Catherine Wasylenko,
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)

CAW Financial Forensics LLC’s managing member is Catherine Wasylenko a licensed CPA in the state of Illinois and a CFE. Cathy has worked with numerous attorney and clients conducting investigations and financial analysis. Our work generally involves an analysis of financial and business documents and interviews of relevant individuals as needed.  Our forensic investigations will look beyond the numbers to identify missing or incomplete data, financial discrepancies and/or financial fraud.    

Cathy was a Special Agent with the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation in the Chicago Field Office and has more than 20 years of financial investigative experience. Cathy retired from the IRS as the Assistant Director of Special Investigative Techniques (SIT), which has national oversight of Undercover Agents, Confidential Informants and Technical Equipment Operations. Cathy was also a former Financial Investigator for the Office of Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor (OEIG). She brings extensive financial fraud and forensic accounting investigative expertise to the firm.

Cathy has experience conducting and supervising complex criminal investigations involving transnational organized crime, counter terrorist financing, identity theft, international money laundering, financial frauds, narcotics trafficking, asset forfeiture, and tax evasion. She worked with numerous local, state, and Federal law enforcement agencies around the country conducting undercover operations, consensual monitorings, surveillances, witness and defendant interviews, executing search, seizure, and arrest warrants, analyzing books and records, tracing financial transactions, and writing detailed prosecution reports based on the collected evidence. Cathy worked closely with U.S. Attorney’s Offices preparing for trial and she testified as a government witness in several investigations.

Cathy began her IRS career in the Civil Division as a Revenue Agent, auditing individuals, partnership and corporate taxpayers. She worked numerous Grand Jury investigations and testified as an IRS witness during Federal Criminal Trials and Sentencing Hearings. She also worked with other IRS civil divisions throughout her career and gained valuable experience and insight regarding other civil activities.

Cathy was an investigator for OEIG an agency which ensures accountability in state government. She investigated allegations of misconduct within the State of Illinois, including sexual harassment, financial mismanagement and grant fraud.