OUR TEAM

Ren is the Founder and President of TrustStorm, based in Arlington, Virginia. Prior to establishing TrustStorm in 2022, Ren was a Managing Director and Executive Committee member at Exiger, where he established the Exiger Government Services (EGS) business unit, serving U.S. Government (USG) clients with high-impact services and products. During his EGS leadership tenure, Ren developed and led the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Army Judge Advocate General (JAGC) programs with a focus on high-quality litigation support, Technology Assisted Review (TAR) eDiscovery solutions, and innovative investigative technologies.

Under Ren’s leadership, EGS supported three units at DOJ to include: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Market Integrity and Major Fraud (MIMF), and Health Care Fraud (HCF). Specifically, the program provided expert contractors with extensive previous experience working for the FBI in support of DOJ matters directly relevant to the mission of the FCPA, MIMF, and HCF Units. The managed solutions platform involved review and analysis of financial documents, bank statements, and electronic communications; analysis and tracing of the flow of funds to identify complex financial criminal schemes; assistance and preparation of summary charts, written analysis, and other material in connection with the investigations and trials; and expert preparation and testimony. Additional services included the review, assessment, and production of disparate and voluminous data (20+ Terabytes) seized during the execution of federal search warrants to ensure efficient, effective, and timely production for defense attorneys as well as DOJ filter and trial attorneys.

Separately, Ren led a complex eDiscovery project in support of a five-year contract with the JAGC to transfer all of the JAGC litigation cases from an outdated eDiscovery platform to the latest version of Relativity. The project required coordination with JAGC attorneys, Army IT specialists, Relativity IT specialists, and involved voluminous data assessment and migration, data quality assurance, infrastructure and user training, and numerous IT systems in both unclassified and classified ecosystems.

Ren’s expertise has also included assisting the USG on best practices in leveraging cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and natural language processing (NLP), to address structured and unstructured voluminous data challenges in complex financial crime investigations.

Prior to joining Exiger in 2018, Ren was an FBI Supervisory Special Agent and was selected to lead the FBI's Washington Field Office, International Corruption Squad. In this role, Ren led a team of Special Agents, Forensic Accountants, and Intelligence Analysts with a focus on investigations related to the FCPA, International Money Laundering, Kleptocracy and Antitrust violations. Ren worked closely with DOJ and the SEC on parallel global investigations and resolutions, to include deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), non-prosecution agreements (NPAs), declinations, compliance reviews and mediation, “Filip Factors” presentations, penalties, fines and disgorgement, individual prosecutions, forfeiture and seizure, and violations of prosecution agreements.

Ren was the Acting Unit Chief of the FBI’s International Corruption Unit. In this capacity as both Acting Chief and Supervisory Special Agent, Ren developed and implemented a new FBI proactive global strategy to investigate complex international financial crimes and corruption matters. This new strategy was closely coordinated with both the DOJ and the SEC. Moreover, it represented an increase of over 300% in new international anti-corruption resources for the FBI. The strategy leveraged critical private sector outreach and overseas partnerships, innovative analytical capabilities, and utilized dedicated expert personnel with solid investigative principles. This concept resulted in the creation of dedicated FBI international corruption teams. This program was highlighted by the Wall Street Journal, “FBI to Bulk up Foreign Bribery Efforts,” on 01/14/2015. Additional responsibilities included program management of all FBI FCPA investigations, private sector outreach, international FCPA training and education, and participation with the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

Ren’s global investigative experience positioned him to work closely with the banking industry, leveraging Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and internal bank investigations, while following various currencies through the complex world banking system. Ren’s cases involved working with Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) around the globe, to include the U.S. Department of Treasury’s, Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN), tracking complex money movements, analyzing bank accounts, and identifying money launderers. Ren routinely coordinated with foreign counterparts on global parallel investigations to improve the collection of certified evidence, while advocating the importance of intelligence sharing for proactive case initiation and support. Ren has managed international corruption investigations in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. These investigations have involved multiple industries, to include pharmaceuticals, aerospace & defense, energy, retail, hospitality, financial, banking, technology, extractives, education, and others.

