An investigator in the district attorney’s office will attend a seminar on the current proliferation of crimes involving companies operating offshore and exploiting international banking arrangements to engage in fraud.
Roger Chien, now a senior investigator with the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, has been a member of the International Police Association since 2001. He has served as a board member for the Los Angeles area chapter of the International Police Association and has hosted numerous foreign police visits and visited members in foreign countries.
The International Police Association is the world’s largest organization for police officers with nearly 400,000 members in over 60 countries.
This year, Chien was chosen as a recipient of a $1,500 scholarship from the International Police Association to cover tuition for his attendance at police seminars in Gimborn, Germany from August 27 – 31, 2012.
The county board of supervisors this week approved a request by district attorney Mike Ramos to approve an expenditure of $2,725 to cover Chien’s travel expenses to Germany to attend the seminar.
“Approval of this item would allow district attorney senior investigator Roger Chien to attend various police seminars at the I.P.A. Castle in Gimborn, Germany as one of this year’s scholarship recipients,” Ramos told the board of supervisors. “Senior investigator Chien’s selection for the 2012 Scholarship for the United States is an honor for himself and the county of San Bernardino. The seminar being attended by investigator Chien pertains to economic decline and imperfect multicultural integration. Mr. Chien is currently assigned to the district attorney’s fraud units. The level of activity in these units has increased over the past few years as the economy continues to underachieve. Suspects being investigated are often business people from diverse cultural backgrounds that frequently cite economic necessity or financial decline as reasons for not complying with applicable laws. The seminar in Germany will provide an opportunity for Mr. Chien to congregate with other law enforcement individuals from many cultures to see how other countries are responding. The information and insight obtained will be used to improve fraud investigations in San Bernardino County.”