Dennis Namunwa
CRYPTO INVESTIGATIONS SPECIALIST
Nairobi
Summary
Dennis is a crypto enthusiast and crypto compliance professional. Currently, I am part of Wallet, specializing in crypto investigations and financial crime intelligence pertaining to virtual assets. My work emphasizes key areas such as Sanctions compliance, Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), drug trade and counter-terrorism financing (CTF). As a subject matter expert, I contribute to the wider compliance framework by leveraging extensive open-source intelligence (OSINT) and employing advanced blockchain tracing techniques, utilizing a variety of on-chain and off-chain analytical tools to enhance investigative outcomes and ensure regulatory adherence. Additionally, I focus on identifying emerging threats within the blockchain ecosystem and providing actionable insights to mitigate risks associated with illicit activities.
Overview
6
6
years of professional experience
4
4
years of post-secondary education
10
10
Certifications
Work History
Crypto Investigations Specialist
Wallet in Telegram (TON Blockchain)
09.2024 - Current
- Conducting comprehensive crypto investigations of flagged users to evaluate legitimacy and identify patterns of risk, developing strategies to mitigate issues and prevent recurrence.
- Preparing detailed investigative reports for internal stakeholders and regulatory bodies, collaborating with the firm's MLRO as needed.
- Sharing intelligence with blockchain analytics firms based on evidence gathered via thorough on chain analysis.
- Supporting internal and external audits, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies.
- Detecting trends in abnormal activity to map networks of bad actors and conducting detailed open-source research to enhance investigations and due diligence efforts.
- Analyzing account data and transactions to assess user's activity and identifying connected entities by leveraging blockchain analytics to support the company's AML compliance.
- Identifying unique risks posed by high-risk clients, recommending controls and monitoring parameters to mitigate these risks.
- Developing and implementing training programs to educate compliance staff on identifying and escalating suspicious activities related to cryptocurrencies.
Project Manager - Compliance
Diligence Advisory Africa LLP
01.2022 - 08.2024
- I led a team of 85 certified compliance analysts in conducting comprehensive compliance checks for fintechs, insurance, banks, and Web3 firms. These compliance checks included: Web3 Investigations: On-Chain and Off-Chain , Risk and Threat Analysis, Sanctions and PEP Screening, Enhanced Due Diligence checks, KYC verifications and AML Quality Assurance.
- Spearheading the company's World Bank Integrity Due Diligence Project: I conduct financial crime checks for over 2000 refugee investees against global databases and major sanctions lists in order to support informed funding decisions.
- Performing AML audits for Fintechs and Banks by providing an independent review of their entire AML/CFT compliance program. This included assessing the effectiveness of AML policies, procedures, risk assessments, transaction monitoring systems, and staff training programs to ensure regulatory compliance and identify areas for improvement.
- Conducting Crypto compliance trainings for: Banks, Insurance firms and Fintechs.
- Mentoring of fresh graduates through the Diligence Advisory Financial Crime Academy (DAFCA), thus facilitating their placement in compliance careers and contributing to the development of future professionals in the industry.
- As the project lead, I was responsible for ensuring the timely and accurate delivery of all compliance project deliverables.
- I also served as the primary point of contact for the client organizations, providing regular updates on all compliance projects progress and addressing any escalated issues in a timely manner.
- My role was instrumental in coordinating the efforts of the compliance team, driving the implementation of effective compliance strategies, and delivering tangible outcomes that met the clients' needs at all times.
Volunteer Crypto Investigator
Anti Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative
03.2024 - Current
- Conducting comprehensive blockchain forensics and cryptocurrency investigations to disrupt illicit crypto flows associated with human trafficking and child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
- Sharing actionable intelligence from the deep web and dark web with law enforcement agencies to combat trafficking and child exploitation activities facilitated by cryptocurrencies. Open Source Intelligence tools used to source for information from the deep and dark web include; Darkus, Katana and Uscrapper
- Engaged in cooperative initiatives with industry partners to combat slavery effectively through financial analysis and intelligence sharing. Industry partners include; Blockchain Intelligence companies, Virtual Asset Service Providers, Banks and Law enforcement.
Digital Banking Officer
I&M Bank Ltd
03.2021 - 12.2021
- Conducting proper customer due diligence and KYC during digital onboarding as per the bank's AML/CFT program.
- Create automated functional, performance and regression tests.
- Ensure quality of the sprint planning process by ensuring best practices are adhered to in the process.
- Formulate recommendations, policies and plans to solve channels problems that assist in solving customer issues.
- Preparation of Banks System test schemes to guide inflow of banks operations processes.
- Participate in mobile banking projects for both corporate and retail products as a whole.
Customer Service & Operations Officer
I&M Bank Ltd
07.2019 - 03.2021
- Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and KYC- Performing background checks on customers to ensure that they are properly risk assessed before onboarding.
- Conducting continuous end-to-end systematic service quality checks aimed at identifying service gaps that negatively impact the overall customer experience.
- Documentation, maintaining, monitoring measurement, and reviewing of SLA (Service Level Agreement) performance to improve customer experience.
Education
Bachelor of Commerce - Finance Option
The University of Nairobi
Nairobi, Kenya 01.2015 - 12.2018
Skills
- Team Leadership and Management
- Blockchain Investigations and Crypto Analytics
- Transaction monitoring and Suspicious Activity reporting
- Enhanced Due Diligence
- KYC and KYB Compliance
- Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
- Sanctions Compliance
- Customer Onboarding
- Compliance Training and Development
- Regulatory Reporting
- Threat hunting
- Web scrapping
- Open-Source Intelligence
Technological Skills
Power user in utilising:
- Chainalysis Reactor
- Elliptic Lens
- Elliptic Navigator
- Arkham Intelligence
- TRM Tactical investigation tool
- Merkle Science Tracker
- Qlue tool
- Maltego
- Refinitive Worldcheck
- Sumsub
Certification
TRM Advanced Crypto Investigator (TRM-ACI), TRM Labs, 2024
Affiliations
Crypto Task Force Member, Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII)
Timeline
Crypto Investigations Specialist
Wallet in Telegram (TON Blockchain)
09.2024 - Current
Volunteer Crypto Investigator
Anti Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative
03.2024 - Current
Project Manager - Compliance
Diligence Advisory Africa LLP
01.2022 - 08.2024
Digital Banking Officer
I&M Bank Ltd
03.2021 - 12.2021
Customer Service & Operations Officer
I&M Bank Ltd
07.2019 - 03.2021
Bachelor of Commerce - Finance Option
The University of Nairobi
01.2015 - 12.2018
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