As a new graduate from the University of Calgary with a Bachelors degree in Finance, Mac has already accumulated a wealth of knowledge in the area of financial crime. During his time at the University of Calgary, Mac worked with the Calgary Police Service for two years as an Auxiliary member, where he first discovered his passion for solving complex investigative puzzles. He then moved on to the Alberta Securities Commission where he secured multiple internships in the Enforcement Division focusing on investigations relating to breaches of securities laws in Alberta and the New Economy Division where he researched the use of digital financial instruments and their role in financial markets.

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Serge Tokar immigrated to Canada as a foreign legal professional. He has a Master of Laws in International Business Law and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Central Lancashire (United Kingdom). He is a co-author of a series of academic papers on consumer behaviour.

In Canada, Serge finished Financial Crime Analysis (CIFCA) programme at Seneca College, received an OSINT certificate from Toddington International and acquired a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) designation.

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Prat Agrawal is an AML enthusiast working as AML investigator in Financial Intelligence Unit at Scotiabank. His area of interest includes complex investigations comprising of public private initiatives like human trafficking, organ trafficking, drug trafficking, unregistered money service businesses and cryptocurrency.

He graduated with Master of Applied Sciences degree from University of Toronto before started working as Fraud Analyst, Credit Cards at CIBC. During his time at CIBC, Prat worked on mitigating loss to bank by providing real time support in the reporting of fraudulent transactions and assisting clients with initiating dispute claims through visa and mastercard.

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Jinisha is a Sr. Fraud Deterrence Analyst at Scotiabank and a lifelong learner of human behaviour. As a former retail banker, she found her passion for advocating for the victims of financial crime, which birthed an outright obsession with all-things AML. While immersed in internal investigations as the bank’s first line of defense, she learned about the colossal & ubiquitous impact of financial crime. Her life and career took a dramatic turn when she discovered a human trafficking survivor – Timea Nagy and her social enterprise. Jinisha vowed to combat human trafficking and modern slavery not just as an imminent issue but also her raison d'être. Jinisha believes that financial institutions are in a unique position to ultimately stop human trafficking and abolish modern slavery.

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Ash Aiyar is a fincrime specialist with a keen interest in cryptocurrency and Cannabis regulations.

She currently works with a leading money services business and specialises in high risk clients and enhanced due diligence along with FINTRAC related filings.

Having previously worked in Trust and Safety at Linkedin, she hopes to create a framework that regulates both financial crime and cyber fraud.

Ash completed her Bachelors of Science (Honours) from Miranda House, Delhi University. Her certifications in financial crime include Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS), Financial Intelligence Specialist (FIS) and Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator (CCI).

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Julia Schaumer is a financial crime analyst with a keen interest in sanctions compliance, AML/CTF policies and political risk analysis.

Having previously worked for INTERPOL’s Financial Crime Unit, she has experience analyzing large-scale international fraud and money laundering cases, researching financial crime typologies, and devising project proposals aimed at creating public-private partnerships at a global scale.

She was also previously the Program Editor for Women in Security at the NATO Association of Canada and published articles on topics related to international security matters and geopolitics.

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Elizabeth Malleck is a self-motivated professional, working as a Lead Investigator in Transaction Monitoring, Financial Intelligence Unit at BMO Financial Group. Her areas of interest involve major investigations, including organized crime groups, human trafficking and drug trafficking.

While in university, Elizabeth worked in retail banking at BMO Bank of Montreal and completed two summer internships with BMO’s Anti-Money Laundering program. During her internships, she gained knowledge of the medical cannabis industry and presented process improvement ideas to senior managers in the Financial Intelligence Unit.

After joining BMO’s Transaction Monitoring team in 2018, she established herself as a top-performing investigator and received various Spotlight Achievement Awards. She was promoted to Lead Investigator in July 2020. Elizabeth is considered a subject-matter expert in banking patterns of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, and uses her knowledge to educate her team on how traditional AML red flags may not align with every customer base.

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Alex Côté is a passionate AML/ATF professional, with his interests including AML investigations, cryptocurrency, and other emerging financial technologies.

Alex is currently a compliance consultant for a leading cryptocurrency exchange, where he is able to leverage his AML experience alongside his enthusiasm for innovative technology.

Prior to his foray into cryptocurrency compliance, Alex was a Senior Investigator - HRT with BMO Financial Group, and was responsible for several streams, including enhanced due diligence, suspicious transaction reporting, and training.

Alex is a graduate of the University of Toronto and Seneca College's CIFCA (Canadian Institute of Financial Crime Analysis) Program, as well as being a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP), and Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator (CCI).

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