Kristen Rossi
Editor’s Note: The Happy Beginnings series features recent College of Arts & Sciences graduates who are getting started in careers, graduate school and service.
By Alex Paoletti ’20
Ohio University alumna Kristen Rossi ’18 works for US Bank as an anti-money laundering investigator.
Rossi earned a B.A. in Sociology-Criminology with a minor in Anthropology and certificate in Italian Studies from the College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio University.
She explains that her work begins with receiving bank account alerts, either automatically or manually by bank personnel, for unusual activity. Rossi then begins a full investigation of the customer and related accounts to determine the cause of the activity. Rossi must decide if the investigation calls for a suspicious activity report, or a SAR, filing. She says when a SAR is filed, the customer receives a questionnaire, which allows Rossi to get a better understanding of the activity and decide how to proceed.
Occasionally, the work is handed off to law enforcement, as the case involves some type of criminal activity like drug trafficking, daycare or healthcare fraud, or other types of crimes related to money laundering. Rossi says she feels rewarded knowing she was the one to work on a case that requires further investigation from law authorities.
“I have been in this position now for little over a year and a half and I’m constantly seeing new typologies and activity which is what keeps the job interesting,” Rossi says.
Her OHIO Experience
While she did not take any courses at OHIO related to financial crimes, many of her criminology courses mentioned the subject, which she found always held her attention.
Rossi also recalls being very interested when a guest came to one of her classes to speak about his work with financial crimes. She explains how this experience motivated her to apply for her current position as an anti-money laundering investigator.
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