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    • Friday, September 12, 2025
    • 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
    • Cincinnati Financial Corporation, 6200 South Gilmore Road, Fairfield, OH 45014

    Speaker: Ohio Auditor of State Office: Marissa Gibson, AOS SIU Investigator and Matt Klapheke, AOS SIU Senior Forensic Audit Manager

    TopicCarnivore - Herbivore – Greedivore (The Columbus Zoo Fraud)

    Description:

    A criminal enterprise highjacked the purse strings of the Columbus Zoo. We will examine multiple areas of fraud committed by zoo executives and how working in concert they covered up their fraud for nearly a decade. We will examine how this massive fraud motivated by greed resulted in four men winding up behind bars.

    CPE: 2 hours

    CPE credits are based on a 50-minute hour.  CPE is offered through the ACFE as well as the Accountancy Board of Ohio (sponsor number CPE.00467).  Attendees must attend 100 minutes of the meeting and answer 6 polling questions during the meeting to validate attendance. 

    Learning Objectives

    Promotion of improved fraud detection and deterrence and through expansion of knowledge in relation to the session's topic.

    Prerequisites: None

    Speaker Bios: 

    • Marissa Gibson: Marissa is an AOS SIU investigator assigned to the Central region of the state. She has been a law enforcement officer since 2001, coming to the unit from a local sheriff’s office detective bureau. In addition to over twenty years in law enforcement, Marissa has also worked in the Anti-Money Laundering unit of a national bank. Marissa was the investigator for notable and successfully prosecuted cases including The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Knox County Engineer’s Office, Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, Richland County Job and Family Services, and the Marion County Clerk of Courts. Marissa has been with SIU since 2019. She holds a master’s in Criminal Justice from Tiffin University, a bachelor’s in criminology from The Ohio State University, and is a Certified Fraud Examiner.
    • Matt Klapheke: Matt is a Senior Forensic Audit Manager in the Special Investigations Unit for Auditor of State Keith Faber. The Special Investigations Unit is responsible for conducting limited scope fraud and investigative audits of state and local government subdivisions to examine allegations of fraud, theft, and misappropriation involving public funds. Matt was involved in the investigations of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the City of Nelsonville, the Athens County Metropolitan Housing Authority, the City of Mount Vernon Clerk of Court, the City of Hilliard Parks and Recreation, and the Columbus City Schools Data Integrity audit. Matt has been with the Auditor of State’s office since 2007, beginning his career as a financial auditor in the State Region and later as an Audit Manager. Matt earned both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Dayton and is a Certified Fraud Examiner.

Past events

Friday, May 09, 2025 May 2025 Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual): AI, Accounting, and Ethics (2 Ethics CPE)
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 April 2025 In-Person/Chapter Appreciation and Networking: Equine Fraud in the Insurance Industry (1 CPE)
Thursday, March 13, 2025 March 2025 Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual): Equine Soring & Doping
Thursday, February 13, 2025 February 2025 Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual): Ignorance Is Blitz - Case Study (1.5 CPE)
Friday, December 13, 2024 December 2024 (Virtual): How Data Can Help You Help Attorneys
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Nov 2024 Virtual - Dayton Fraud, Cyber & Ethics Conference (8 CPEs)
Thursday, November 07, 2024 External Event: Xavier University Heroes of Professional Ethics Series featuring Cynthia Cooper
Thursday, October 10, 2024 October 2024 Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual): SNAP Fraud (1.5 CPE)
Friday, September 13, 2024 September 2024 Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual): Turning the Tables on Opportunistic Fraud (2 CPE)
Friday, May 10, 2024 May 2024 Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual): Refund Fraud (2 CPE)
Thursday, April 18, 2024 April 2024 In-Person Chapter Appreciation/Meet & Greet/1CPE: Moerlein Lager House
Thursday, March 14, 2024 Mar 2024 Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual): Ghosts In the System: A Discovery of Internal Thieves
Friday, February 09, 2024 Feb 2024 Virtual: Accounting Integrity Builds Trust (Ethics)
Friday, December 08, 2023 Dec 2023 Virtual: Fraud Vulnerabilities in Today's Contracts
Wednesday, November 15, 2023 Nov 2023 Virtual - Dayton Fraud, Cyber & Ethics Conference (8 CPEs)
Friday, October 13, 2023 Oct 2023 Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual): Detecting Human Trafficking Enterprises in Southwest Ohio
Monday, September 25, 2023 External Event: Xavier University Heroes of Professional Ethics Series
Friday, September 08, 2023 Sept 2023 Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual via Teams): Economic Espionage
Friday, May 12, 2023 May 2023 In-Person or Zoom: Explaining Fraud and Other Financial Crimes: Can Criminological Theories Help?
Wednesday, April 12, 2023 April 2023 In-Person Meet & Greet: Pappygate, Fakes, and Whiskey Frauds: The Murky Underworld of the Bourbon Boom
Friday, March 10, 2023 Mar 2023 Virtual Via Zoom: Pretext & Privacy in Investigations
Friday, February 10, 2023 Feb 2023 In-Person or Zoom: The Ohio Ethics Law: Just the Facts (of Jaw-Dropping Investigations)
Friday, December 09, 2022 Dec 2022 Via Zoom: Cyptocurrency Crime for Non-Techies
Wednesday, November 16, 2022 Nov 2022 Virtual - Dayton Fraud, Cyber & Ethics Conference (8 CPEs)
Friday, October 14, 2022 Oct 2022 In-Person or Zoom: Fundamentals of Cellular Record Analysis and Geolocation
Monday, September 12, 2022 Other CPE Opportunity: Cybercrime, Identity Theft and Scams
Friday, September 09, 2022 Sept 2022 In-Person or Zoom: Money Laundering Through Digital Currency
Friday, May 13, 2022 May Meeting (Virtual) - How to Lose $300m in One Click (Ransomware)
Friday, April 08, 2022 April Meeting (Virtual) - Ethics - Why Good People Do Bad Things
Friday, March 11, 2022 March Meeting (Virtual) - Fraud and White-Collar Crime Research Digest
Friday, February 11, 2022 February Meeting (Virtual) - Protecting Yourself While Conducting Internet-Based Investigations
Friday, December 10, 2021 December Meeting - Internal Control Matters
Friday, November 12, 2021 November Meeting (Virtual)
Wednesday, October 20, 2021 3rd Annual Dayton Fraud, Cyber & Ethics Conference
Friday, September 10, 2021 September Meeting: Investigating the Sensitive Application Warning System: A Secret, 20-year Program at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Friday, May 07, 2021 Anatomy of a Cyber Security Incident: Types of Threats and How to Respond
Friday, April 09, 2021 Walking the Walk: Modeling the ACFE Codes of Conduct
Friday, March 12, 2021 Using Social Media in Investigations
Friday, February 12, 2021 Fraud and White-Collar Crime Research Digest: Summarizing the Latest Academic Research and Providing Practical Implications for Practitioners
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