It's a Life of Crime for This Society Member

I get a lot of satisfaction from helping convict someone who’s engaging in human trafficking or preventing money from going to criminal organizations.

The jargon sounds like it’s from a Hollywood movie: Operation Predator, the El Dorado Task Force, the black market peso exchange, Hawala money transfers. But for Christopher G. Costa, his work at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is quite real.

After his hitch in the Marines ended in 1997, Costa worked for a veritable who's who of law enforcement: the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, the Veterans Affairs Federal Police, the Federal Protective Service, the U.S. Air Marshals Service and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Much of what he did was to mitigate security risks via policies, procedures and counter-measures. He also participated in the investigation into the attacks on 9/11 and received a service award for his response and recovery efforts during and after the tragedy. "For some reason, I remember seeing a bunch of baby carriages in the rubble on Church Street that day," recalls Costa, "and thinking 'thank God they're empty.'"

So, is Costa a world-class crime fighter or humble accountant? He is, in fact, both. "Most of what I do includes undercover investigations and search warrants of bank statements and ledgers to follow the flow of illegal activity so as to seize assets of high-target criminal enterprises leading to the sale at auction," encapsulates Costa.

"When I got to one of my first assignments in the New York metropolitan area, we formed it almost like a small business. We had to deal with staffing, budgets and reports. But a formal accounting education also helps me do my job in the field. Criminals and the technology they use are getting more sophisticated. So I have to make sure I’m on top of my game," says Costa.

Costa hopes to one day pursue the Certified in Financial Forensics designation and perhaps open his own practice and teach.

Costa's oasis is coaching his two teenage daughters at soccer, and he releases much of the tension that goes with his profession by studying Brazilian jujitsu.

So, how is his job different than the movies? "Fiction is a lone law enforcement person getting angry at the system because a case gets thrown out on a technicality and wanting to take justice into his or her own hands," says the north Jersey resident. "Reality is an integrated team provides unbiased testimony and reports of the facts, and it understands that it can't control the outcome. That's up to a jury."