Jennifer Sanchez
Director
- Office: +1 202 499 4330
- Mobile: +1 202.768.0825
- jsanchezr@guidepostsolutions.com vCard | LinkedIn | Print Bio
Jennifer Sanchez has over 30 years of experience as an expert in financial crime investigation, skilled in recognizing and evaluating criminal and fraudulent activity in both domestic and international settings. She has specific expertise in anti-money laundering and Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions. Ms. Sanchez is a leading expert on investigations involving foreign public corruption, Virtual Currency Exchange Services, cybercrime, and terrorism. She has collaborated on numerous investigations with agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security and foreign law enforcement agencies throughout Asia, the Caribbean and Mexico.
Ms. Sanchez began her career as a criminal investigator at U.S. Customs Service and then moved on to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), where she spent 29 years in varied roles, starting as a DEA Special agent/investigator with expertise in tactical diversion, confidential source coordination, DEA Polygraph Unit operations, Strike Force deployments, and general enforcement along the Southwest and Canadian borders. She spearheaded criminal and civil investigations for DEA’s Houston, Mexico City, Detroit. El Paso and Chicago field division offices.
Following her tenure as special agent/investigator, Ms. Sanchez became an accredited diplomat leading the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok Thailand, as assistant country attache. She successfully spearheaded financial investigations throughout the Asian region, trained and delegated staff and partners across Asia and the U.S. to tackle money laundering, virtual currency exploitation, and cybercrime. Among her other duties, Ms. Sanchez also functioned as the primary point of contact and liaison with OFAC, maintaining close ties with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
During her last two years at DEA, Ms. Sanchez established and led the DEA’s Cyber Support Section in Arlington, Virgina. She crafted and implemented virtual currency and blockchain analytics training for investigators, while steering a team of DEA analysts in conduction cyber investigations, offering insightful guidance on effective investigation techniques.
Prior to joining Guidepost, Ms. Sanchez worked in the private sector as vice president, investigator financial crimes compliance, at Credit Suisse where she conducted probes into the bank’s activity and as senior financial crime investigator at Luno, a Crytocurrency Exchange. While there, she uncovered new attack trends, oversaw detection, investigation and prevention of account hijacks and user security incidents.
Ms. Sanchez has been honored with numerous awards, including the 2017 National Intel Meritorious Unit Citation, 2017 US Assistant Attorney General’s Award, 2018 FinCEN Director’s Award, 2018 Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, 2019 HITDA Director’s Award, and several DEA performance awards, culminating in the DEA Administrator’s Award.
Jennifer Sanchez has over 30 years of experience as an expert in financial crime investigation, skilled in recognizing and evaluating criminal and fraudulent activity in both domestic and international settings. She has specific expertise in anti-money laundering and Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions. Ms. Sanchez is a leading expert on investigations involving foreign public corruption, Virtual Currency Exchange Services, cybercrime, and terrorism. She has collaborated on numerous investigations with agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security and foreign law enforcement agencies throughout Asia, the Caribbean and Mexico.
Ms. Sanchez began her career as a criminal investigator at U.S. Customs Service and then moved on to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), where she spent 29 years in varied roles, starting as a DEA Special agent/investigator with expertise in tactical diversion, confidential source coordination, DEA Polygraph Unit operations, Strike Force deployments, and general enforcement along the Southwest and Canadian borders. She spearheaded criminal and civil investigations for DEA’s Houston, Mexico City, Detroit. El Paso and Chicago field division offices.
Following her tenure as special agent/investigator, Ms. Sanchez became an accredited diplomat leading the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok Thailand, as assistant country attache. She successfully spearheaded financial investigations throughout the Asian region, trained and delegated staff and partners across Asia and the U.S. to tackle money laundering, virtual currency exploitation, and cybercrime. Among her other duties, Ms. Sanchez also functioned as the primary point of contact and liaison with OFAC, maintaining close ties with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
During her last two years at DEA, Ms. Sanchez established and led the DEA’s Cyber Support Section in Arlington, Virgina. She crafted and implemented virtual currency and blockchain analytics training for investigators, while steering a team of DEA analysts in conduction cyber investigations, offering insightful guidance on effective investigation techniques.
Prior to joining Guidepost, Ms. Sanchez worked in the private sector as vice president, investigator financial crimes compliance, at Credit Suisse where she conducted probes into the bank’s activity and as senior financial crime investigator at Luno, a Crytocurrency Exchange. While there, she uncovered new attack trends, oversaw detection, investigation and prevention of account hijacks and user security incidents.
Ms. Sanchez has been honored with numerous awards, including the 2017 National Intel Meritorious Unit Citation, 2017 US Assistant Attorney General’s Award, 2018 FinCEN Director’s Award, 2018 Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, 2019 HITDA Director’s Award, and several DEA performance awards, culminating in the DEA Administrator’s Award.