Bios

Rosalind Wright CB QC
Barrister and former Government and regulatory lawyer, with criminal, regulatory, management and prosecuting experience. Ros led and directed a Government Department. Has experience of working at high level in European Commission. Chairs tribunals and has been a non-executive director of three Government agencies and departments. Writes and presents and lectures extensively, mostly on financial crime and business ethics.

She was formerly the Director of the Serious Fraud Office, from 1997 to April 2003. She was previously general counsel and an executive director for 10 years at the Securities and Futures Authority, one of the principal City financial services regulators. Prior to taking up that appointment, she was an Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions at the DPP's Department, where she worked for 18 years, after five years in practice at the Bar.

Current roles: Chairman of Fraud Advisory Panel (2003 - present) (Voluntary); Complaints Commissioner, London Metal Exchange (2010 - present)

Previous roles: Member and past chairman, Supervisory Committee, European Anti-Fraud Office, European Commission, Brussels (2005 - 2012); Director, Serious Fraud Office (1997 - 2003); Independent director, Insolvency Service (2006 - 2011); Trustee and Vice-Chairman, Jewish Association for Business Ethics (2001 - 2012) (Voluntary); Independent director, Legal Services Division, DTI (2002 - 2008); Non-executive Director, Office of Fair Trading (2003 - 2007); Advisory and prosecuting lawyer, General Counsel and director of policy, Securities and Futures Authority (1987 - 1997)

Other: Patron, Fraud Women's Network. Member, Bar Council 2000 - 2003; Chairman of Bar Council Employed Barristers Committee: 2001 - 2003; Master of the Bench, Middle Temple (elected in 2001). Reader, 2010. Chairman Scholarships and Prizes Committee 2004 - 2008 and member of Executive Committee 2004 - 2008; member of Scholarships and Prizes Committee, 2001 - 2004 and co-opted member from 2008 - present. Regular member (trained) of interviewing panels for Middle Temple scholarships and prizes 2001 - present. Vice-President of BACFI (Bar Association for Commerce, Finance and Industry).

Awards: Order of Companion of Most Noble Order of the Bath (CB) New Year's Honours list, 2001. Honorary QC: appointed 2006. Cressey Award, 2007, given by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, USA, for Lifetime Achievement in fraud prevention and enforcement. Compliance Register, Lifetime Achievement Award for work in financial services regulation and combating fraud 2010

Qualifications: Barrister-at-law (called to the Bar, Middle Temple, 1964); LLB (Hons) University College, London 1963; St Paul's Girls' School 1953 - 1960

Toni Sless
Company Director
Into Consultancy & The Risk Avengers
With a background in the public and private sectors, Toni specialises in cyber fraud; incident response planning and management; insider threat; identity theft; security awareness and training. Toni has led the strategic and operational management of incidents for many organisations: developing and implementing policies and processes; testing and response planning and management of incidents. Toni has trained hundreds of fraud security, risk and business managers on fraud vulnerabilities; incident management and response planning; insider threat and identity crime.

As an independent consultant, Toni works with businesses developing, implementing and testing their strategic and operational response plans, policies and processes for management of incidents. She also works with businesses to identify vulnerabilities, weaknesses and enablers that facilitate fraud; developing policies and processes; road maps and technology enhancements to combat threats as well as providing training and awareness on the insider and cyber fraud threat, raising awareness of human vulnerabilities.

Toni recently co-founded The Risk Avengers, collaborating with industry peers in the cyber security and social engineering arenas, incorporating fraud prevention and awareness; cyber security; social engineering; penetration testing; incident management and physical security.

Toni is the founder and Chairwoman of the Fraud Women’s Network, which was launched in March 2007, listed as one of the Awesome 100 Networks and shortlisted as Inter-Sector Network of the Year by Inclusive Networks. In her spare time, she mentors many women in various disciplines including cyber security and fraud prevention and continues to drive the Fraud Women’s Network to support women working in the arena.

Katy Worobec
Head of Fraud Control
Cards and Fraud Control Division
UK Payments
Katy Worobec is the Director of Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK) the body that leads the collaborative fight against fraud in the UK payments industry. Its Members are UK retail banks, card issuers, and card payment acquirers. FFA UK’s activities include: delivering UK-wide awareness campaigns (often in partnership) to inform and educate customers about fraud threats and how to stay safe; operating an intelligence hub and Threat Management Process to understand how the fraudsters are attacking the industry and allow the exchange of information quickly between members/with law enforcement; providing the single point of contact for companies suffering data breaches to ensure that compromised account information can be speedily, safely and securely repatriated to the banks; sponsorship of the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), formed as a partnership with the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police which targets organised criminal gangs: and acting as the definitive source of industry fraud statistics and data.

