Richard Gould
Director, Illicit Finance Consulting Limited
Richard has had a career in law enforcement, almost entirely dedicated to combatting financial crime, which stretches back to the mid 1980’s. Richard has worked with UK Customs, the Serious Fraud Office and the National Crime Agency until May this year. He is now an independent consultant specialising in illicit financial crime issues and, particularly, the implementation of and compliance with FATF standards.
Richard has worked on all areas of financial crime including money laundering, anti-corruption, fraud, tax evasion and asset recovery (both conviction and non-conviction based). He has delivered recoveries of more than £30 million in criminal proceeds over his career and been appointed by the High Court in the UK as the Trustee in civil recovery matters on six occasions. Over the years his efforts have been recognised by the judiciary and peers with several commendations and awards.
Richard is an assessor for the 4th round of Mutual Evaluation Reports and was part of the team that undertook the 2018 review of Israel.
In the last few years of his law enforcement career he focused on the more strategic elements of combatting financial crime; this includes working with the Council of Europe on multi-jurisdiction investigation planning, the UNODC’s anti-money laundering working group and academic research on counter proliferation financing and the abuse of corporate vehicles in money laundering.
Richard is a qualified instructor and has designed and delivered national and international events aimed at enhancing capacity and capability in the financial crime arena for law enforcement and prosecutors.
Whilst at the NCA Richard was responsible for the leadership and development of the UK’s cadre of Expert Money Laundering Witnesses. This cadre, which is designed to assist the court (and if needed the jury) in understanding money laundering methodologies and typologies, has become a globally recognised leader in the field. It sets the standards for the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group (FELEG) community in this arena.
Since joining the private sector in May 2019 his knowledge and experience has been put to good use by a range of jurisdictions and partners including the States of Guernsey, the Council of Europe and, most recently, the Cayman Islands where he is assisting with the development of their FATF standards and outcomes activity.
His travels on a professional and personal basis have enabled him to develop his wildlife photography skills – something which has led to several photographic awards and competition wins.