Meet our faculty

Our Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance faculty have been carefully selected for their proven track record in their respective, specialist fields of financial crime. They are practitioners and thought leaders from business, higher education, government and the not-for-profit world.

Meet the Academy team

Andreas Chai

Professor Andreas Chai

Director

Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance

portrait of Jacqueline Drew

Associate Professor Jacqueline Drew

Deputy Director

Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance

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Professor Ernest Foo

Deputy Director

Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance

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Professor Shireenjit Johl

Deputy Director

Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance

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Ms Danielle Clarke

Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships

Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance

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Ms Sarah Dunstan

Operations Manager

Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance

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Ms Leah Grose

Executive Support Officer

Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance

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Mr David Noonan

Manager, Professional Learning Hub

Industry and External Engagement

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Mr David Bartlett

Lecturer

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

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Dr Melissa Belle Isle

Lecturer

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

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Dr Ausma Bernot

Lecturer

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

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Dr Gurmeet Singh Bhabra

Senior Lecturer

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

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Dr Richard Copp

Senior Lecturer

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

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Dr Andrew Childs

Lecturer

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

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L. Fernando Distadio

Lecturer

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

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Dr Zhe Hou

Senior Lecturer

School of Information and Communication Technology

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Dr Zahra Jadidi

Lecturer

School of Information and Communication Technology

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Professor Benoit Leclerc

Professor

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

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Dr Kaiwen Leong

Senior Lecturer

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

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Professor Alan Wee-Chung Liew

Head of School

School of Information and Communication Technology

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Dr Hai Thanh Luong

Lecturer

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

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Dr Ingrid Millar

Lecturer

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

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Associate Professor Kaile Su

Associate Professor

School of Information and Communication Technology

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Dr Hui Tian

Discipline Head (Computer Science)

School of Information and Communication Technology

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Professor Michael Townsley

Professor

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

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Dr Tom Verhelst

Program Director

Relational Insights Data Lab (RIDL)

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Associate Professor Nicholas Rohde

Associcate Professor

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

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Dr Victor Wong

Senior Lecturer

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

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Associate Professor DaiFai (Troy) Yao

Associate Professor

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

Meet our PhD Candidates

Samuel Haak

Samuel Haak

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

Samuel Haak is a PhD student and scholarship recipient in Economics from Griffith University in Brisbane. His research is conducted through the Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance, and is principally focused on the economic costs and benefits of Australia's anti-money laundering laws. He currently holds a Bachelor of Business from the University of the Sunshine Coast, and a Bachelor of Business (Honours) from Griffith University.

Awais Farid Khan

Awais Farid Khan

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

Awais Farid Khan is a PhD student and scholarship recipient in the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics at Griffith University. He has 12 years experience in the banking industry, performing various roles in retail banking during his professional career. De-banking, Financial Crime and FATF Regulations are main topics of Awais' research. He is pursuing the impact of these topics on the risk-perception of bankers in Pakistan.

Md Omar Faruq Khan

Md Omar Faruq Khan

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

Faruq is a PhD student and scholarship recipient at Griffith University, in the department of Accounting, Finance and Economics. He specialises in researching tax crimes and their correlation with corporate behaviour. Faruq's academic journey includes a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from BUET, an MBA from the University of Dhaka, and a Master's in Professional Accounting from Monash University, Australia. Additionally, he brings 10 years of professional experience as a Deputy Commissioner of Tax with the Bangladesh Government.

Zulu Okonkwo

Zulu Okonkwo

School of Information and Communication Technology

Zulu Okonkwo is a PhD candidate and scholarship recipient at the School of Information and Communication Technology. He has significant industry experience as a cybersecurity analyst in the banking sector, specialising in vulnerability assessments and penetration testing. With a Master's degree in Cybersecurity from Griffith University, Zulu's current PhD research focuses on utilising machine learning and deep learning techniques for encrypted network traffic classification.

Md Atiqur Rahman

Md Atiqur Rahman

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

Atiqur Rahman is a PhD student and scholarship recipient with the Academy and is investigating the nexus among financial crime, greenwashing, and sustainability assurance. He holds an academic position at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh since 2015. His research papers appeared in reputable international journals of accounting and finance. Atiqur completed MSc (finance) from Strathclyde University, UK under Commonwealth Scholarship, and MBA (Accounting) from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Alastair Smith

Alastair Smith

Department of Marketing

Alastair Smith is a PhD student and scholarship recipient in the Department of Marketing at Griffith University. He has nearly 20 years teaching experience and is head of IT at a high school. Alastair holds Bachelor degrees in Education and Criminology & Criminal Justice, and a Master’s degree in Education. He is combining all of this experience in his research into what consumers can do to protect themselves from cryptocurrency scams. He authored and presented a paper on "Protecting young consumers through cryptocurrency education" at ANZMAC 2023.

Stella Yu

Stella Yu

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

Stella Yu is a PhD student in Accounting at Griffith University. She holds a Master’s degree in Accounting and a Graduate Diploma in Business Research Methods from the University of Queensland. Stella has more than 7 years of industry experience in investor relations within the financial sector. Her research focuses on the impacts of cybersecurity threats using quantitative analysis research methods to enhance understanding for investors and improve financial decision-making.

Contact the academy