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Pacific Northwest Chapter/ACFE – June 9, 2010
Semi-Annual Board of Officers Meeting Minutes

1. Call to Order. President Joe Dervaes called the semi-annual meeting of the Chapter Board of Officers for June 9, 2010, to order at 10:00 a.m. at the Mac Donalds Restaurant in Tukwila near our training site for the day. Present were Board of Officer members: Joe Dervaes; Roger Gulliver; Bernadette McBride, and Robert Goehring. New Board of Officer nominee Julie Bollerud also attended the meeting. Norm Gierlasinski was absent due to a work commitment.

2. Prior Meeting Minutes. The Board unanimously approved its Board of Officer meeting minutes from the semi-annual meeting held in Seattle on February 10, 2010.

3. Old Business. There was no outstanding business from prior Board meetings.

4. New Business.

(a) Student Scholarship Program. At its February 10, 2010, Board of Officers meeting, the Board approved the award of at least two $500 student scholarships this year. By prior e-mail approval, the Board awarded two scholarships as follows: (a) Lori Gileno, a criminal justice student at ITT Technical Institute in Seattle; and, (b) Kyle J. Blessinger, an accounting student at Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. President Joe Dervaes sent scholarship award letters to each student, and checks were mailed to the respective universities of the students to be applied to their student accounts. The Board unanimously approved these actions today.

(b) Annual Action and Management Plans. The 2010 Chapter Action Plan and 2010 Chapter Management Plan Self Evaluation were discussed by the Board. The Board unanimously approved these documents and authorized President Joe Dervaes to submit them to the ACFE as required.

(c) Annual Recertification Report. The Board unanimously authorized President Joe Dervaes to submit the Chapter’s Annual Recertification Report to the ACFE after July 1, 2010 as required.

(d) Financial Report. Treasurer Roger Gulliver reported that the Chapter is financially healthy and able to support all of our planned activities and student scholarship awards for the coming year. The Chapter has no outstanding liabilities, and estimates we will have approximately $26,700 our checking and savings accounts as of the end of Fiscal Year 2010 (June 30). The Board thanked Treasurer Roger Gulliver for this report and for managing our finances throughout the year.

(e) Annual Chapter Budget. The Board unanimously approved its annual budget for Fiscal Year 2011 to approximate our financial activity in the prior year (revenue - $7,000; expenses - $5,500; and, net income - $1,500).

(f) Reid Fraud Interview Class Proposal. The Board discussed a proposal by John Reid and Associates to present a future one-day fraud interview class for our Chapter for $3,300 (which includes all of their travel expenses). The Chapter would be responsible for reproducing the participant handout document and all other local area arrangements necessary for the class. The class has two components: (a) behavior symptom analysis; and, (b) the behavior analysis interview. The Board will do some research in the coming months to determine whether or not to replace one of our bi-monthly fraud seminars with this class in calendar year 2011. This includes at least the following: (a) alternatives for the location of the training facility, (b) options available for food service at the class, (c) a survey of the membership about their prospective attendance at such a class, (d) audio-visual equipment requirements, and, (e) the possibility of inviting other professional organizations to join with us. A decision about proceeding with on this training opportunity will not be made until at least the next Board meeting (February 2011).

(g) WSU Research Survey Proposal. The Board discussed a proposal by Eric Lee, a faculty member at Washington State University, and several of his associates, that our Chapter membership participate in a survey to be prepared in the near future as a part of their research into fraud and managerial accounting related issues. The Board decided that it will not allow Mr. Lee to conduct this research survey during our regularly scheduled Chapter fraud training events. However, the Board did agree to allow the membership to be given the opportunity to participate in this research on a voluntary basis. Mr. Lee is still working out the details of the survey. Once his work has been completed, President Joe Dervaes agreed to electronically send the survey information to the membership for their consideration. Participation by the membership is strictly optional, and survey results will be sent directly to the sponsor. Mr. Lee is also working with the Spokane Chapter/ACFE to do the same thing as we have discussed above. The two Chapters are coordinating their efforts to assist in this research survey.