Prior to Ren’s involvement with the FBI’s International Corruption Program, he was selected to serve as a Supervisory Special Agent in the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs. His FBI tenure also included assignments in the Tampa and Boston Divisions investigating international and domestic terrorism, public corruption, complex criminal enterprise, international maritime crimes, and bank robbery.

George “Ren” McEachern, Founder & President

Nanette Schumaker, Senior Consultant

Nan has over 20 years’ experience as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Nan’s last assignment before retirement was the Baltimore Field Office investigating violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Public Corruption and Government Fraud, Waste and Abuse. Her FBI tenure included extensive experience working various complex white-collar matters in support of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). Her financial crime expertise included financial analysis of money laundering conspiracies and the movement of funds and assets between numerous domestic and international financial institutions. Nan specialized in the analysis of voluminous financial records and electronic communications to identify criminal schemes. She was an active member of the International Foreign Bribery Task (IFBT) which was established between the FBI, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), U.K. Serious Fraud Office (SFO), U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA), and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to share foreign bribery intelligence efficiently and effectively in support of parallel global criminal investigations.

Nan’s FBI experience included leadership positions at FBI Headquarters in both the Financial Institution Fraud and Confidential Human Source Units. Her field office assignments included New York and Little Rock Divisions with responsibilities investigating bank fraud, kidnapping, bank robbery and counterterrorism. Nan was the assistant team leader for evidence collection in the Tanzania and Kenya U.S. Embassy bombing investigations, travelling to Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam to lead her team in their investigative and evidence collection efforts.

Nan retired from the FBI in 2018 and has been providing expert litigation support as a contractor to DOJ’s FCPA Unit since 2019.

Jeff Cortese, Senior Advisor

Jeff Cortese was born in California and graduated with a degree in Business (BS) from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 1999. He received his Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) certifications in 2016, and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Louisiana State University Shreveport in 2018. After working three years in the financial services industry where he earned his Series 6, 7, and 63, Cortese joined the United States Capitol Police (USCP). After graduating at the top of his recruitment class, he served as a Special Agent on the security detail of the United States Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, working executive protection assignments across the country including as the lead advance for the Speaker’s visit to the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. While with the USCP he earned two Commendations and one Unit Citation.

In 2005, he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a Special Agent working assignments in New Orleans and Tucson as a SWAT Operator and member of the Public Corruption and Southwest Border Violence squads, respectively. He earned the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission Excellence in Law Enforcement Award, OCDETF Regional Investigative Award and multiple FBI recognition awards for investigative accomplishments.

In 2011, he transferred to FBI Headquarters where he was assigned as a Supervisory Special Agent in the Public Corruption Unit, the FBI’s number one criminal priority program. From 2011 to 2012, Cortese served as the Acting Chief of the Public Corruption Unit. In 2013, he was transferred to San Francisco as a Supervisory Special Agent. While serving in these positions he provided investigative training across the country and to hundreds of senior law enforcement officers from dozens of countries on three continents.

Following his many years in public service, Cortese transitioned to the private sector where he accepted a role in risk management. He has since been published numerous times by multiple outlets as a law enforcement analyst. Additional articles and publications of Jeff’s can be found at his website: https://www.jeffcortese.com/about.

In 2022, Jeff authored his first textbook on corruption, titled Public Corruption in the United States, Analysis of a Destructive Phenomenon, which was published by one of the top academic publishers, Routledge Publishing (purchase link). Public Corruption in the United States provides a comprehensive view of public corruption, including discussion on its types, methods, trends, challenges, and overall impact. It is the first book of its kind to examine in plain language the breadth of criminal public corruption in the United States, not just at a superficial level, but in a deeper context. By critically examining acts of corruption of elected, appointed and hired government officials (legislators, law enforcement, judges, etc.) at the local, state, and federal levels, the reader gains insight into the inner workings of corruption, including its relationship to terrorism and organized criminal networks.　

