What is the most interesting matter that you have worked on?

Due to my German speaking fluency, I was invited in 2015 to represent Kroll and Deloitte on a ‘Volkswagen Dieselgate’ case, initially in Stuttgart, and later in London. Although the quantity of financial data to be analysed for that particular case was limited, it allowed me to start receiving further assignments from the likes of ‘Big 4’, e.g. Cum-Ex affair or Libor scandal.

For confidentiality reasons, I cannot reveal much about these particular cases. However, in a nutshell, the Cum-ex scandal involved participants of a European network lending each other shares in large companies.

To tax authorities, the shares gave the impression that they belonged to two owners, when there was in fact only one. The trading bank involved would provide a "confirmation" to the investor that tax dividends had been paid. This was not actually carried out.

With regards to the LIBOR scandal, it was revealed that banks were falsely manipulating their rates. Their aims were to profit from trading, or to look more creditworthy than they were. It was speculated that during the 2008 financial crisis, certain banks had understated borrowing costs for the Libor which could have deceived others about their financial health.

Some of these banks were located or headquartered in either Germany or Switzerland. Whilst there were sufficient forensic accountants to analyse financial information in English, there were a lack of specialists who were bilingual in German and English.

The task turned out to be more complicated than expected as some of the information was written in local dialects, like Swiss German or Bavarian (both of which I understand).

Further interesting cases include the EU Horizon-2020 programme in which I acted as a monitoring and evaluation expert.

This task included a lead role in overseeing data collection, collation, storage, analysis, and reporting on several EU-wide collaboration projects to be financed by Horizon-2020 programme, ensuring that financial data is of high quality and audit worthy.  

Additionally, I was instructed as an expert witness to the House of Commons' Brexit Select Committee in 2018, which included giving oral evidence to the House of Commons on the implications of the UK leaving the EU.

Select Committees have an important role in ensuring the full and proper accountability of the Executive to Parliament. By calling witnesses to appear at hearings, select committees hold the government publicly accountable for its policies and their implementation.

Many witnesses also come from outside government, including key stakeholders in a particular policy area or independent experts. These witnesses provide an important source of external input into parliamentary scrutiny and, ultimately, public policy.

What are the highs and lows of the job?

I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have my occupation deeply aligned with my interests – finances, languages, and travel (in my job I visited over a dozen countries and advised several governments). Nonetheless, there are still low points. My first experience of this happened earlier in my career as a forensic accountant.

After dedicating months of my time and energy towards a project, I was suddenly told that the client settled the case. This was especially painful because the most exciting part of this litigation would have required my specific expertise. It was a deeply frustrating experience for me, and I felt crushed for an entire month.

This was the first time I had experienced a sudden and sustained low with my job, and I didn’t know how to react.

Thankfully, a more experienced colleague saw the situation unfold, coached me to let it go, and helped me move onto the next assignment.

He had been through similar challenges throughout his career and knew that discouraging situations would come and go - this was outside of our control. His perspective had enabled him to take a step back and see the bigger picture. I realised that this was a mindset I had to develop. Shortly after that incident, I took on a new assignment and rebuilt my energy and optimism.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to start out?

I am an advocate of the Cardiff University Bond Solon (CUBS) Civil, Criminal and Family Expert Witness Certificates.

In my opinion they are well developed and adjusted to the needs of busy professionals like myself. Additionally, I would highly recommend attending as many expert witness events as practically possible.

My final suggestion would be to keep in close contact with agencies who will be marketing your expert witness services to potential clients such as barristers and solicitors.