DONALD F. CONWAY, CPA, Managing Director, The Mercadien Group Donald F. Conway, CPA, is a principal in Mercadien, P.C., a CPA firm with a multi-disciplined consulting practice. Mr. Conway specializes in securities fraud, forensic accounting, insolvency and reorganization, and litigation support. Mr. Conway s experience includes forensic investigations relating to various forms of business transactions, including securities fraud, Ponzi schemes, bankruptcy fraud and money laundering. During these investigations, he has worked with the NJ Attorney General s Office, the NJ Bureau of Securities, the US Attorney General s Office, the FBI, and the SEC Enforcement Division. His experience also includes developing, evaluating and negotiating reorganization plans, preference analysis, cash flow projections and liquidation analysis. Mr. Conway served as accountant to the trustee in such prominent cases as Crazy Eddie and as accountant and financial advisor to the Creditors Committee in the Robert E. Brennan Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. He is experienced in the area of out-of-court workouts and has successfully guided businesses out of difficult financial situations to avoid bankruptcy. He is the Financial Advisor to the Trustee in the Birdsall Bankruptcy. From June of 1997 to May of 2006, Mr. Conway served as the Chapter 11 Trustee for the Bankruptcy Estate of Robert E. Brennan. The Debtor s Chapter 11 case was precipitated by the entry of a judgment by the U.S. District Court in an action captioned Securities and Exchange Commission versus First Jersey Securities Inc. and Robert E. Brennan, requiring the Debtor and First Jersey to disgorge profits and pay interest of approximately $75 million. Mr. Conway has served as a witness before the U.S. Federal Grand Jury, the U.S. District Court of New Jersey and the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey in matters of bankruptcy crimes, valuation, insolvency, fraudulent transfer and plans of reorganization. He has also served as a witness in various state courts in commercial litigation proceedings involving a wide array of accounting and valuation issues. Mr. Conway served as the chairman of the NJSCPA s Insolvency and Reorganization Committee. During his association with that committee, he founded and served as chairman of the committee s annual Insolvency & Reorganization Conference, which attracted approximately 200 attendees consisting of CPAs and attorneys. Panel members consisted of judges, attorneys and nationally recognized authors and speakers. Mr. Conway is a frequent speaker on matters of litigation support and forensic accounting. For more information: http://www.mercadien.com/bio_dconway.aspx.
FRANK PINA, CPA, CFF, CFE, CGMA, Managing Director, The Mercadien Group Frank Pina is a Principal of Mercadien, P.C., CPAs and serves as a leader of the firm's Forensic & Litigation Support Practice. Frank is a seasoned Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner with extensive experience helping individuals, closely held corporations, emerging growth companies and international corporations across various industries manage business controversy, execute deals and maintain compliance. He also holds the Certified in Financial Forensics credential and other certifications. Mr. Pina directs his focus toward providing valuable insight and clarity to legal counsel and executives through the use of sophisticated forensic accounting techniques, data analytics, industry experience and business acumen. Formerly of Deloitte's Forensic & Dispute Services practice, Frank was responsible for developing investigative strategies, conducting forensic interviews, background searches and document reviews and tracing hidden assets to detect patterns and schemes of fraudulent activity to uncover complex financial crimes. His diverse background and unique experience working closely with large international law firms and federal, state and local law enforcement/government agencies including the U.S. Attorney's Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, NJ Attorney General's Office and the Philadelphia City Controller's Office enables him to offer clients in both the public and private sectors sound financial and forensic investigative advice and expertise. Mr. Pina currently serves on the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Speakers Committee of the Philadelphia Chapter of Certified Fraud Examiners and is an active member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, as well as other professional associations. Frank is a frequent presenter and author on a variety of topics related to fraud detection, corporate investigations, forensic interviewing and internal controls. In 2014, he was honored to win top 40 under 40 emerging business leader awards from both NJBIZ and the Philadelphia Business Journal.