Katy has worked with FFA UK and its various predecessors at the heart of the payments industry for over 20 years, and during that time has been instrumental in building the collaborative work on fraud from its start in the early 1990s to the level it is today. Highlights include the establishment of the DCPCU, the setting up of the Financial Fraud Bureau with its Fraud Intelligence Sharing System (the industry’s financial fraud intelligence hub), and the launch of the nationwide Take 5 fraud awareness and behaviour change campaign.

Katy is co-founder and Deputy Chair of the Fraud Women's Network

Shelley Palmer
Shelley joined MasterCard in 2005 after having managed the fraud and operations department within Switch for the previous 8 years. Prior to this, Shelley worked as a fraud analyst in the Birmingham area for both Document Evidence Ltd and the West Midlands Police Fraud Squad.

Currently working within a small team, Shelley's role sees her creating innovative solutions to close identified fraud gaps, setting the strategic direction for fraud prevention within the Scheme and providing support, consultancy and training to MasterCard customers, Law Enforcement and Retailers in 10 countries across Europe. Shelley also represents MasterCard on various UK and International Committees and is a valued member of the International Association for Financial Crime Investigators (IAFCI).

Kathryn Garbett
Kathryn is a specialist in civil fraud, heads the Firm's Fraud Defence Group and is renowned for the successful pursuit or defence of serious fraud allegations. The hallmark of her practice is comprehensive strategic advice to anyone facing a civil claim while being investigated at the same time by prosecution agencies, Inland Revenue, regulators or employers.

A testimony to her skills is the number of highly sensitive cases she is called upon to deal with. Some examples that can be mentioned are: advising a City of London banker in defending civil proceedings brought by the Bank to recover substantial bonuses paid by the Bank for alleged misconduct, deceit and breach of contract and in the parallel investigation by the FSA. Kathryn recently led teams of international lawyers in advising several City of London bankers in proceedings brought by the overseas regulators.

She is a director of the Fraud's Women's Network (FWN), a co-founder of the Firm's Criminal Law Panel and has been a Partner since 2004.

Michelle Parkes
Michelle is a senior marketing professional with a proven track record in developing innovative ways to generate new business and in actively managing the entire marketing mix to build lasting business relationships. Working for strong financial and service brands, Michelle has delivered multi-faceted and highly integrated campaigns and achieved high performance lead generation and business winning campaign capability. Michelle is the owner of Parkes Marketing; working with organisations such as the Open Identity Exchange, Innovate Identity and Event Creation Network for project and marketing management.

Sarah Sinden
Sarah joined UK Payments (formerly APACS) in 2001 having previously worked as an underwriter/credit controller at Close Brothers Ltd. She has over 17 years' experience in the financial services industry with the last thirteen having been within different areas at UK Payments.

Sarah has an in depth knowledge of payment fraud prevention and risk management and is responsible for planning and management of FFA UK website development and social media strategy. She facilitates the Fraud Control Unit (FCU) relationship with key internal and external communications providers covering all FCU communication strategy activities. This includes delivery and quality assurance of materials, communications advice to project managers towards the identification, planning and delivery of fraud prevention related education and awareness projects and initiatives. Sarah is also guardian of the FFA UK brand, ensuring enhancements and appropriate use of the brand by all stakeholders. She manages a range of budget activities on behalf of the Unit and contributes towards the Industry Strategic Threat Management Process as required for the purpose of driving forward the payment industry fraud prevention strategy.

Sarah works independently and alongside internal UK Payments colleagues and in consultation with Members, card schemes, law enforcement agencies, government, trade associations and retailers.

Hannah Blom-Cooper
Hannah is a commercial litigator who specialises in representing individuals and corporations in relation to serious allegations of fraud and misconduct. Hannah has particular expertise in advising in the context of business rescue and formal insolvency proceedings. Hannah has also built a successful practice in providing clear and practical advice on asset recovery and asset protection both for creditors and debtors.

Hannah frequently acts for directors particularly in relation to disqualification proceedings or allegations concerning delinquent business affairs including claims for wrongful or fraudulent trading. Hannah also acts for insolvency practitioners, both pre and post-appointment, bankrupts and companies subject to debt recovery.

Hannah is a member of the Young Fraud Lawyers Association (YFLA), Fraud Women's Network (FWN) and Professional Women's Network.

Pat Turner
Pat has worked in the Telecoms Industry for the past 29 years. Initially with BT and the past 24 years with Virgin Media and previous Cable companies that Virgin Media acquired. Pat started in Customer Services, progressing in her role to Senior Credit Controller and then into the Fraud Manager role for the past 14 years. Pat is also an active member of a number of Fraud Forums including the Fraud Women's Network (FWN) Midland Fraud Forum (MFF) & Telecom UK Fraud Forum (TUFF) having served 2 years as Chair Person and current Director of the Board of TUFF. Pat has a wealth of knowledge and experience dealing with telecom fraud, subscription fraud, payment fraud and ID theft. She has received a TUFF award in 2008 for her contribution to the ongoing fight against telecommunications fraud and was recognised by the FWN with the Stella Walsh Award in 2012 for Long Term Commitment for Preventing Fraud. Her team was shortlisted this year (2014) for the Credit Today awards for Fraud Prevention Team of the year and shortlisted for Utilities & Telecoms Awards for Telecoms Team of the year in 2012. Pat has recently moved into the area of Risk Assessment/Fraud Prevention within Virgin Media.