(h) Community Outreach Program. President Joe Dervaes made a report to the Board on the Chapter’s two major community outreach projects this coming year. They are:

(1) Chapter Membership Drive. The Membership Committee is composed of 5 members and soon will be making contact with prospective members by telephone, e-mail, and/or direct mail in an effort to increase our chapter membership. President Joe Dervaes is Chair of this Committee, and has been working in the background these past several months to prepare the list of prospective members from ACFE and Chapter records that will be used on this major project. These materials will be distributed to the Committee members later this month. The ACFE list identifies approximately 700 CFEs and Associates who reside in our geographic area of responsibility. Just over 100 of these individuals are already members in good standing in our Chapter. Accordingly, the Committee will be notifying some 600 CFEs and Associates this Summer to encourage them to join with us in the life and times of the Chapter for professional networking opportunities and for the relatively inexpensive fraud-related training events sponsored by the Chapter. The Board hopes there will be a very positive response to this project.

(2) University Outreach. The Community Outreach Committee is composed of 12 members and soon will be making contact with all colleges and universities in our geographic area of responsibility. Training Director Dr. Norm Gierlasinski is Chair of this Committee. President Joe Dervaes has been working in the background these past several months to develop materials that Committee members can use to contact university staff members and student accounting and criminal justice clubs early this Fall. These materials have already been distributed to Committee Members. Each Committee member will tailor this material to suit their own presentation style during this major outreach project. Committee members will be attending job fairs and student club meetings to discuss student membership in the ACFE and our Chapter, as well as the student scholarship programs of each organization. They will also be discussing the types of job opportunities that exist for individuals who possess the CFE professional certification. The Board hopes there will be a very positive response to this project.

(i) Member Spotlight. Julie Bollerud suggested that we include a “spotlight” on one of our Chapter members in each bi-monthly issue of the Newsletter. Other Chapters already do this. The Board agreed to include this new section in future issues of the Newsletter, and will seek future input from the membership in order to do this.

(j) Member Survey. Julie Bollerud suggested that we develop a membership survey to be distributed in the future as a way of determining whether or not the Chapter is meeting the needs of our members. We have done this in the past, primarily to ensure that our meeting structure and training locations were meeting the needs of our members. The Board agreed to work on developing a future membership survey.

(k) Community Outreach. Julie Bollerud suggested that our Chapter explore the possibility of developing a community outreach program similar to the program established by the Spokane Chapter/ACFE (see February 2010 ACFE Chapter Register). The Spokane Chapter has partnered with the Spokane Police Department, U.S. Postal Service, and other agencies to sponsor a “Shred Day” in conjunction with National Consumer Protection Week. The purpose of this project is for Chapter members to collect and shred sensitive information, as well as to help promote fraud awareness while participating in a high-profile event with excellent public turnout and a fun way to spread the ACFE mission. The Board appreciated input on yet another opportunity for community outreach, and assigned Julie Bollerud to obtain additional information from the Spokane Chapter for consideration by the Board at a subsequent meeting. In the meantime, the Board will continue to focus on Chapter Membership and University Outreach projects that have been identified for Committee action the rest of this year.

(l) Regional CFE Chapter Cooperation Project. President Joe Dervaes made a report to the Board about the status of the regional CFE Chapter cooperation project. At the first meeting of representatives from Southwestern Canada and the Pacific Northwest in December 2008, it was agreed that Chapters would assist each other with speakers and topics, upon request and availability, for their Annual Fraud Conferences. This has been done. Marie Rice, President of the Spokane Chapter has agreed to Chair this group of Chapter representatives in the future. All contact will be made either by e-mail or by conference call. No meetings or contacts have yet been determined. The Pacific Northwest Chapter will assist Marie Rice as needed.

(m) Fraud Training Calendar. The Board has already identified speakers and topics for the remainder of the Chapter’s calendar year 2010 training schedule. The Board will now begin to identify speakers and topics for the Chapter’s calendar year 2011 training schedule. Each Board member was assigned prospective speakers and topics as we continually work on this important part of our Chapter’s mission throughout the year.

