March 8 was International Women’s Day. Una Riley wanted to interview a high-profile female security professional; she sought out Caroline Waddicor.
We had arranged to meet at the IoD (Institute of Directors) in Pall Mall, London. Caroline arrived as if she had just landed at Heathrow Airport with her flight bag and briefcase; and that is exactly where she had come from. After our meeting she was off to the coast for another meeting. Always busy but always smiling. Although a high-flying business woman now, Caroline served in the British police for 12 years, mostly in the Criminal Investigations Department, Drug Squad and Serious Crime Squad. She was cited for a number of commendations for bravery and her detective ability. In 1994 she left the police to forge a career in corporate security. Within ten years, she established a highly successful career, as head of security, and head of loss prevention, at four FTSE listed companies. It was whilst Caroline was head of security in one of those FTSE companies that I initially met and dealt with her in a business to business capacity and although there were not a lot of female security professionals around in her position, I found her to be one of the most professional people that I had met. It was obvious she was destined for greater things. When I heard that she had joined Allan McDonagh (Hibis Europe) as a consultant in 2002, I knew it would not be long before she would make her mark; she is now the MD. So here we were after many years, sat in the superlative surroundings of the restaurant at the IoD and I couldn’t wait to hear about her.
Caroline said: “The last time we chatted face to face about business was about ten years ago. At that time I learned a lot from working in-house for corporate security performing in the role of loss prevention. One of the most important things I observed is that corporate organisations require an empathic approach from third party companies when it comes to major issues that they encounter such as fraud and corruption. I identified that as a niche market. Therefore, when I started in business I was lucky to work with Allan McDonagh, a highly respected professional in the world of anti-fraud. The mission of our company (Hibis) is to help organisations improve their resistance to fraud; but we do it in a way that is client focused, by way of empathically helping them to manage fraud risks using a unique fraud profiling process. We also raise fraud awareness through customised training, including workshops and e-learning which are very successful and fit in with our clients’ needs. However, I hope that we communicate with our clients in a way that makes them feel reassured, comfortable and confident in what we teach them. We want our clients to be able to identify and detect the red flags of fraud and pre-empt major incidents using tailored detection programs which we introduce and which help them to conduct investigations and also measure fraud resistance. We are able to work with our clients through the entire process. We deliver this type of service because we feel that it is what our clients want and we oblige by having a strong team that acknowledges our ethos of empathy towards our clients.” Caroline was very enthusiastic about the way her company deliver their service.
She added: ”Having been on the client end I know exactly what I used to want and look for in service delivery and now I am in the position to tailor our service to suit our clients’ needs; and I just love what I do.” I asked about her client base and although it is impressive she was reluctant to name anyone due to client confidentially. However, Caroline did say: “Our clients include major multi-national corporations, financial institutions and government agencies. We also work with industry associations and specialists. As I mentioned our aim is to research, identify and introduce new and practical ways by which clients can increase their resistance to fraud.” I asked if she could be more specific and she smiled broadly as she said: “I have managed numerous complex fraud investigations throughout the world in the retail, airline and civil industries, in addition to the finance sectors, banking and insurance industry and the electricity, oil and utility sectors. We have conducted forensic reviews and fraud investigations on behalf of a certain Middle Eastern central bank, which resulted in the appointment of administrators and the commencement of civil action against a bank. In fact we started working in the Middle East about eight years ago in Dubai at a time when it was perceived to be very glamorous. I guess some people can get caught up in that lifestyle but in security you always need to have your feet on the ground. We have worked uncompromisingly with our products and services and our strategy has paid off.”
How are you accepted as a woman in the Middle East, I asked. “I have been very fortunate that as a result of some of the training courses that Allan and I have been running in the Middle East, I have developed quite a network of people. The most interesting thing for me is that the most professional group of people that I have met are, believe it or not women! I have been fortunate to meet some very formidable women in senior positions within the fraud prevention world who are very determined and focused. One of the examples is when I ran a two day training course for the Central Bank of Oman in late November last year, and also a one day course for the State Audit Institute in Oman.” Caroline paused and said: “I am not divulging client confidentiality in any way, these instances are in the public domain. It was really successful; we had television, radio and press coverage of the events as this was the first time the Sultan had endorsed this type of training. As a result of the two highly publicised courses we will be delivering our product over a one year assignment in Oman to all of the banking institutions together with other financial agencies. This is ground-breaking for the country of Oman.”
Caroline and I went on to discuss in depth the type of information that she imparts at these conferences and she spoke about ‘red flags’ of fraud along with NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) techniques and observations. It was incredibly interesting. She also talked about corporate fraud and corruption. She went on to explain how high profile cases, such as Bernard Madoff, Stanford, Enron, the Bank of Credit & Commerce International and Satyam Computer Services, had reinforced the need to always be vigilant when it comes to identifying the start of fraud and corruption at the lowest level. Caroline added: “The current economic challenges are prompting many internal audit departments to take more proactive, action-oriented approaches to fraud risk. Some organisations are continuing to be vigilant and creative thinking, whilst others are only just starting the process.” It seems that she has made significant progress in the Middle East and mentioned that in September 2008, she was awarded an Honory Diploma by PIKW in Poland for exceptional services for the ‘Development of Internal Audit and Fraud and Corruption prevention in Poland’. I hasten to add that Caroline is a member of the Worshipful Company of Security Professionals, The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, ASIS, EPIC and the FWN (Fraud Women’s Network); at this we discovered that we would both be attending an FWN event later that week at JP Morgan’s; now that is another story.