ROBERT J. SICA, Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation Robert Sica is a senior federal criminal investigator. He has 18 years of federal law enforcement experience managing and investigating complex white collar crime cases, having been with the FBI since 1996. His cases include money laundering, securities fraud, public corruption, health care fraud, bank fraud, and mortgage fraud. He has extensive international and money laundering experience. At the Newark, NJ, branch of the FBI, SA Sica works counter terrorism leads on a Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) with other local and federal agencies. He was Lead agent on a massive extortion case with national and international ties and Lead Case Manager for Super Bowl 48 in New Jersey, where he was responsible for all incoming threats to the Super Bowl and prioritizing those threats as they came into the command center. SA Sica is lead case agent responsible for managing personnel and overall investigative strategy in connection with major public corruption, extortion, bribery and drug undercover investigation. He has managed and supervised a Title III wiretap involving 60 agents, which led to the 11 arrests. The case ended in a jury trial and conviction of the Mayor of Trenton, NJ and the Mayor s brother. SA Sica has investigated Foreign Counter Intelligence cases for three years to include operating and managing a group one undercover investigation and was the case agent on a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) case. Also, he was appointed to the 9/11 financial frauds team to investigate the finances of all the 9/11 hijackers. SA Sica was worked fugitive investigations, bank frauds and complex white collar cases. One such case was that of financier Robert E. Brennan, which involved bankruptcy fraud, securities fraud and money laundering and included domestic and international travel. He led and managed the team of investigators that included the Securities and Exchange Commission the NASD and the Bankruptcy Trustee, New Jersey Department of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey Bureau of Securities. The case resulted in a seven week trial and a conviction of Mr. Brennan who was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Concerned with victimization risks, he initiated and developed an outreach program for senior citizens to advise them on the dangers of telemarketing fraud. As one part of this effort, he has made presentations seen by hundreds of senior citizens.
JOSEPH G. POLUKA, Partner, Blank Rome LLP Joseph G. Poluka is a Partner in the White Collar Defense & Investigations group at the law firm of Blank Rome LLP (resident in the Philadelphia, PA office). Mr. Poluka represents clients in the investigation and defense of a wide variety of criminal offenses, including complex fraud, healthcare, corruption, and tax schemes, and also advises on corporate compliance policies. Prior to joining Blank Rome, Poluka served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (1990-2005), including positions as Deputy Chief of the Violent Crime, Terrorism & Immigration Fraud Section, and Coordinator for the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council (ATAC). Mr. Poluka edits and frequently contributes to the firm s white collar crime newsletter, For the Defense; is active in many organizations, including the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; and speaks often at CLE and related events. He is a member of the Pennsylvania and District of Columbia Bars, and is a graduate of Cornell University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and the Harvard Law School.
SALVATORE ZERILLI, CPA, CAMS, Managing Director, The Mercadien Group Salvatore Zerilli is a principal in Mercadien, P.C., CPAs and a managing director of The Mercadien Group. A seasoned public accounting professional, Sal specializes in performing risk management services for banks and U.S. branches of foreign banking institutions. These services include outsourced internal audit services, regulatory compliance reviews, enterprise risk management and consulting services. Specific areas of expertise include the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), USA Patriot Act, allowance for loan and lease losses, asset and liability management, liquidity management, information technology, and regulatory compliance. Instituted in 2001, the Patriot Act placed additional regulatory guidelines on the banking industry. Soon thereafter, Mr. Zerilli became a certified anti-money-laundering specialist by successfully completing a rigorous examination designed by financial services industry leaders and an independent testing firm. The examination provides an objective measure of a professional s knowledge of industry best practices, anti-money-laundering standards, and other areas crucial in the field. Sal works with financial institutions to ensure that they have properly implemented compliance programs that meet the scrutiny of federal and state regulators. Wellversed in the various software applications for BSA compliance, Sal is a sought-after expert in this area. Mr. Zerilli has more than 15 years of banking industry experience, formerly serving as an auditor for Ernst & Young, performing external audits of community and commercial banks. He has also served several New York City banks in various positions, including vice president and controller. His duties included supervising the financial accounting, deposit and loan operations, information technology, and human resources departments. Sal also was a director in an accounting and consulting firm where he was responsible for overseeing the outsourced internal audit engagements for financial institutions. This hands-on involvement augments Sal s business acumen about internal bank operations and the industry. He is a frequent presenter and author on regulatory compliance topics. A member of the American Institute and NY State Society of Certified Public Accountants, Mr. Zerilli is also active in the NJ Bankers Association, the Financial Managers Society NY, NJ and Philadelphia Chapters, and the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists. Sal earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Albany, achieving magna cum laude, and resides in Millstone Township, NJ with his wife and two children.