Forensic and Valuation Services Conference (E2209010)

Dr. Michael Crain is a senior advisor in Kaufman Rossin’s forensic, advisory and valuation services department.

He is currently the director of Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Forensic Accounting and has taught at FAU beginning in 2008. At Kaufman Rossin, he consults with clients and their lawyers and works with firm personnel in the forensic accounting, economic damages, and valuation areas. Michael testifies in courts of law as an expert witness with experience in both Federal and state courts, and arbitration panels.

Michael has more than 35 years of experience as a practicing CPA with particular expertise in forensic accounting, economic damages, and business valuation. He previously worked in the auditing and consulting areas at several public accounting firms, including an international firm where he was appointed senior manager. Dr. Crain has served as a consultant and testifying expert in many commercial cases, working for both plaintiffs and defendants in state and Federal courts. He has also served as an arbitrator in commercial damages and minority shareholder cases and as a court-appointed accountant. In addition, Michael has served as a special investigator on behalf of the county attorney and the board of county commissioners for a Florida county government. He was previously approved as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association's Commercial Panel.

He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA), the CFA Institute, and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He has also been an author, co-author, and contributing author of professional books and journal articles.

Michael has a doctorate in business administration (finance) from Manchester Business School in England at the University of Manchester.

With years of experience, Polina has devoted herself to solving her client’s matrimonial and family problems. She believes strongly that the lawyer and client must work as a team so that the client fully understands each step of the process and its significance to the outcome. Polina represents clients in all stages of family and matrimonial law litigation, arbitration, and mediation, including but not limited to: divorce, equitable distribution, alimony, child custody, child support, visitation, paternity, marital agreements, and separation agreements, dissolution of civil unions and domestic partnerships, palimony, post-judgment matters, and domestic violence actions. Polina is also highly proficient in assisting clients negotiate and draft legally sound pre-nuptial, post-nuptial, and cohabitation agreements. From the filing of the Complaint for Divorce through post-judgment issues, she zealously represents her clients with a keen sensitivity to the emotional considerations unique to the family law client. While remaining focused on her client’s goals, Polina is as comfortable in the courtroom as she is at the negotiation table.

James R. Hitchner, CPA/ABV/CFF, ASA, is managing director of Financial Valuation Advisors, president of The Financial Consulting Group and CEO of Valuation Products & Services. Additionally, he serves as the editor-in-chief of Financial Valuation and Litigation Expert journal. Mr. Hitchner has coauthored more than 20 courses, taught more than 60 courses, published more than 80 articles, and has made more than 180 conference/seminar presentations. He is also an inductee in the AICPA Business Valuation Hall of Fame, and was one of only four members of the initial AICPA Business Valuation Standards Writing Task Force.

Bruce A. Johnson, ASA specializes in valuation services for gift and estate tax planning, sale transactions, profit sharing plans, C Corporation conversions and shareholder disputes. He also has widespread experience providing consulting services to buyers and sellers involved in mergers and acquisitions including assisting clients throughout the sale process. He has 25+ years of experience in the valuation of businesses in industries such as manufacturing, auto dealerships, hospitality, professional sports, food services, distribution, retail and real estate. In addition to earning a degree in Engineering and MBA from Texas A&M University, Bruce is an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) of the American Society of Appraisers where he serves on the audit tax, marketing and education committees.

Roy H. Kvalo, CPA, Director of Litigation & Valuation Services, The Curchin Group, LLC, Red Bank, NJ. He has more than 20 years experience providing forensic accounting services. Mr. Kvalo is responsible for managing all of Curchin’s litigation and valuation engagements from initial contact to final report and/or expert testimony. He has been involved with numerous matrimonial, commercial litigation cases as well as valuations for estate and gift tax and buy-sell agreements. He has served as a court appointed expert in Monmouth County and has provided expert testimony in matrimonial engagements. Mr. Kvalo has also provided court room consultation in federal court to defense counsel during criminal proceedings. He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the New Jersey Society of CPAs. He serves as vice president of the Estate and Financial Planning Council of Central New Jersey. Mr. Kvalo earned a B.A. in accounting from Rutgers University.

Over more than 30 years, Howard has built a successful legal practice which focuses on professional liability defense, employment litigation and public entity liability defense. He has represented lawyers, accountants, real estate professionals, directors and officers. A respected trial lawyer, Howard has handled hundreds of professional malpractice claims and has tried over 100 of them to verdict, a majority of which sided with the defense. In a precedent-setting decision before the Third Circuit, Howard successfully argued that a municipality can exclude houses of worship in order to facilitate economic redevelopment. He also has extensive experience defending cases brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Mansi is a Director in the Forensics practice of BDO USA LLP with over 15 years of domain expertise in handling fraud and risk advisory engagements. In her previous role, Mansi was an Associate Partner at BDO India where she was instrumental in developing the Forensics practice in the Indian market. Mansi has led high-profile fraud investigations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) reviews, forensic due-diligence investigations, and cyber-crime engagements, including those for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), foreign government agencies, Indian regulators, global banks, and multinational corporations. She has served as an expert witness in the US Bankruptcy Courts of New York and Delaware related to India’s largest banking fraud cases, as well as in the United Kingdom in relation to diversion and siphoning of funds leading to criminal procedures.

Mansi’s global experience in Asia, the Middle East and North America spans numerous matters related to employee misconduct, embezzlement, white-collar crime, fidelity bond investigations, misappropriation, kickbacks, data theft, cyber breach and export compliance investigations. She led a forensic investigation of the largest banking fraud scheme in India, amounting to USD 2 billion. Mansi is a member of the team assisting the Special Compliance Coordinator appointed by the U.S. Department of Commerce to monitor, assess and report on the U.S. export control compliance of a global telecommunications conglomerate based in China.

Mansi has been invited as a speaker by the American Chambers of Commerce and the Institute of Chartered Accountants on topics related to Forensic Techniques and Data Analytics. A technology enthusiast, she is a member of the 'Council of Blockchain and Crypto Currency' at BDO USA.

Randall M. Paulikens is a partner in the Forensic, Litigation and Valuation Services group. Randall has over 30 years of public accounting experience representing clients of all sizes from small solo practitioner professional practices to large Fortune 50 public companies. He is also a frequent presenter and author of published articles on topics of forensic accounting, economics, fraud, income taxes and valuation.

Nidhi Rao is a Director in the Greater Washington, D.C. office of BDO. She has more than 20 years of experience conducting investigations of both public and private companies. Ms. Rao conducts corporate internal investigations and provides forensic accounting services in response to government inquiries and regulatory enforcement actions, whistleblower complaints, and matters involving violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Having significant forensic accounting and internal controls evaluation experience, she has led numerous investigations for matters involving fraudulent financial reporting, employee misconduct and embezzlement, self-dealing, bribery, corruption, kickbacks, fraudulent conveyances, money laundering, ponzi schemes and whistleblower complaints. Ms. Rao also assists clients to assess fraud risks and identify red flags indicative of threats to an organization’s business operations and internal control structures. She has extensive experience investigating and documenting fidelity bond claims for the insureds, the underwriters and as a neutral investigator as well as quantifying economic damages in complex civil litigation. Ms. Rao has been published in several national publications and has presented at various conferences on such topics as fraud investigations, FCPA, corporate governance, fraud prevention, and risk assessments.

Henry Rinder, CPA/ABV, CFE, DABFE, is with the firm of Smolin, Lupin & Co., P.A. He has audit and accounting experience in construction, wholesale/distribution and manufacturing. Mr. Rinder provides litigation support and business valuation services. He also has experience in audits and management of nonprofit organizations. Mr. Rinder is licensed as a CPA in New Jersey and New York, certified as a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV). He is also a diplomat of the American Board of Forensic Accountants. Mr. Rinder is a member of the AICPA, the NJCPA, the Institute of Business Appraisers and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He served on the prestigious Technical Issues Committee of the AICPA and has served on many committees for the NJCPA. Additionally, Mr. Rinder served as the 2005/06 president of the NJCPA.

As managing Partner, Gary R. Shendell is responsible for the overall management and supervision of Shendell & Pollock, P.L. He is recognized as a Florida Leading Attorney, is AV Rated, and is nationally recognized in complex high- exposure professional malpractice and commercial litigation. He has defended a wide array of professionals including Accountants, Lawyers, Real Estate Professionals, Insurance Agents & Brokers, Architects & Engineers, Physicians and other Healthcare Professionals. Mr.Shendell has also served as Lead counsel on a broad spectrum of Commercial & Corporate Litigation actions, ranging from Investor Suits to Enforcement of Non-competes to Fraudulent Misappropriation suits. He also handles EPL and D&O Cases in both Federal and State courts. As a former Certified Public and Tax Accountant, Mr.Shendell has a unique combination of accounting, corporate and legal skills which makes him highly sought after in the representation of Multi-Party Commercial Litigation, Estates and Trusts Litigation as well as Securities Arbitrations & Investigations Administered and/or conducted by FINRA and the SEC. His primary practice is throughout the states of Florida and New Jersey.

Matt Tornincasa graduated from the University of Florida in 2003 with degrees in Political Science and Psychology. He earned his Juris Doctorate, Magna Cum Laude from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Board Law Center in 2008. While at Nova, Matt received the Leo Goodwin Scholarship and was the Marketing Editor for the Law Review.

Matt began working for Shendell & Pollock in 2007 as a summer clerk. When he was licensed in September 2008 he began working as an Associate Attorney. In December 2015, Matt was made a Partner of the firm. His focus of practice is on the Defense of Professional Liability Claims against Accountants and Attorneys. In addition to Civil Litigation, Matt also frequently appears before the Florida Bar, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, the Board of Accountancy and the Department of Business & Professional Regulation on behalf of professionals and applicants charged with violating the ethical rules of their professions. Matt has also litigated multiple estate and trust planning and administration issues on behalf of fiduciaries, planners and beneficiaries regarding issues of reformation of Documents, termination, undue influence, lack of capacity, compliance with the prudent investor rule, tax planning concerns, principal and income allocation issues and conflict of interest claims.

In addition to Florida’s state courts, Matt is admitted to practice before the federal District Courts for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida.