Director Of Finance Miami

[Klacee Sawatzky]

Aformer University of Miami Director of Finance was sentenced to 37 months in prison, to be followed by 1 year of supervised release for committing tax evasion and failing to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) $2.3 million that she embezzled from the university.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

According to court documents, from 2002 until 2012, Miller was the director of finance at the University of Miami's Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). The defendant's job responsibilities included overseeing the payment of RSMAS's vendor invoices. Between 2002 and 2012, Miller used her authority at RSMAS to embezzle $2.3 million from the University of Miami by falsifying invoices from a vendor called International Assets. Specifically, Miller altered the International Assets invoices so that the company name would appear as "Inter, Inc." and the checks would be mailed back to RSMAS, instead of to International Assets directly. Miller then deposited the "Inter, Inc." checks into a business bank account in the name Intercontinental Oceans, Inc., a company Miller opened in 1993.

Between 2008 and 2011, Miller prepared her own tax returns and knowingly failed to report to the IRS the money she had unlawfully obtained through her embezzlement scheme. Miller owes the IRS an additional $329,020 in income taxes for her 2008 through 2011 tax returns.

Daniel L. Blumen, CTP is a founding partner of Treasury Alliance Group where he leads consulting engagements dealing with working capital management, systems integration, liquidity and risk management and other global treasury issues. Prior to co-founding Treasury Alliance in 2002, he was Managing Director of Knowledge Management Applications, a firm he founded in 1998. Dan was with Bank of America in Chicago and Singapore, where he managed the ASEAN region of the Global Payment Services Group. He also worked for Citibank in Chicago and in London where he had pan-European management responsibility for cash management business development. He has worked with large multinationals and emerging international companies and shares his experience as an author and as a frequent speaker at cash management gatherings worldwide.

The U.S. economy has been on a positive recovery path since the waning of the pandemic, with inflation more than halving from a high of 9 percent in 2022 to 3 percent today. Yet the economy is still vulnerable to a downturn and recession, as further Federal Reserve rate rises to combat underlying inflationary pressures might further dampen economic activity as borrowing costs rise, with growth projected at 1.9 percent for 2024. Slowing global growth might drag on US exports leading to a potential slowing of domestic growth, and the ongoing trade war with China could also weigh negatively on the economy. On the positive side, low unemployment rates, wage rises and strong consumer spending, all point to steady growth in the year ahead. As the economy stabilises into 2024, increased business confidence and investment, will mean that treasury is likely to support new business growth as companies move through the new economic cycle. The outcome of the presidential election later in 2024 might impact economic policy, although unlikely to feed negatively into short term financial forecasts. In this session, we discuss the macroeconomic factors that might impact the economy, business forecasts in the year ahead and strategies to manage risk in both upside and downside scenarios.

A native of Vancouver, he earned his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Western Ontario in 1994. He held professorial appointments at the University of Waterloo and Simon Fraser University before joining the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in 2009 as a Senior Vice President and advisor to the president. In 2022, he joined the Miami Herbert Business School at the University of Miami where serves as a Professor and Chair of the Economics Department.

Bob has more than 30 years of corporate treasury experience in the roles of treasurer, credit director, finance manager and controller at BP America and Amoco Corporation. He has successfully managed post-acquisition integrations, technology upgrades and corporate restructurings. Currently, Bob is a partner with the Treasury Alliance Group, leveraging his corporate experience in client engagements dealing with global treasury, risk and crisis management; cash management and cash flow forecasting; working capital management; shared service operations and general management. He also shares his experiences by tutoring others in courses such as international cash and treasury management, corporate risk management and cash flow forecasting, as well as by chairing, moderating and speaking at treasury conferences worldwide.

Mack Makode is Vice President and Treasurer for Under Armour. Mr. Makode was appointed to his current position in April 2018. As Treasurer, Mr. Makode is responsible for capital markets, FX and interest rate risk management, working capital optimization, cash forecasting and treasury operations.

Mr. Makode received his Ph. D. in Structural Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University and MBA in Finance and Marketing from The Wharton Business School. Mr. Makode was a professional badminton player early in his career.

Todd Yoder serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at S&B USA, one of the fastest growing infrastructure development companies and a dominating force in the United States public-private partnership (P3) sector developing and building some of the most complex infrastructure projects. Mr. Yoder has nearly two decades of experience in corporate finance with multinational corporations, most recently serving 12 years with Fluor Corporation, following finance leadership roles with Elevance Health (NYSE: ELV), Zimmer Biomet (NYSE: ZBH), and Capitol Bancorp Ltd. (NYSE: CBC). Yoder is a frequent guest speaker at economic and corporate finance events throughout the world hosted by the Economist, Bloomberg, Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), Reuters, McKinsey & Company, and is often cited in print and online media. Yoder serves on the board of directors of the North Texas Food Bank and holds three university degrees including two undergraduate degrees from Indiana University and Goshen College, and a graduate degree from the University of Notre Dame where he earned his MBA with academic honors.

Connie Miner is SVP, Global Head of Treasury at News Corp, where she manages all aspects of the Treasury function across the company. She started at News Corp in April of 2020 as VP, Assistant Treasurer.

Previous to joining CHL, Connie worked on the Corporate Treasury team at The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and started her career at Greif, Inc., both in the Global headquarters in Ohio and the South American headquarters in Brazil.

Connie is a Certified Treasury Professional, holds a Global MBA from the University of North Florida and a consortium of European universities, and graduated from The College of New Jersey with a B.S. in Finance and minor in International Business.

Vincent Joseph currently serves as the Assistant Treasurer at TechnipFMC, where he oversees all aspects of capital and liquidity across the company. He started at TechnipFMC in April of 2008 as North America Onshore Controller. During his tenure at TFMC, Vincent has held various leadership positions in France, the UK and the US mainly in finance operations and FP&A before transitioning to treasury 3 years ago.Prior to joining TechnipFMC, Vincent was North America Wireline Controller at Schlumberger and was with the company for almost ten years. During this time, Vincent held various finance positions in manufacturing, consolidations and field operations.Vincent received his Executive MBA from Erasmus University (Rotterdam School of Management) and MBA in finance from INSEEC Business School in Bordeaux.

Tai Carr-Fraser serves as Senior Director, Assistant Treasurer at Capri Holdings Limited. In this role, Tai oversees the Treasury department, managing global operations for renowned brands such as Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors. With a Certified Treasury Professional credential and 15 years of experience, Tai demonstrates expertise in cash management, FX hedging, liquidity, and working capital management.

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