5. Adjournment. The semi-annual meeting of the Chapter Board of Officers was adjourned at 11:30 a.m. on June 9, 2010, by President Joe Dervaes, and the Members then attended the Annual Luncheon Business Meeting and Fraud Seminar at Noon at the Bahama Breeze Restaurant in Tukwila.

Pacific Northwest Chapter/ACFE – June 9, 2010
Annual Business Meeting Minutes

1. Call to Order. President Joe Dervaes called the Chapter’s Annual Business Meeting for June 9, 2010, to order at 12:45 p.m. at the Bahama Breeze Restaurant in Tukwila.

2. Old Business. There was no outstanding business from the 2009 Annual Business Meeting or from the two Semi-Annual Board of Officers Meetings held in February and June 2010.

3. New Business.

(a) Distinguished Achievement Award. The Board previously selected Peter Tobin as the Chapter’s Distinguished Achievement Award winner for 2010. Peter is employed by Perkins Coie, LLP in Seattle where he works as an audit manager. He has always actively supported our Chapter fraud training mission by his faithful attendance. And, he was selected as our representative at the ACFE’s Chapter Representative Meeting to be held on July 25, 2010 in Washington, D.C. President Joe Dervaes will submit the nomination package to ACFE in Fall 2010. The membership unanimously approved Peter Tobin for the Chapter’s 2010 Distinguished Achievement Award.

(b) Community Outreach Program. President Joe Dervaes made a report to the membership on the Chapter’s two major community outreach projects this coming year. The Membership Committee will be contacting prospective members this Summer in an effort to increase Chapter membership in the future. The Community Outreach Committee will be contacting university staff members and student accounting and criminal justice clubs early this Fall. They will be discussing student membership I the ACFE and our Chapter, as well as the student scholarship programs of each organization. See complete details of these two major community outreach projects in the minutes of the semi-annual Board of Officers meeting held on June 9, 2010.

(c) Chapter Status. President Joe Dervaes made a report to the membership about the status of the Chapter. There are just over 100 members in good standing at the present time. Approximately one-third of our members attend our bi-monthly fraud seminars (40 percent attending this meeting today), and about 20 percent of our members are serving in Chapter leadership roles on the Board of Officers and on our various Committees. The membership thanked everyone for their service through a huge round of applause.

(d) Door Prizes. A drawing was held to select the winners of the five door prizes previously authorized by the Board of Officers. Each prize was a $25 gift certificate to a local book store. The winners were as follows: Dr. Norm Gierlasinski, Ruth Riddle, Debie Mitchell, Dennis Thompson, and John Hutson.

(e) Elections Committee. President Joe Dervaes appointed the following three Chapter members to the Elections Committee to count the votes for the elections to be held today. They were as follows: Rick Osborn (Chair), Debbie Mitchell, and Kristy Kennedy.

(f) Board of Officers Elections. The Nominating Committee submitted a slate of officers for two-year terms (July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2012). They were as follows: President Joe Dervaes, Vice-President Bernadette McBride, Secretary/Treasurer Roger Gulliver, Director-At-Large Robert Goehring, and Director-At-Large Julie Bollerud. Rick Osborn, Chair of the Elections Committee reported that the slate of members offered for the Board of Officers positions was unanimously approved by the membership.

(g) New CFE. Kristy Kennedy, Russell Investments, was recognized by the membership as the newest member of our Chapter to pass the CFE Examination and obtain her CFE professional credential. Congratulations!

4. Adjournment. The Annual Business Meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m. by President Joe Dervaes, and the members then attended the fraud training seminar on “Title 31 Anti-Money Laundering Regulations and the Need for Comprehensive Internal Controls” presented by Shelly Gueldenhaar, Compliance Officer at the Clearwater Casino, Suquamish, WA at the Bahama Breeze Restaurant in Tukwila.