Alison is a Director based between FRA’s London office and Edinburgh. She is a Chartered Accountant with 17 years’ experience working in forensic accounting, investigations, disputes, contract compliance and licensing reviews. Alison is a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist. Alison has worked across various industries – financial, communications, retail, industrial manufacturing, among others – in over 20 countries in Europe, USA, Africa and Asia.
Alison has worked on large scale investigations into fraudulent financial reporting in the retail and construction sectors. This includes an investigation into FCPA breaches resulting in the global drinks company being fined almost $20m, and an investigation in the oil and gas industry into an employee who stole over £1m in a tax fraud scheme. She has also supported various investigations into whistle-blower allegations of fraud, irregularities and poor governance across the energy, construction, government, school, transport and council sectors.
Alison’s experience in disputes includes providing expert forensic support for the defendant in a complex USD 2 billion dispute in the oil and gas sector. This involved analysis of the claimants financial statements, support for settlement mediation and other legal proceedings. Working alongside the expert witness, Alison was responsible for preparing a highly complex model of the damages calculation. The model included the facility to adjust assumptions, based on legal arguments, and to demonstrate the adjusted quantum based on various scenarios and combinations of scenarios.
Alison has managed supply chain reviews across EMEA for two of the largest global technology companies. This involved performing reviews to assess whether the licensed distributors in the supply chain were adhering to the terms of their contracts (i.e. specific contract clauses around the manufacture, purchase, sale, storage or destruction of IP) and, where applicable, that all royalties due had been accurately calculated and paid.
In the financial services sector, Alison has worked on a number of projects including a s166 review into a rogue trader who cost the bank $36m in losses and an investigation into disputed assets as part of an administration following the collapse of a global financial services firm. She has also performed financial crime controls reviews at various financial services institutions and an investigation into fraudulent financial reporting in a FTSE 100 company in the insurance sector who were fined €3.5 million for regulatory breaches.
Prior to joining FRA, Alison spent 14 years with PwC’s forensics team, and one year in the Department for International Developments Internal Audit and Investigation Services team. She has a BSc (Hons) degree in Maths with French from Heriot-Watt University, which included spending an exchange year at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, and a Masters (MSc) in Operational Research from Strathclyde University. Alison is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists.