Ms. Pierce, Vice President of Development Specialists, Inc., has 25 years of insolvency and financial consulting experience. She is a businesswoman with wide-ranging experience in forensic accounting and internal investigations, crisis management, financial analysis including database analysis, forecasting and liquidation of unusual and problematic assets, and has significant business, financial and administrative operations experience. Ms. Pierce has provided consulting and advisory services to debtors in out-of-court restructurings and as Debtors-In-Possession. She has advised secured lenders, post-confirmation plan trustees, federal and state court receivers and assignees in assignments for the benefit of creditors and has provided interim management services. Her industry experience includes real estate development, loan servicing, manufacturing, finance and banking, retail and healthcare.
Ms. Pierce's investigative forensic accounting experience includes exposing "Ponzi" schemes, thefts of assets, financial statement fraud and securities fraud. She has provided assistance to prosecuting and plaintiffs' attorneys in connection with civil or criminal trials arising from these matters.
Since joining DSI in 1994, Ms. Pierce has been involved in a number of significant engagements. Most recently she has advised the Board of Directors of a federal agency on the viability of a related-party entity by performing a detailed analysis of the loan portfolio and determining probable short-term cash requirements; performed an operational and financial analysis of a hotel facility; reported results to the secured lender and provided recommendations for interim compromise; provided business and administrative operations support to the Chapter 11 Trustee of Namco Capital Group, Inc. in order to maximize the value of that estate’s assets, which included investments in more than 100 real estate projects, at one time reported to be worth more than $2 billion, and creditor claims of more than $500 million, primarily from individual creditors; and provided business and administrative services to the Chapter 11 Trustee for Estate Financial Mortgage Fund, LLC, which was tasked with collecting or foreclosing on more than 544 loans with a principal balance of more than $315 million.
As the lead team member, she conducted a forensic investigation of the investment firm USA Commercial Mortgage, Inc., which defrauded thousands of investors. Due to the number of documents, electronic mail and banks involved and the lengthy period of time under review, the effort involved the use of an electronic data room which was used as the primary tool for reviewing transactions and tracing cash through a myriad of bank accounts. The team’s investigation led to significant causes of action being filed against the principals, certain investors who were unjustly enriched and the company’s professionals in an effort to recover millions of dollars for the benefit of the direct lenders to the company.
Ms. Pierce has spoken on numerous education panels for the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, and co-authored the “Due Diligence” chapter in Bankruptcy Business Acquisitions, 2d Edition, American Bankruptcy Institute 2006.
Prior to joining DSI, she was a four-year veteran of the Litigation and Corporate Recovery Group for Price Waterhouse and obtained three years’ audit experience at Spicer and Oppenheim in Miami. Ms. Pierce received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of South Florida.
Ms. Pierce is licensed in the State of Florida as a Certified Public Accountant. She is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, the International Women’s Restructuring and Insolvency Confederation and Turnaround Management Association.
