CFCS (Other exams) case studies
CFCS · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS) is a professional credential for practitioners who detect, investigate, and prevent financial crime. It is aimed at compliance officers, AML analysts, fraud investigators, sanctions specialists, and law enforcement or audit professionals moving into financial crime roles. Candidates typically hold some operational experience, though the exam rewards structured study as much as tenure. The exam is multiple choice and spans ten domains: anti-money laundering, fraud prevention and detection, compliance and risk management, sanctions and embargoes, investigations and interviewing, asset forfeiture and recovery, cybercrime and digital evidence, terrorist financing, ethics, and the legal and regulatory framework. The CFCS case studies are 5 cases and about 2,800 words.
1The Structuring Pattern at a Regional Credit Union
A compliance analyst at a regional credit union reviews a member, Mr. Okafor, who opened a personal checking account 14 months ago.
622 words, about 3 min2The Sanctions Hit on a Humanitarian Shipment
A mid-sized freight forwarder in Dubai handles a shipment of medical consumables to a port in a country subject to a partial sectoral embargo. The bill of lading names the consignee as a local ministry of health.
570 words, about 3 min3The Interview That Went Sideways
During an internal investigation into expense fraud, a compliance investigator interviews a mid-level finance employee, Ms. Reyes, accused of submitting $47,000 in duplicate travel reimbursements over 18 months.
549 words, about 3 min4The Ransomware Payment and the OFAC Question
A hospital's IT director reports that a ransomware group has encrypted patient records and is demanding $2.1 million in cryptocurrency within 72 hours. The hospital's insurer has engaged an incident response firm and a crypto broker to facilitate payment.
529 words, about 3 min5The Art Dealer's Cash Buyer
An art gallery in a jurisdiction that has extended AML obligations to dealers sells a painting for €380,000 to a first-time buyer, Mr. He insists on paying €240,000 in cash in three installments over two weeks and the remainder by wire from a company in a secrecy jurisdiction.
530 words, about 3 min