Dr. Matthias Heckel

Matthias has been working at professional firms since 2008; starting from 2010 in Forensic, Risk & Compliance, mainly dealing with the detection, investigation and prevention of white-collar crime.
Ever since his secondment from Germany to southern sub-Saharan Africa – during which he was entrusted with the management of forensic projects in Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe among others – engagements relating to Africa have been the focus of his forensic activities. 

Matthias’ main concern lies with supporting development organisations in ensuring that the smallest possible share of development funds seep out to opaque channels en route or are lost to inefficiency. Accordingly, his current doctoral research activities at Leuphana University (Germany) are aimed at developing thought leadership, practical tools and methodologies in the field of Anti-Corruption in Development Cooperation. 

Matthias holds a Ph.D (“Doktor der Philosophie”), a degree on Master’s level in Business Administration (“Diplom-Kaufmann”), and a degree on Master’s level in Cultural Science (“Magister Artium”) that were obtained from the University of Hamburg (Germany). Furthermore, Matthias is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and a Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).