WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RKA Worldwide Group, LLC (RKA Worldwide), a professional services and management consulting firm, today announced it has opened its global headquarters in the Washington, DC Metro area. The firm has also launched four core international service practices: Forensic Investigation, AntiBribery/Corruption; CFO and Accounting Consulting; Risk Management and Internal Audit Advisory; and Executive Protection and Security Consulting.
The firm also announced that Ariel Ramirez, a recognized leader in forensic investigation and complex compliance matters, has been appointed to serve as the firm’s group CEO and also to lead its global forensic investigation, anti-bribery, and anti-corruption services. Ramirez, who is bilingual in English and Spanish, is also a certified fraud examiner, certified internal auditor, certified financial services auditor, certified government audit professional, certified internal controls auditor, and holds certifications in control self-assessment and risk management assurance. He is an award-winning adjunct faculty member of graduate forensic accounting and audit investigation classes at the University of Maryland, Smith School of Business. Ramirez has held a United States Top Secret/SCI security clearance.
Alan Siegfried, Chair of RKA Worldwide’s Board of Advisors, stated “the firm is very fortunate to have a luminary of Ariel’s worldwide reputation, integrity, and global experience leading the firm. His emphasis on the firm’s global expansion and client service-driven solutions fits well with his background.”
Corporations lose about 5% of their revenue through fraud, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ 2014 Report to the Nations. That equals more than US$ 800 billion in annual losses, applied to the 2013 US GDP. “Fraud losses not only impact a corporation’s profitability,” says Ramirez, Group CEO, “they also harm a business’s reputation and can result in government fines and even debarment from government business. We are delivering global solutions that strengthen fraud deterrence, detection, and compliance, and assist clients ‘in the trenches’ with sophisticated anti-corruption investigative strategies and programs.”
Ramirez has over 20 years of experience working with the Big Four, Fortune 30, multi-national companies, and foreign governments. He has conducted investigations and compliance and risk advisory engagements in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. His experience includes investigating alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other corruption and bribery matters and complex financial frauds, developing compliance and anti-fraud programs, leading forensic audit engagements, and providing dispute resolution and litigation support to in-house and outside legal counsel. Ramirez works with clients -- including boards, audit committees, executive management, and counsel -- to investigate and resolve allegations of fraud and other misconduct, recommend appropriate remediation, and evaluate and implement anti-fraud programs and control solutions.
At KPMG LLP he rose quickly through the ranks, from Senior Auditor to Director, and then joined Ernst & Young LLP in 2002 as National Director and Practice Leader, Fraud Services, in its insurance and financial advisory services practice. Immediately prior to joining RKA Worldwide, Ramirez was a forensic audit executive and the Americas Head of Forensic Audit at Siemens and conducted internal compliance investigations worldwide. He joined Siemens in 2007 as Director of Special Investigations responsible for North America. He served in the United States armed forces reserves from 1986 to 2007, most recently as a commissioned officer in the Navy reserves supply corps. Ramirez graduated from Tampa College, Florida Metropolitan University, with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master of business administration in international business. Ramirez regularly speaks to corporations, universities, and professional associations around the world on FCPA, corruption, risk, and other governance, risk, and compliance topics, most recently in various United States cities as well as in Germany, Chile and South Africa. He is on the Board of Advisors of the Economic Crime and Cyber Security Institute, Utica College, and is a Board Member and past Chapter President for the Northern Virginia chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors.
About RKA Worldwide
RKA Worldwide Group, LLC is a privately held global professional services and management consulting firm. Our headquarters are located in the Washington, DC area, United States of America, with a planned initial expansion to offices located in Manhattan, New York, and São Paulo, Brazil, and future expansion to the west coast and southeast United States; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Moscow, Russian Federation; and Singapore.
Our luminaries and consultants include certified public accountants, certified internal auditors, certified fraud examiners, certified valuation analysts, certified government audit professionals, certified risk management professionals, personal protection specialists, and private investigators. Together, we have decades of experience as former Fortune 30 senior executives, Big Four accounting firm consultants, U.S. Secret Service protection personnel, intelligence community personnel, armed forces commissioned officers, and transaction, merger and acquisition executives.