducting royalty and license audits, identifying financial misreporting, evaluating internal control environments, and developing corporate compliance and governance programs to mitigate risk. She has worked with a broad range of clients, including corporations, government entities, boards of directors, C-level executives, and both in-house and external legal counsel.

Guler has expertise in directing large-scale investigations into domestic bribery, allegations of employee misconduct, embezzlement, misappropriation of funds and assets, vendor collusion, kickback schemes, payroll fraud, False Claims Act violations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and white-collar crime investigations. She has served as an independent monitor and advises clients on strengthening internal controls, mitigating risk, and implementing remediation strategies to address fraud and misconduct.

Guler holds a master’s in finance and holds a certification in the fundamentals of environmental, social, and governance (ESG). She is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the Women’s White Collar Defense Association. Guler regularly presents on the topics of anti-bribery and anti-corruption practices, fraud detection and prevention, and regulatory and corporate compliance initiatives.

Matthew Hoover

Matthew Hoover is a Certified Public Accountant with eight years of experience. He has assisted the named expert on more than 10 occasions.

Matthew has performed quantum analysis and drafted expert reports in support of state and federal contract disputes and terminations, commercial disputes, and litigation matters before the International Court of Arbitration and the International Criminal Court. He has provided technical accounting advisory services, merger and acquisition due diligence, and contract compliance advisory services on disputes with values of up to $3.4 billion.

Matthew has experience in technical accounting, financial analysis, and regulatory frameworks. He has assisted clients with compliance issues related to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), Uniform guidance, and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Matthew’s expertise includes cost structure analysis, contract disputes, compliance management, and complex transaction advisory services across the construction, government contracting, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, nonprofit, technology, and transportation industries. He has prepared clients for and participated in settlement negotiations with federal agency representatives, as well as performing federal contract closeouts.

Matthew holds degrees in both accounting and information systems and business information technology. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Virginia Society of Chartered Public Accountants.

Vanessa Varona

Vanessa Varona is a Certified Public Accountant with over 15 years of experience.

Vanessa has presented before the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission regarding FCPA investigations and enforcement actions, as well as financial statement fraud and restatements. She has assisted on matters regarding damages for lost profits and business interruption, inventory theft, and post-acquisition. Vanessa has produced expert reports on disputes with values of up to $100 million.

Vanessa has assisted clients with proactive work such as compliance and fraud risk assessments. She has experience in a range of industries, including transportation, healthcare and life sciences, power and utilities, manufacturing, oil and gas, telecommunications, construction and engineering, aerospace, and aviation.

Vanessa has expertise in investigating fraudulent customs and financial reporting, fraudulent financial statements, investment management, vendor kickback schemes, and rogue trading. She has conducted due diligence and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations and led process improvement initiatives, financial restatements, contractual compliance assessments, and COVID-19 economic relief analyses.

Vanessa holds a degree and a master’s in accounting. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Paul Farfel

Paul Farfel is a forensic accounting expert with more than 35 years of experience.

Paul has supported expert witnesses in the submission of expert reports for both arbitration and litigation with disputed values of up to $1 billion. He has worked to refute plaintiff’s experts reports and testimony and to support defense expert’s reports and testimony, related to professional negligence, causation, and damages.

Paul has more than 15 years of experience as a forensic accountant for general counsel, conducting investigations to identify and understand potential exposures. He has advised both internal and external counsel regarding defense strategies and assisted during arbitration panels and court trials.

Paul’s expertise encompasses financial accounting and reporting requirements for public and private companies, regulatory reporting and compliance requirements for financial institutions, and financial statement auditing standards. He has extensive experience examining materials provided in discovery, reviewing expert reports by plaintiff’s and defense experts, and preparing fact and expert witnesses for deposition and testimony.

Paul is a Certified Public Accountant and is Certified in Financial Forensics. He holds a master’s in finance and international business.

Mohamad Hussein

Mohamad Hussein is a Chartered Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner with over a decade of experience. He has been appointed as an expert and has assisted the named expert over 50 times with total claim values exceeding $8 billion.

Mohamad has testified in international arbitration, led complex investigations, and provided expert reports in high-value commercial disputes before the DIFC, ICC, LCIA, ICSID, Capital Market Authority and Canadian Courts. He has been involved in investigations with values in excess of $3 billion and delivers reports in both English and Arabic.

Mohamad has extensive dispute resolution expertise in a range of matters involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, investment treaty disputes, shareholder disputes, joint venture disputes and intellectual property infringement. He has also been engaged to provide strategic insight into high-profile investigations involving corporate misconduct, regulatory breaches in banking and capital markets, auditor negligence and financial fraud.

Mohamad specialises in economic loss quantification, fraud investigations, asset tracing, and financial analysis across sectors such as oil & gas, banking, pharmaceuticals, construction, real estate, and government. He has led investigations into multi-million-dollar frauds involving inventory overstatements, related party transactions, and whistle-blower allegations.

Mohamad is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, Canada and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He regularly delivers accredited training to legal professionals on financial statement analysis, auditing standards, and business valuation.

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