Forensic Risk Alliance (FRA) is pleased to announce that the firm has elected three new partners, effective 1 January 2022. The three newly promoted partners, along with their respective office locations are: Samantha Hsu (Dallas, Texas), Gordon Macleod (London, UK), and Weng Yee Ng (London, UK).

“We are delighted to welcome Samantha, Gordon, and Weng Yee to the FRA partnership,” said Toby Duthie, a founding partner and Managing Partner of FRA. “Each represent the best of our profession, serving as trusted advisors to their clients and mentors to their teams.”

“These newly promoted partners are exceptionally talented and bring a rich set of skills, experience and backgrounds to the partnership,” said Stuart Ells, Chief Executive Officer of FRA. “They have each meaningfully contributed to the firm and exemplify FRA’s values and collaborative culture. I am immensely proud of each of them and am looking forward to all that they will accomplish as partners.”

Samantha Hsu focuses on fraud and misconduct investigations, including regulatory-related matters such as anti-bribery, anti-money laundering and tax fraud. She helps global clients across a range of industries proactively assess and enhance their fraud risk and third-party risk management programs. She has particular experience managing engagements in the Asia Pacific region relating to US inbound and outbound business transactions. She also has extensive experience assisting US-based corporations investigate potential violations of US regulatory and financial compliance related matters, including several high profile Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations into clients’ global subsidiaries and operations. She also assists SEC-listed multinationals with proactively mitigating FCPA risk through forensic due diligence, risk assessment and FCPA training.

Gordon Macleod has over two decades of financial markets experience and is a recognised expert in investigating and remediating control failures in the context of capital markets, complex valuations and risk, fair value (Mark-to-Market) accounting, due diligence and data control. He has a deep understanding of accounting standards. He works with clients to investigate issues, identify how the failures occurred and design and remediation of the control environment to prevent reoccurrence. He has served as an expert witness on several occasions, the most recent being in ABN Amro Bank BV vs. Royal & Sun Alliance PLC, where he was described in Judge Richard Jacobs‘s High Court judgement as “a thoughtful and careful witness” who offered “measured” answers in cross-examination. He also recently provided ability-to-pay analysis to Petrofac in its penalty negotiations with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) following its guilty plea to seven bribery offenses.

Weng Yee Ng’s expertise includes investigations, litigation support (both civil and criminal), risk assessments, compliance reviews, evaluation of compliance programmes, FCPA monitorships for both the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and US Securities and Exchange Commission, disgorgement and penalty calculations, procurement fraud matters and third-party and M&A due diligence. Having spent over six years working in-country in Malaysia, she possesses a first-hand understanding of the business nuances and financial and reporting practices encountered in Malaysia and in other Southeast Asia countries.

Both Ng and Macleod were part of the FRA team supporting Airbus in a multi-year forensic accounting and eDiscovery review within the context of the company’s multinational investigation, reporting to the SFO, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Department of State (DOS) and French Parquet National Financier (PNF).