Speaker Bios

Speakers will be added as they are confirmed.
Victor Cardona
 Opus Bank

Victor is currently Senior Vice President, BSA Officer at Golden State Bank in Los Angeles, CA. Victor has been in banking since 2004, specializing in BSA/AML compliance since 2005. Outside of the banking industry, Victor is also an Adjunct Professor at Cal Poly Pomona where he teaches Forensic Accounting.

Throughout Victor's career, he has held positions from BSA Analyst to BSA Risk Officer before becoming a BSA Officer, working at small to midsize banks such as Farmers and Merchants Bank of Long Beach and City National Bank. Prior to joining Golden State Bank, Victor was the BSA Officer at Mechanics Bank with oversight responsibility of their Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA.

Victor is the recipient of the 2019 Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Los Angeles field office Private Partnership Award. He also received an Annual Law Enforcement Award from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for playing an important role in a joint investigation by the FBI, IRS-CI, and the United States Attorney's Office, which led to the dismantling of an organized criminal enterprise that participated in bank fraud, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed wholesale distribution of drugs, and money laundering.

Victor received his Bachelor's Degree from Cal State Dominguez Hills in Accounting and his MBA from Utica College in Economic Crime & Fraud Management. Victor attended the police academy at the Golden West College Criminal Justice Training Center where he received a Certificate of Achievement in Criminal Justice, and attended the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Citizens Academy. Victor also currently sits on the ACAMS Southern California Chapter's Executive Board as their Co-Chair.

John Burnett
BankersOnline.com
John Burnett joined Glia Group, Inc., and BankersOnline in 2004, and currently serves as Executive Editor. He is a 1990 honors graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking and is an alumnus of the ABA National Compliance School, where he served on the faculty for several years.

John began his banking career in high school when he started as a teller at a $15 million bank that didn't have account numbers for its checking accounts (he says they actually filed by signature!) He joined Cape Cod Bank and Trust Company in 1971 and assumed the position of Compliance Officer in 1976. He also served as corporate secretary and secretary of CCBT's Board of Directors, as well as Clerk of the bank's holding company.

He was a member of the Massachusetts Bankers Association Legal and Regulatory Compliance Committee, and of the American Bankers Association Compliance Executive Committee and NCS/NGCS Advisory Board. He is a regular presenter of BOL Learning Connect webinars and a presenter at BOL Conferences events.


Brian Crow
 Thomas Compliance Associates, Inc.

Brian Crow is Managing Partner & Co-President at Thomas Compliance Associates, Inc. in Chicago, IL. Brian brings 20 years of prior banking experience to the consulting field. He was most recently Assistant Vice President and BSA Administrator for a suburban Chicago bank, where his responsibilities included preparing the bank's annual BSA risk assessment and audit documentation. Earlier as Operations Officer at the same bank, Brian monitored AML activity, aided in the implementation of the bank's AML software, and designed the bank's authentication blocking program that helped to reduce debit card fraud losses by 95 percent. Brian's responsibilities also included managing the bank's Regulation E claims, managing the bank's courtesy overdraft program, reviewing Reg CC hold notices for accuracy, and processing claims for fraudulent signatures and endorsements.

Mr. Crow has been, and continues to be, an education consultant for BOL Learning Connect, conducting webinars that have covered VISA/MasterCard chargebacks, debit card compliance and fraud prevention for hundreds of banks. It was in this role that Mr. Crow was recognized as a Bankers Online Guru in 2011.

Like many of us, Mr. Crow began his banking career as a teller, working his way up to head teller and then branch management responsibilities. He earned a B.A. degree in Theology from Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois. Because of his education background, Brian has been given the unofficial title of "Security Evangelist" as he strives to help financial institutions protect their bottom line from losses related to fraud.



Robin Guthridge, CAMS, CRCM
 Wipfli LLP's

Robin Guthridge has a strong background in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance, leadership, and sales management. In addition to performing BSA, deposit, and loan compliance examinations for various institutions, she has developed, implemented, and presented annual BSA workshops for Wipfli LLP's clients and prospects and for various state banking associations. Robin uses her firsthand experience in the financial services industry to provide meaningful insight and helpful recommendations in the areas of BSA and deposit compliance. Her goal is to exceed client expectations with every contact.



Mary Beth Guard
 BankersOnline.com

Mary Beth Guard is one of the four co-founders of BankersOnline. For 16 years she served as the site's Executive Editor and is currently Executive Editor Emeritus. Mary Beth is also the director of BankCompliance.com (formerly BOL Insiders), the premier subscription-based compliance service now being offered online. Also, Mary Beth serves as CEO of Glia Group, Inc. (which produces BOL Learning Connect) and is a partner in BankGuard Resources. For more than three decades, Mary Beth has utilized her background as an attorney to focus on banking industry issues, first as general counsel for the Oklahoma State Banking Department, then as general counsel for the Oklahoma Bankers Association, prior to her work with BankersOnline.

Mary Beth has presented training programs for virtually every major national financial industry association, as well as more than a dozen state bankers associations and a host of other organizations. She is a frequent presenter of webinars and seminars. In addition, Mary Beth has written more than a thousand banking-related articles and is BOL Guru #1.


Adam Witmer
Compliance Cohort, LLC

Adam is founder/CEO of Compliance Cohort, LLC and a VP at a small community bank in Northern Indiana where he heads up the risk management, compliance, BSA, and audit programs. Adam has presented hundreds of BSA and compliance seminars and training sessions to thousands of bankers through partnerships with state banking associations throughout the US, is a former faculty member of the Community Bankers School (IL), and is a regular guest lecturer at Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW).

Being passionate about compliance education, Adam utilizes a three-part approach to compliance instruction: to educate, to empower, and to entertain. For Adam, this is achieved by focusing on relevant topics, speaking in simple to understand, layman's terms, and by keeping it light and humorous whenever possible. Adam has found that this "3-E" approach allows attendees to learn as quickly and effectively as possible. And, it adds a little bit of fun to an otherwise dreadful topic.

A regular contributor on the BankersOnline forums, Adam is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) and has been a BSA Officer for three different community banks. He has also held positions as a Senior Consultant at a regional consulting firm, an AVP and Director of Compliance for a multi-bank holding company, a banker at a large national bank, and a loan originator at a mortgage subsidiary of a regional community bank. He currently resides in Northern Indiana with his wife and three children. They have a cat named Nacho and a dog named Queso.


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