The annual training seminar of the Heartland Chapter-ACFE for 2005 was again held in May at the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.� This year's seminar was another resounding success.� Six different states were represented among the 145 attendees at this year's conference.� Accountants, auditors, attorneys, bankers, insurance investigators, IT and law enforcement personnel were among the numerous occupational field represented.� Attendees were presented with a variety of timely topics in the anti fraud arena.�

Mr. Barry Zalma began the seminar on Monday morning by providing an overview of the work he does as a consultant in the field of insurance fraud investigations.� For more than 35 years Mr. Zalma has acted as a claims person, attorney, and Certified Fraud Examiner, representing insurers, advising insurers on claims handling and interpreting claims coverage language.� He also testifies as a recognized expert in insurance bad faith, insurance claims handling, and insurance fraud.� He has written insurance policies for insurers, is the author of reference books used daily by working claims professionals, and is a frequent speaker to various industry groups.�

Mr. Zalma highlighted many of the significant differences in insurance statutory and case law between the various states and how this impacts the insurance industry.� He outlined the general approach he takes to the various cases he is asked to consult on.� Mr. Zalma also illustrated his points by providing several representative examples of the types of cases he has worked on during his career.�

Mr. Alan Malinchak spoke Monday afternoon on the topic of identity theft investigations.� Mr. Malinchak recently retired from the FBI as the Chief of the Leadership Development Institute.� He now works with an investigative consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area as the director of professional development and training services.�

Mr. Malinchak outlined current identity theft issues and the difficulty in successfully investigating such cases.� Personal information such as social security numbers, birthdates, and mothers maiden names have tremendous value to the fraudster hoping to assume a victims credit identity.� The internet has become one of the greatest weapons available to identity thieves.� "Phishing", Nigerian/Russian letters, Canadian lottery, free gifts, and IRS e-audit are among the most common internet identity theft techniques.� Mr. Malinchak stated that virtually all computerized databases are at some risk, as several recent cases have illustrated.�

Mr. Stan Langston spoke all day Tuesday on the topic of money laundering.� Mr. Langston recently retired from the CIA, where he spent years directing teams of forensic accountants and fraud investigators to investigate the financial networks of narcotics traffickers and organized crime syndicates.� He spent a great deal of his time focusing on South America, Spain, and Portugal.�

Mr. Langston outlined the three major steps in successful money laundering:� placement, layering, and integration.� Placement is where illegitimate cash is first introduced into the financial or commercial systems, and is the most critical and vulnerable stage.� Layering consists of conducting numerous transactions and wire transfers for the sole purpose of obscuring the original source of the funds.� Integration consists of aggregating the funds with legitimately obtained money in order to "bring the funds home".�

Mr. Langston gave numerous examples of the various techniques used by money launderers.� He illustrated some of the difficulties money launderers face, as well as some of the obstacles faced by investigators in working money laundering cases.� He also touched on some of the similarities and differences between terrorist financing and conventional money laundering activities.