Masterclass: Conducting Crypto Investigations

Joby is a global subject matter expert on cryptoassets, illicit finance and emerging threats. Joby has 18 years of experience and expertise in strategic policy making, critical thinking, threat and risk analysis across the U.K. Government, intelligence and regulatory community. In his previous role Joby was responsible for the management of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Strategic Assessment Team, overseeing a team of analysts tasked with delivering high quality intelligence reporting on money laundering, fraud, market abuse, corruption and other forms of criminality across the regulated sector.

As part of his role Joby has undertaken extensive regulatory and threat analysis of cryptoassets and represented the U.K. on a variety of high-profile engagements. Recently Joby has produced a range of thought leadership papers covering cryptoassets, their regulatory framework, the threat environment and cryptoasset business models. Joby has also had articles published relating to the importance of threat analysis and intelligence sharing.

Tom Armstrong currently serves as the Head of TRM's Compliance Advisory function where he works closely with large financial institutions, crypto businesses, and regulators around the globe on industry best practices for digital asset compliance. Prior to joining TRM, Tom spent over nine years at Goldman Sachs where he served in a variety of leadership roles including as the Head of Financial Crime Compliance Digital Assets, the Global Head of the Forensics Group, Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit, and Transaction Surveillance Group.

Kyle Haiges is a Manager of Investigations at Circle. Circle is the issuer of USDC, a regulated, fully-reserved stablecoin that is always redeemable 1:1 for US dollars. In his current role, Kyle leads a team of transaction monitoring analysts and case investigators, performs complex blockchain-focused investigations, develops and updates internal processes, and supports cross functional teams internally.

Prior to Circle, Kyle worked in managerial and AML investigation roles on teams working alerts and cases for MSBs, correspondent banking, credit unions, and a broker-dealer. Much of that time was spent working complex investigations related to money laundering and fraud. Kyle is TRM-ACI certified and received a BS in Business Administration from the University of California, Riverside.

Detective Hogan has been in law enforcement for almost 15 years, starting his career in DeKalb County, Georgia. Detective Hogan holds a BS in Fire Science from the University of New Haven where he is currently working to obtain his Master of Science in Financial Crime.

During his career in law enforcement, Detective Hogan has held various positions, most recently as a detective with the Connecticut State Police. As an Eastern District Major Crime Detective, Matt has focused his attention on white collar and financial crimes recognizing significant growth in this sector. Matt has also been assigned to the US Secret Service CT Financial Crimes Task Force and IRS SAR review team. A recipient of numerous commendations to include the State Police Outstanding Service Award and Unit Citation, Detective Hogan’s work has been recognized at every level of law enforcement.

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YiChi Lei is a Senior Principal Investigator on FINRA’s Crypto Asset Investigations team. In her current role, she utilizes her fintech investigative and risk management experience to conduct high complexity crypto-related review and special investigations involving FINRA member firms and/or affiliates. She also provides consulting support to firm exam teams during all phases of relevant reviews and conducts training to inform industry and external stakeholders.

Previously, YiChi has served in strategic and operational roles leading compliance and AML teams at US-based cryptocurrency exchange and brokerage firm. Her work involved extensive analysis of global regulations related to cryptocurrencies in the fast-growing digital assets space to build an adoptive global compliance program as well as AML investigations related to sanctions and investigations of suspicious activities. YiChi is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, is certified in Chainalysis and TRM products, and has an LL.M. in Banking and Financial Law from Boston University following her JD equivalent bachelor’s from Soochow University in Taiwan.