data gets into the wrong hands and Social Security numbers are now being sold on the blacklist.
AT: Did you want to add anything about leveraging your experience on how organizational cultures shape responses to financial crime risk?
JS: The important thing in organizational cultures is being able to effectively respond to financial crime risk ― the people element. Also, this ties into my point about AI. AI is amazing, but you still need someone to regulate, train and monitor it so that it meets whatever degree of compliance exists right now for AI.
In addition, it is important to create an organizational culture focused on innovation, staying updated on current trends, current regulations and policies and sanctions that are affecting the AFC world. Once the organizational culture is focused on relevancy, innovation and critical thinking, it fosters a positive go-getter, self-starter environment where people are more likely to stay in tune to new developments that will help guide their investigations based on current typographies and trends versus working with an antiquated mentality.
AT: You are currently transitioning into the AFC profession, what would your ideal role encompass?
JS: My ideal role would start with putting in the hours to develop my credibility and reputation as a trusted AML and / or fraud investigator( manager). Eventually, I want to progress to senior leadership positions with greater supervisory responsibilities. I’ m also interested in risk management / sanctions advisory roles. My entire military career had touchpoints with risk management and compliance. Even now in my current SkillBridge internship with the U. S. Department of State, I’ m continually developing my risk management skills. I conduct risk analysis and compliance reviews daily as I draft policy recommendations on
Foreign Military Sales / Financing and end-use agreements for the regional portfolios I oversee. Getting this strategic-level exposure is enlightening, and I’ m seeking to complement the lessons learned with my professional background into either an investigator or risk management role.
AT: What was the turning point in your career that made you choose a new career path in the AFC industry?
JS: My most recent military assignment was as the fraud and corruption program manager at the Air Force Office of Special Investigations headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. In this role, I helped supervise a fraud investigative consultation team comprised of special agents, analysts and a representative to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Our team streamlined communications with our regional departments and championed our company’ s vision of strengthening the investigative fraud program. Within about six months, we noted a 57 % increase in fraud case initiations compared to the prior year and received positive feedback from agents who relied on us for consultations. The work was rewarding and reinvigorating and sparked a deeper interest in the antifraud world. But it wasn’ t until I connected with Nick Schumann, the U. S. head of Financial Crime Framework at HSBC, through the American Corporate Partners Veteran Mentoring Program that my knowledge of the AFC industry expanded. He explained to me the“ art of what’ s possible” and how I can leverage my experiences in counterintelligence and fraud investigations into an impactful career in AFC. Since our first meeting in March 2025, I’ ve done extensive research and reading into all things AFC. I’ m craving the opportunity to disrupt terrorist financial networks and help keep financial institutions in regulatory compliance.
AT: Having served in the armed forces, how do your acquired skills translate easily to the AFC field?
JS: Since I was 18, the Air Force ROTC instilled in me the concept of“ Flexibility Is the Key to Airpower.” Simply put, the military taught me how to successfully adapt to changing workplace requirements and environments, while remaining resilient to adversities. Moreover, my decade with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations taught me how to lead cross-functional teams through complex investigations while keeping executives informed on emerging threats as to maintain stakeholder trust. Obviously, the landscape of the AFC world is constantly changing. Criminal actors are getting smarter at leveraging technological advancements ― AI, I’ m talking about you ― to enhance their dirty biddings. I know I’ m preaching to the choir that we must adapt to remain relevant. I’ m eager to bring forth my self-starter and innovative mentality into crafting a meaningful AFC career. Whether it’ s applying my interpersonal skills, effective communication, investigative background or ability to thrive in fast-paced environments, I know my skills will easily transfer to the AFC field.
AT: What do you enjoy doing when you are off the clock?
JS: I really enjoy going on long walks at the end of the workday to decompress and visit my neighborhood park that has a pond filled with turtles, geese and ducks. Also, being near nature is comforting to me. I’ m also getting back into reading, and I recently finished Reggie Fils-Aimé’ s“ Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo.” His motto of“ living life at the intersection of capability and opportunity” couldn’ t ring truer. So, I’ m definitely seizing this opportunity to reach a larger AFC network!
Interviewed by Karla Monterrosa- Yancey, CAMS, editor-in-chief, ACAMS, editor @ acams. org
ACAMS Today | September – November 2025 91