Highlights of the 2019 AAUW Rockland County Diversity Breakfast

Women
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Brian Shanahan served as a supervisory special agent with the United States Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). A retired DEA special agent, Brian Shanahan attended the 2019 American Association of University Women (AAUW) Rockland County Diversity Breakfast.

AAUW is a nonprofit organization that promotes equity for women through education, advocacy, and research. The association celebrated its 20th anniversary at the annual Diversity Breakfast on February 23, 2019, at the Pearl River Elks Club in New York. With the theme, “Empowering Women in Diverse Communities in the Age of ‘Me Too,’” the event featured guest speakers Michelle Grier and Emily Waters, who belong to Girls for Gender Equity. They discussed the various ways to acknowledge and support women regardless of how they identify themselves on the gender spectrum.

At the breakfast, AAUW honored Joyce Brown, Ellen Jaffe, and Maureen McGarry, who are role models in community service, legislative leadership, and justice administration, respectively. More than 100 professionals attended the event.

BRIDGES’ Independent Living Services for People with Disabilities

Disabled man Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

For two decades, Brian Shanahan worked for the United States Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), where he investigated local and international drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. Since retiring from the DEA, Brian Shanahan has remained active in his community by supporting worthy causes, including the 2019 BRIDGES “In My Shoes” Awards Dinner.

BRIDGES, a nonprofit organization founded in 1987, is part of the Rockland Independent Living Center. Among its many programs, BRIDGES offers independent living services to help individuals with disabilities make autonomous decisions on living their lives.

BRIDGES has partnered with counselors from the New York State Education Department to give individuals access to services for work readiness, benefits advisement, mobility training, youth employment, and job placement. BRIDGES also collaborates with the Westchester Independent Living Center to help individuals take advantage of different home- and community-based services.

Additionally, individuals with disabilities are given the unique opportunity to expand their emotional and physical boundaries by training to ride a horse at Silver Rock Farm. To learn more about BRIDGES’ programs and services, visit www.bridgesrc.org.

Three Red Flags of Possible Money Laundering Operations

Dollar bills 

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

A retired supervisory special agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Brian Shanahan has been involved in the civil service sector for more than two decades. During his time with the DEA, Brian Shanahan oversaw several agents responsible for domestic and international drug trafficking and money laundering operations.

Accountants and other financial professionals are at risk of unintentionally supporting money laundering operations when they are unaware of possible red flags. Below are several warning signs of a potential money laundering operation that financial professionals must be aware of:

Inconsistent Information
Whenever documents cannot be verified, accountants and other professionals must be wary of a business being involved in money laundering. On top of that, a single business having multiple tax IDs is a potential red flag, as are clients who shield the identities of business owners and partners.

Reluctance to Provide Information
Any hesitancy from a client regarding the sharing of data or information is a major red flag of money laundering, according to the Financial Action Task Force. Ideally, clients should feel comfortable answering any financial questions posed by accountants, and should provide extra information to professionals when asked.

Unusual Money Transactions
Financial transactions between two or more parties with no clear business relationship is often cause for concern. The same is true of high cost of sales numbers when compared with the business’ size, or use of a small, rural bank when a big-city one might be more appropriate.