Samky Mak - Program Co-ordinator

Samky Mak is Industry Director, Risk Management, Seneca Centre for Financial Services. He teaches courses within the Financial Compliance Administration graduate certificate and the Financial Services Management degree programs. Samky holds a double major Bachelor of Science degree in management and economics from University College, Cardiff, United Kingdom and an MBA (Finance) from the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto). Samky has worked as a financial planner and held his life insurance, mutual funds and Canadian Securities Course licenses. In addition to teaching, Samky currently works as a compliance consultant on compliance culture development and compliance officers skills training. He has international business development and consultation experience in the far east and has worked on projects with various industry associations including the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association and the Canadian Bankers Association. He has also served as Project Manager and Researcher for a joint applied research project between Seneca and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada on compliance training and professional development.

Cyrus Hojjati - Facilitator

Cyrus Hojjati is currently the Senior Manager of Governance and Execution, Fraud and Collections for Tangerine Bank. His mandate includes the development of governance strategy for fraud and recovery in risk management. Prior to this, he was working with the Bank of Montreal as a Development Manager in Business Services, North American Payments managing projects with a focus on risk control framework development and performance management. Cyrus’ experience includes managing fraud operations with multiple investigative units, and he has created fraud operation teams for PC Bank, Wal-Mart Bank and BMO. He is a graduate of the Seneca’s Fraud Examination and Forensic Accounting program in addition to having an extensive career in investigations and fraud governance. Cyrus has a background in professional development having created and implemented training programs for system conversions and career development, with a passion for sharing experiences and knowledge with industry colleagues. In addition, Cyrus is a Director on the Executive Board at the Unionville-Milliken Soccer Club and where he contributes his expertise for the community.

Garry Nichols - Facilitator

Garry has been operationally deployed in law enforcement/intelligence and financial intelligence for the past 45 years with the RCMP, FINTRAC and Public Safety. He has been directly involved in anti-money laundering, counter terrorist financing investigations and financial intelligence analysis since 1987. From 1987 to 1999, he was part of the RCMP Toronto Integrated Proceeds of Crime Unit where he retired in 2000 as the Inspector and Officer in Charge of that unit. He was the first employee hired by FINTRAC and was the Regional Director, Central Region, (Ontario, Manitoba, North West Territories and Nunavut) from 2000 to 2010 at which point he established a boutique AML/CTF Compliance Solutions company, The Nichols Group Inc. He has also been engaged in a full-time advisory role with Public Safety Canada in matters relating to threats to national security and financial intelligence analysis. He has lectured extensively internationally as a subject matter specialist particularly in relation to anti-money laundering, proceeds of crime investigative techniques and financial intelligence analysis.

Dr. Faisel Saeed - Facilitator

Dr. Faisel Saeed has been a financial services leader in the Canadian banking and financial service industries for more than 30 years. He has held several senior management positions with responsibilities for enterprise AML analytics, fraud containment, workplace equity, finance and technology management. He is currently the Director of Enterprise AML Model Management for Bank of Montreal. In addition, Dr. Saeed facilitates courses in Data and Patterns Theory and Method for the Canadian Institute of Financial Crime for Seneca’s, Centre for Financial Services and has been actively involved raising awareness regarding the Financial Crime Analysis program offered through the Canadian Institute of Financial Crime. Dr. Saeed holds a PhD in Computer Science from the Oklahoma State University.

Stephen Brent Sargeant CAMS, CBP - Facilitator

Stephen works in an Anti-Money Laundering Investigations capacity at cryptocurrency exchange, Bitfinex. He is a FINTECH enthusiast that enjoys learning about Bitcoin and the blockchain. Passionate about helping others, he has written articles and produced podcasts to help others in the financial crime compliance field. He has collaborated with many groups promoting goodwill and positive initiatives in the compliance and FINTECH communities. Although he has a legal background, he has proven to have a flare for networking in person and via social media platforms, which has amplified thought leadership and community building in the compliance industry.

Peter Warrack, CAMS, CFE - Adviser

Peter Warrack is a recognized expert in anti-money laundering and economic crime detection, prevention and investigation, with more than 30 years of experience in military intelligence, senior police detective roles and executive positions within the financial intelligence units of the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal and is currently the Chief Compliance Officer for Bitfinex. He has published a number of articles on anti-money laundering (AML) best practices and risk mitigation. In 2011, he won the Association of Certified Money Laundering Specialists AML Professional of the Year Award for his services to the profession. He is currently an adviser and board member of the Canadian Institute for Financial Crime Analysis, Canada’s center for money laundering risk and financial intelligence.  He holds a master’s degree in Organization and Management, as well as a number of specialist certifications from the Association of Certified Money Laundering Specialists, Canadian Securities Institute, University of Manchester, Florida International Bankers’ Association, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the Crypto Currency Certification Consortium.  Some of Peter's specialties include major crime investigation, investigation management and training, money laundering and terrorist financing prevention, detection and investigation, conversational interviewing skills, leadership and management of change, and strategic thinking and intelligence analysis.