Ruth Anderson
Joining KPMG in March 2012 from the public sector, Ruth has over 15 years’ experience in the fields of intelligence, security, risk management and cybercrime. Ruth has worked in the defence and law enforcement sectors at management board level as well as working with clients across FS. She has led and delivered security risk management solutions and cyber strategies in complex threat environments. Ruth has overseen security/cyber security reviews and assessments for clients in both public and private sectors with a focus on identifying practical solutions that support the business, ensure compliance and are informed by a comprehensive threat picture. Ruth has supported a range of FS clients to develop their understanding of cyber threats, assess maturity of their ability to respond and deliver cyber strategies at Group level in a context of increasing regulatory focus and changing threat landscape. Ruth has supported clients in developing and implementing multi-million pound cyber improvement and change programmes. She has enabled clients to clarify their vision and objectives and understand the range of capabilities necessary to enable the business and manage their risk profile. Ruth has excelled at identifying innovative solutions within the digital intelligence and cybercrime arenas. She has been at the forefront of the development of groundbreaking operational capabilities, challenging conventional approaches and providing benefits to cybercrime investigations. Ruth leads KPMG’s Cyber Maturity service line. She has developed tools and delivered into a range of clients. She has brought her expertise from the defence sector and knowledge of government in formation assurance requirements to support clients in delivering a balanced and business focused approach to security and information risk management. The CMA is now one of IPBR’s leading service line’s and has been rolled out internationally. Ruth has supported a range of clients in both design and delivery of information risk management frameworks with a specific focus on communicating the nature of information risks to the business to support operational decision making. This has enabled integration within wide enterprise risk management and identified potential efficiency savings as well as improved identification and management of all information risk. Ruth has been involved with helping global FS clients to understand regulatory requirements and assess progress against regulatory standards and questionnaires on cyber. This work has been both UK and global and she was most recently involved in a review of the Canadian banking sector on behalf of the Canadian regulator. Her sector Experience and Key Skills includes: Financial Service, law enforcement, cybercrime, child protection, online social media and defence. Security management, cyber strategy, security/cyber security reviews, data protection, information risk management and information assurance.

Kerry Martin
Kerry is a Manager in the Forensic Services team at Smith & Williamson, a Top 8 UK accountancy practice with an investment management and private banking house. Kerry has more than ten years of experience in the field of forensic accounting and financial crime investigations. During this time, Kerry has gained experience on financial and regulatory assignments, international arbitration, verification missions worldwide, litigation support, due diligence and asset tracing.

Kerry has advised and assisted clients with enquiries and investigations instigated by HM Revenue & Customs including alleged manipulation of VAT and PAYE and under-declaration of income.  She has been involved with a number of regulatory investigations which have included a wide array of assignments conducted on behalf of the Jersey Financial Services Commission, European Commission and other International Funding Institutions.

Some of Kerry’s recent cases have involved the investigation of a multi-million dollar fraud within a Sovereign Wealth Fund stretching back 30 years, quantifying the losses alleged to have been suffered by a financial services company as a result of negligence by a Top 10 UK accounting firm and the investigation of bribery and corruption allegations brought by a Sovereign Wealth Fund. 

Kerry is an exceptional linguist, speaking a number of languages including Bulgarian, Russian and Macedonian, and these skills have proved invaluable in previous forensic engagements, based both in the UK and overseas. Kerry is an integral member of Smith & Williamson’s Russian and CIS forensic service offering and she attends all the leading legal conferences in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Kerry is an ICAEW accredited forensic accountant, a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the LCIA European Users’ Council, and an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in addition to being an active member of Arbitral Women and the British Russian Law Association.

Gaby Devereux
Gaby is Assistant Director, Engagement, at Cifas. Having spent her career to date in fraud prevention, she worked first in a retail finance company’s fraud department where she helped to develop and then manage their fraud prevention strategy during the launch of their retail card product. Gaby joined Cifas in 2004. Since then she has worked in various capacities across the training and compliance functions prior to leading the team responsible for the recruitment of all new organisations that wish to share data through the National Fraud Database and/or the Internal Fraud Database.

Over the 16 years Gaby has worked in fraud prevention, she has developed an in-depth understanding of the fraud challenges facing UK organisations and the essential tools required to identify and prevent fraud losses. She has served on a number of industry groups and given presentations on fraud matters to a wide range of organisations both nationally and internationally.