Public Corruption in the United States

by Jeff Cortese

Using simple language and easy-to-understand examples,

this book is about empowering investigators, compliance professionals, educators, public officials, and everyday citizens who seek to better serve, support, and protect their communities and their country.

BUY NOW

Devon Mahoney, Senior Advisor

Former Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Devon P. Mahoney graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business and Economics. Upon graduation, he accepted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army serving as a Field Artillery Officer at Ft. Wainwright, Alaska. In 1994, SSA Mahoney earned a Master of Science Degree from the University of Laverne in Organizational Management.

In 1996, Mr. Mahoney was appointed to the position of Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). During his career, he was assigned to the Las Vegas, Albuquerque, and Columbia Field Divisions where he worked criminal and terrorism investigations. As a lead investigator, Mr. Mahoney conducted numerous Under Cover Operations using Confidential Human Sources to investigate and dismantle criminal conspiracies. In 2015, Mr. Mahoney was assigned to Bucharest, Romania where he worked international corruption matters with the Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate and Moldova’s National Anticorruption Center. In 2016, Mr. Mahoney was promoted to the FBI International Corruption Unit located in Washington, D.C., where he was the Program Manager responsible for the FBI’s Antitrust Program.

In 2019, after 23 years in the FBI, Mr. Mahoney retired and founded NMIC specializing in providing training and investigative solutions to agencies working antitrust and competition matters.

Yana Roginska Green, Senior Advisor

Yana Roginska Green has over 15 years of professional experience in AML, due diligence, operational intelligence, regulatory compliance, and legal drafting. She speaks six languages and specializes in the Anglosphere and Eurasia jurisdictions.

Yana graduated from the National Law Academy of Ukraine with an LLM Diploma and started her career in the State Department of Legal Approximation in the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine as a specialist in State aid, Public Procurement, Competition, and Company Law.

In 2011, Mrs. Green graduated from the Estonian School of Diplomacy in Tallinn and in 2012, from the College of Europe with a Master’s in European Single Market Law. From 2012 to 2013, Mrs. Green worked on legal research for the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee in the Policy Department of Economic and Scientific Policy of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

In 2013, she became a co-founder and Director of the Research Institute on Legal Approximation - a non-profit research organization aimed at helping to improve policy and decision-making in Ukraine through research and analysis.

From 2017 to 2022, Mrs. Green worked at several research institutes in Washington, DC on national security and criminal justice. Most recently, she was an Associate Director at Exiger Diligence where she successfully led the US team of researchers, conducted training, and worked on research excellence and operations improvement initiatives.

Mrs. Green is the co-author of a number of European Parliament publications on the main freedoms of the Internal Market and of the Study for the European Parliament on Streaming and online access to content (EP, 13 March 2014). Moreover, she is a co-author of a number of books on State aid, in particular, of the first Commentary to the Law of Ukraine on State aid (2017); Sixty Years of EU State Aid Law and Policy (2018); Subsidies in the US and EU: Control of Free Provision (2018). She also published an article “The Russian doping scandal is just another part of its disinformation campaign,” The Hill (02/2018).

Michael Borowski, Senior Advisor

Michael has over 7 years of experience in blockchain, data analytics, building data retrieval and data display tools. In addition to data related products over the past years, Michael has been involved in building, designing, and deploying projects for commercial application of generative AI for imagery, proposals, and automated content production and publishing. He has also worked on products for NFT marketplaces, releases, generation, minting, and a web3 enabled user platform layer.

Michael's past work involved a DC-based blockchain company that aggregated sources from the main central exchange platforms, on chain transaction data, and initial coin offering (ICO) rating platforms. This was then fed into a unified dashboard to compare, log, and report data on pricing, rating, and volume metrics across all reporting outlets.

In 2019, he co-founded a web3 enabled platform that aggregated thousands of sources from around the web using AI topical tagging, scoring, and summaries. The platform gathered data from a variety of sources including news outlets, media streams, publications, patents, and SEC filings to provide AI generated summaries and curated feeds without the noise of low-quality content and duplicate coverage. This platform was acquired by a private company in 2022.