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EXPERT PROFILE

Harry Garcia, CFE, CPP,  is a veteran forensic accounting investigator, with more than 35-years’ experience with the FBI, as a Special Agent Accountant, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as an Internal Revenue Agent, and Big Four accounting firms Ernst & Young, as Associate Director Office of firm Security, Deloitte LLP, as Senior Manager of the Forensic & Dispute client services and the owner/managing partner of H. Garcia & Associates Inc.

Harry’s vast professional investigative experience has entailed applying pertinent investigative procedures to gather facts of evidentiary value, in support of criminal prosecutions and civil litigation cases. As a forensic accounting investigator, Harry is an expert at forensically analyzing documents and financial transactions.

As an expert witness, Harry has testified, at trials in federal criminal cases, on money laundering and public corruption matters, and in the private sector, he has testified as an expert on money laundering matters, vendor kickbacks and misappropriation of assets at depositions. He has conducted thorough forensic accounting analysis of banking, business and financial records and provided expert interpretation of the transactions through signed affidavit in support of preliminary injunction filing to recover fraudulently disbursed cash equivalent assets. His expertise in corruption cases includes bribery, companies’ disbursement payments kickbacks from vendors, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) issues.

Harry has investigated numerous criminal and civil litigation cases, encompassing forensic accounting investigations; misappropriation of company assets; clergy abuse matters; court-ordered monitoring; government enforcement mandated reviews of  AML and FCPA compliance functions and security risk-mitigation assessments focusing on recommending mitigation measures to reduce threats and vulnerabilities impacting companies’ critical assets.

Harry has worked alongside federal prosecutors and private sector lawyers, in support of criminal prosecution and civil litigation, including providing expert testimony at depositions and trials.  His expert testimony has included testifying on the financial aspects of disguising illicitly obtained money, money laundering matters, vendor kickbacks and missapropriation of corporate assets, including theft of inventory.

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

Harry is the CEO and managing partner of H.Garcia & Associates, Inc. (“HGA”), a California based private investigative and consulting firm he founded in 2005.  HGA provides a variety of litigation support driven investigative and consulting services to multinational corporations, private corporations, the Catholic Church, a Catholic religious order, and their external counsel.

HGA has also provided training on forensic interviewing techniques; fraud investigation techniques and the financial aspects of investigating fraud, corruption, and related money laundering activity.  HGA works with a large network of U.S. based and global investigative resources throughout Latin America including  Mexico, Colombia, Peru Brazil, and Paraguay.

DELOITTE LLP 

From 2013 through 2015, Harry served a two-year secondment assignment for Deloitte LLP as the director of the forensic & dispute services practice in Colombia, which under his leadership prospered and grew into a clear presence in the northern South America region with ten forensic investigators and the creation of a computer forensic technology lab. During his tenure in Colombia, he developed business internally and externally which led to a variety of engagements under his responsibility in Colombia and Peru involving forensic accounting investigations; whistle-blower allegations; procurement fraud, including vendor kickbacks and FCPA reviews and compliance assessments.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION 

Before serving in the private sector, Harry served with the federal government as an FBI Special Agent Accountant and Supervisory Special Agent (January 1981-September 2003) before his retirement in September 2003. During his career with the FBI, Harry investigated complex financial fraud crimes, public corruption, financial institution internal frauds, other white-collar crime cases, and related money laundering focusing on the seizure of illicit assets. His achievements included outstanding work in a complex financial fraud and corruption case that led to the indictment and conviction of the Mayor of the second biggest city in Puerto Rico was recognized by the prestigious award of “Law Enforcement Officer of the Year.”  Additionally, in 1996 he was awarded the “Outstanding Achievement Award” by the State of California for his accomplishments in two high-profile federal law enforcement border corruption and money laundering investigations in San Diego, among many others, received from local, federal, foreign law enforcement and national intelligence agencies between 1987 and 1999.

Harry held a diplomatic position in Bogota, Colombia where he served as an Assistant and Acting Legal Attache for the FBI at the U.S. Embassy. Harry represented the FBI at embassy inter-agency meetings that required sensitivity and diplomatic articulation of FBI positions. Harry was recognized for securing the first kidnapping extraterritorial indictment against a FARC terrorist group commander in Colombia. At the end of his FBI career, Harry held FBI management positions in the areas of organized crime and computer forensic examiners response team squads.

Harry implemented FBI international training programs in anti-corruption and anti-money laundering for in-country law enforcement counterparts, prosecutors, and investigators in Colombia and Mexico, focusing on the financial aspects of corruption cases, including the use of indirect financial analysis techniques to trace illicit assets.

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE 

 Harry served as an Internal Revenue Agent following his graduation from Arizona State University.  His responsibilities included conducting federal tax return audits of corporations, partnerships, and individuals, by thoroughly examining taxpayers’ financial and business books and records, by applying relevant audit techniques, to determine the correct tax liability.  He was commended by the branch chief on case evaluations for his outstanding and effective time utilization, audit techniques, and communication skills.

CERTIFICATIONS-LICENSE & SPECIALTIES

• Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
• Board Certified in Security Management as a CPP
• Licensed Private Investigator in California
• Diplomatic experience in South America
• FBI Special Agent Accountant & Big Four Accounting Firm experience

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
• American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) International
• Society of Former Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

PUBLIC SPEAKING/TRAINING

• Harry is an accomplished educator on forensic interviewing techniques, fraud investigations and the financial aspects of investigating public corruption and money laundering cases. He has presented globally in South America, Singapore, Mexico and in the U.S.

• He has been a speaker for the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) in anti-corruption and interviewing techniques courses in Mexico City and Colombia for investigators and prosecutors.

• On two separate occasions in 2011, Harry was engaged by the president of the Mexico City ACFE chapter to provide training to an audience of accountants and internal auditors in interviewing and interrogation techniques.

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