SAR volume & quality
At American Express, I rank in the top 10% for SAR volume and quality metrics. I also identified and corrected high-risk policy gaps.
David Carrier, M.S., CAMS
I follow the money
and find what others miss.
Compliance Analyst at American Express in Phoenix, with nearly five years in money laundering, fraud, and sanctions investigations, from customer due diligence to the payments behind exploitation and trafficking.
01 — About
A little about me
I'm an investigator at heart, and I use data, open-source intelligence, and a lot of curiosity to connect the dots in financial crime.
My work spans fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, and organized criminal networks across card, business, merchant, and crypto products. That includes tracing the payment trails and financial red flags behind child exploitation, sextortion, and human trafficking, and getting that intelligence to law enforcement. I dig into behavioral patterns, build the case end to end, and write it up so it holds up under scrutiny.
My approach is grounded in graduate research in crime, terror, and intelligence at Boston University, where I used statistical modeling and geospatial analysis, and in years of leading teams on the operations side. I also have working proficiency in Spanish and Russian.
02 — Experience
Where I've made an impact
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2023 – Present
Compliance Analyst @ American Express
I run OSINT-driven AML and fraud investigations end to end across Consumer, Business, and Merchant accounts, from structuring, account takeover, money funneling, and scams by sanctioned parties to the payment patterns behind exploitation and trafficking. I also investigate disputes suspected of chargeback and first-party fraud, reviewing transaction history and merchant processing statements to assess risk. I handle sanctions, PEP, and beneficial ownership reviews, risk-based assessments, and enhanced and ongoing due diligence, and recommend account actions to leadership. I respond on deadline to law enforcement subpoenas, preservation and 314(a)/(b) requests, and audit and regulatory exam requests.
I started on sanctions screening in Bridger and cross-trained into Merchant and Subpoena work, moving quickly between workflows to cover inventory. Since then I've been certified to investigate across 15 case types, and I own the final decision on six of them. I also investigated fraud referrals and worked a separate fraud lookback reaching back to 2022.
On the process side, I found procedural gaps in controls and drafted remediation plans that leadership adopted, proposed an L2 review and feedback workflow that management put in place, authored SOPs, and flagged a fast loan repayment risk that led to a procedure addendum. I build Power BI dashboards for SAR trends and alert volumes, give rule owners feedback on false positives, pilot AI tools for investigations, and train and QC my peers.
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2022 – 2023
Associate Analyst @ AML RightSource
On the vendor side of outsourced AML for bank and fintech clients, I investigated money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking, terrorist financing, and organized crime, using SQL to surface behavioral patterns. I traced crypto activity through Chainalysis and OSINT, and my case findings informed a new transaction monitoring rule I helped create. I also supported risk registers and control inventories (ACH, wire, remote deposit), was a top producer in SAR filings and quality metrics, and tracked and reported wanted individuals to law enforcement.
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2016 – 2022
Manager @ Ripken Stadium
I led seasonal teams of 30–50 employees and owned operational compliance (OSHA, FDA), staff training, and process improvement. I reported to the Director of Operations.
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2019
Intern @ Harford County Sheriff's Office
In the Criminal Investigation Division, I analyzed case files, organized warrants and arrest reports, and managed the evidence chain of custody.
03 — Highlights
A few things I'm proud of
Quality on 500+ decisions
I made 500+ alert decisions in five months at 94% quality, and I carried some of those alerts through full investigations. After cross-training on checking alerts, I completed about 250 more in my first month with near-zero material changes.
Sanctions screening team
In 2023, I led the sanctions screening team in every performance metric.
Case types certified
At American Express, I earned reviewer certification across 15 case types, from consumer and business cards to checking, wire transfers, and P2P payments, and I own the final decision on six.
Incidents analyzed
I co-authored a graduate study of police use of force, running chi-square tests and logistic regression on 17,965 incidents from 13 U.S. agencies (1992–2007).
People led
As a manager at Ripken Stadium, I trained and led large seasonal crews while keeping operations OSHA- and FDA-compliant.
04 — Research
Questions I've dug into
Violence Reduction Initiative
A COMPSTAT-style analysis of homicide and firearm violence across three LAPD divisions, narrowed to specific hot spots with targeted recommendations for each.
Read the summary and full briefPolice Use of Force in the United States
A team logistic regression study of 17,965 incidents from 13 agencies, testing what predicts Taser and pepper spray use.
Read the summary and full reportLet's make the financial system harder to abuse.
Whether it's a role, a project, or just a conversation about financial crime, I'd love to hear from you.