“Behind many successful fortunes there is a financial crime.”
Rob Watson
About
Rob has over 20 years’ experience coordinating and leading some of Australia’s and Asia Pacific’s most serious, complex and sensitive commercial and criminal investigations. He was previously a Detective Sergeant for the Serious and Organised Crime Directorate of the New South Wales Police Force, Australia.
One of the region’s most highly regarded and qualified investigations managers, Rob has been engaged to design and deliver investigation skills and advanced interviewing training to Federal and State Police Detective squads and multinational internal audit teams in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. He has also provided legal counsel and litigation support to some of the world’s largest international banking institutions and multinational companies concerning regulatory and reportable conduct matters.
Most recently, Rob was the Head of Investigations and Response, Australia and Asia, for BHP, the world’s largest mining and resources company. He led a team of 90 specialists conducting workplace investigations into sexual harassment, bullying, racism, fraud, bribery, corruption, conflicts of interest and intellectual property theft.
Education and accreditations
- Bachelor of Investigations (Law and Justice) – Charles Sturt University
- Advanced Diploma Public Safety (Investigations) – Charles Sturt University
- Diploma of Policing – Charles Sturt University
- Detectives Education Program (Designated Detective) – New South Wales Police Force Academy
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
- Internal Investigators Course – New South Wales Police Force
Significant Engagements
- Mining resources sector: Procurement, conflicts of interest and internal serious fraud – Australia, South-East Asia and America
- Banking institution: Internal fraud and serious employee misconduct – Australia
- Financial services: High profile, sensitive commercial fraud – Australia, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia
- Government employees and public officials: Fraud, corruption and serious criminal misconduct – Australia
- Retail and commercial sales franchisee network: Global investigations and case management framework
- Power generation sector: Commercial fraud and corruption – Indonesia, Korea
- Online gambling: Internal fraud and employee misconduct – Philippines & Antigua
- Delegated investigating official: Court certified expert – Australia
