David R. Alfaro

David Alfaro is an experienced data scientist and forensic accountant based in San Francisco. Throughout his 30-plus-year career, Mr. Alfaro has led more than 300 engagements as an expert witness or as an expert consultant, with a primary focus on investigations and disputes.

Throughout his career, Mr. Alfaro has provided expert witness testimony in a wide range of high-stakes matters involving allegations such as terrorist financing, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duties, aiding and abetting a Ponzi scheme, theft, fraud, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) Act violations and other complex claims. These matters often required the recovery and analysis of large volumes of financial, accounting, operational and human resources data.

A recognized expert in enterprise data collection and analysis, Mr. Alfaro has deep experience conducting complex, data-intensive investigations in response to litigation, internal reviews, and government or regulatory inquiries. He has provided both formal and informal testimony before federal and state courts, as well as regulatory and enforcement agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and other agencies and bureaus.

Relevant Experience:

• Retained as the Independent Compliance Monitor under an FTC settlement to conduct biennial reviews of a financial services company’s compliance program, enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) systems and loan servicing operations, including investigations into overcharged fees and improper credit reporting (Case Type: Regulatory Response)
• Approved by FINRA as an independent examiner to assess alleged violations of securities laws tied to broker-dealer and mutual fund business practices at a major financial institution (Case Type: Regulatory Response)
• Led a forensic investigation into a $590 million Ponzi scheme on behalf of the Debtors, supporting the Court’s determination and quantifying net claims and potential clawbacks
• Provided expert testimony and flow-of-funds analysis in multiple class actions against large financial institutions defending against aiding and abetting allegations tied to a Ponzi scheme or other similar types of fraudulent schemes (Case Type: Ponzi Scheme Investigation)
• Conducted a comprehensive internal investigation for the board of a multinational corporation into officer misconduct and other labor and employment issues, which entailed analyzing more than 11 million accounting records and providing informal testimony to the DOJ, FBI and SEC (Case Type: Forensic Accounting Investigation)
• Retained by a large gig economy company to assess and respond to several inquiries and lawsuits by federal and state regulators, alleging that the company was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) as well as deceptive advertising regarding expected earnings, among many other allegations (Case Type: Labor and Employment)