Yousr Khalil is a Partner at FRA and co-leads the Paris office with Senior Director, Caroline Fagard. Yousr is a forensic accountant with over 16 years’ experience in matters involving fraud and corruption, government contracts litigation, internal investigation, due diligence, compliance, and governance and risk management in the US, Latin America, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and is Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF). She is fluent in English, Arabic, and French plus has a working knowledge of Portuguese.
Yousr was 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 four investigative authorities: UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Department of State (DOS) and French Parquet National Financier (PNF). Her team focused on a risk assessment and evaluation of the company’s anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) global compliance program.
At FRA, Yousr oversees all the Paris office’s Forensic Accounting projects. In 2018, Yousr assisted Counsel through the first French Anti-corruption Agency compliance monitorship on a review which included the collection and analysis of financial and accounting data, high-risk transaction testing and interviews.
Prior to FRA, Yousr worked for Kroll in Dubai as a senior director and was a key member of its Middle East financial investigations practice. There, Yousr was part of the team engaged by the Bahraini public prosecutor to investigate complaints submitted by the Central Bank of Bahrain and the Algosaibi Family related to the collapse of The International Banking Corporation and Awal Bank.
Yousr has been responsible for major sections of forensic review of accounting, financial and business records spanning more than five years for various multinational companies associated with alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Working with legal counsel for the client, she reconstructed financial records, researched cost charges and analyzed associated data to determine the allowability and reasonableness of such costs. The projects involved on site work in Angola, Egypt, Great Britain, Norway and India.
In addition, she has experience supporting clients in addressing their Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) and government contracts compliance issues in a wide range of industries, including: professional services; oil and gas; manufacturing; biotechnology; engineering; and information technology. Yousr developed, recommended and helped to implement “best practice” internal controls designed to strengthen and unify a company’s internal control framework. These “best practice” controls covered a wide range of activities, including approvals, authorizations, verifications, reconciliations, access controls, change management, reviews of operating performance, security of assets and segregation of duties. Yousr performed comprehensive controls testing of actual transactions for compliance with established controls.
Yousr has also worked as a managing consultant for Navigant Consulting advising on complex financial reporting and financial restatements accounting issues and FCPA investigations, and as an auditor for Arthur Andersen.
Yousr Khalil ranks highly for her outstanding practice. One respondent comments: “Yousr is terrific at what she does and deserves special recognition for her outstanding work.” Who’s Who Legal Consulting Experts: Forensic Accountants 2019.
Yousr Khalil wins plaudits for her “tireless devotion to uncovering the facts” with clients giving particular praise for her “excellent communication skills and ability to aggregate data”. Who’s Who Legal Investigations: Forensic Accountants 2019.
Yousr Khalil is a standout practitioner in the French market who excels on issues such as procurement disputes, internal investigations, and fraud and corruption cases. Who’s Who Legal France 2019.