Grant Thornton adds anti-fraud experts Linda Miller and David Cappellina
Grant Thornton has hired Linda Miller as a principal and David Cappellina as a managing director in the firm’s fraud and forensics practice. Both professionals are based in Washington, DC.
Linda Miller rejoins Grant Thornton after spending a year as deputy executive director of the federal government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), where she oversaw $5 trillion in federal appropriations aimed at responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Miller previously spent four years in Grant Thornton’s DC office, latterly serving as principal and fraud risk mitigation practice lead and overseeing the delivery of antifraud programs for government and commercial clients.
Before Grant Thornton, Miller spent a decade in the US Government Accountability Office, where she was assistant director of the Forensic Audits and Investigative Service. She also was an adjunct professor at The George Washington University between 2014 and 2020, teaching a graduate course in public policy communications.
Prior to joining the civil service, Miller was an Olympic athlete, competing at the Sydney Olympics on the US women’s eight rowing team.
She holds a master’s degree in public policy and a bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University.
David Cappellina brings more than 30 years of experience supporting private and public sector clients with anti-corruption, investigative, and risk management services. He has significant experience leading global anti-bribery and corruption investigations, including cases related to mortgage and procurement fraud, embezzlement, and political corruption.
Cappellina joins Grant Thornon from Alvarez & Marsal, where he spent the last two-and-a-half years as a managing director in the firm’s disputes and investigations practice. He also previously spent 12 years at KPMG, 11 years at EY, and four years at PwC.
Cappellina holds a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Hartford and a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University. He is a certified public accountant in Maryland.
Miller and Cappellina join Grant Thornton shortly after the Chicago-headquartered accounting and consulting firm welcomed John Gilkes, an experienced financial investigations leader, as a principal in Washington, DC.
“Linda, David and John are bolstering our firm’s service offerings at the perfect time,” said Brad Preber, CEO of Grant Thornton. “Their decades of experience will be key to helping our commercial and public sector clients manage a rising tide of new and highly dangerous fraud threats.”
The pandemic has driven an increase in fraud activity in the commercial and public spheres as organizations have gone remote and governments have uncorked vast amounts of stimulus spending. “There’s a new generation of fraud actors poised to further exploit commercial and governmental entities in the months ahead,” said Carlos Otal, national managing partner of Grant Thornton Public Sector LLC. “We saw people take advantage of government stimulus programs in a way that hurt both the public and private sectors. Now those same fraud actors are looking for their next targets.”
Greg Wallig, managing principal of Grant Thronton’s Metro DC office, added, “With these three key hires, we’re helping our clients stay ahead of the game in this ‘new normal’ of fraud activity.”
