Nilesh Aquinas
Mumbai
Summary
Financial Crime & AML professional with 5+ years of experience in transaction monitoring, fraud investigations, AML/EDD, and Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR). Experienced in complex financial-crime investigations, identifying money laundering, fraud, structuring, account takeover, money muling, and terrorist financing typologies, with strong expertise in SAR drafting, risk assessment, escalation, and regulatory compliance. Proven SME and leadership experience through QA, analyst guidance, investigations, training, and process improvements, supporting consistent and effective financial-crime risk management.
Overview
3
3
Languages
5
5
years of professional experience
Work History
SAM Analyst III
Coinbase INC
Hyderabad
01.2026 - Current
- Conduct end-to-end investigations of routine to complex financial crime cases, assessing fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing indicators and other suspicious activity and determining appropriate investigative outcomes.
- Draft 40–50 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) per month, developing accurate, comprehensive and evidence-based narratives detailing investigative findings, suspicious activity, transaction patterns, customer behaviour and identified financial crime risks.
- Ensure SAR narratives and investigative documentation meet established quality and regulatory requirements, maintaining accuracy, consistency and clear articulation of the facts supporting suspicious activity determinations.
- Review and analyze complex investigations for quality and risk, identifying gaps in investigative rationale, documentation and case disposition and providing recommendations to ensure cases meet required quality and closure standards.
- Serve as a Subject Matter Expert and escalation point for 15 analysts, providing guidance on complex investigations, SAR drafting, case disposition, financial crime risks and investigative decision-making.
- Conduct weekly Quality Assurance reviews across cases handled by 15 analysts, identifying investigation and documentation issues and providing targeted feedback to improve case quality, accuracy and adherence to established procedures.
- Communicate investigative findings and risk considerations through detailed case documentation and SAR narratives, supporting escalation of material financial crime concerns to relevant stakeholders and law-enforcement-related teams.
- Handle complex and law-enforcement-related investigations, conducting enhanced reviews of customer and transaction activity and documenting factual findings to support appropriate investigative resolution and reporting.
- Lead monthly training and coaching sessions for analysts on investigative standards, emerging financial crime typologies, SAR writing and case decision-making, supporting consistent application of policies and procedures.
- Identify recurring investigative, quality and process issues, partnering with relevant stakeholders to strengthen investigation procedures, improve case quality and enhance financial crime controls.
Senior Fincrime analyst
Revolut technologies
Remote
03.2024 - Current
- Conducted thorough investigations of automated transaction monitoring alerts to identify AML and fraud risks.
- Prepared regulator-ready SAR narratives, escalating suspicious cases per BSA/AML and OFAC requirements.
- Executed enhanced due diligence on high-risk business accounts through registry searches and behavioral analysis.
- Collaborated with QA and Compliance teams to integrate feedback, enhancing investigation quality.
- Utilized Excel, Google Sheets, and case management systems for precise tracking and documentation of findings.
- Monitored emerging AML typologies and regulatory developments to strengthen investigative practices.
Specialist, Frauds & Investigations
Bank of America
Mumbai
10.2021 - 03.2024
- Conducted comprehensive AML investigations on transaction monitoring alerts to detect money laundering or fraud.
- Analyzed customer KYC data and transactional patterns to evaluate account legitimacy.
- Prepared clear, regulator-ready SAR narratives summarizing findings for escalation recommendations.
- Performed enhanced due diligence reviews on high-risk accounts utilizing OSINT tools.
- Ensured compliance of investigative decisions with BSA/AML, OFAC, and internal policies.
- Collaborated with QA and Compliance teams to integrate feedback and uphold case quality.
Education
Certificate of Higher Education - Anti money Laundering
Imarticus Learning
Mumbai, India2023
Accounting & Finance
St.Andrews college
Mumbai, IndiaSkills
- Enhanced due diligence
- Transaction monitoring
- Fraud detection
- Risk assessment
- Suspicious activity reporting/ SAR Drafting/SAR narrative writing
- Anti-money laundering compliance
- KYC/CDD reviews
- SME support and Training
- Data interpretation and red flag identification
- Sanctions Compliance and PEP screening
- Case Investigation and Documentation
- Adverse media screening
- Blockchain tracing/Wallet analysis
- IP analysis
- Regulatory Reporting
- Law Enforcement Requests
- Workflow Optimization
- AI automation
- Quality Assurance
- Money Mule & Money Laundering detection
Languages
English
Proficient
C2
Hindi
Proficient
C2
Marathi
Advanced
C1
Hobbies and interests
Passionate musician skilled in guitar and keyboard, fostering creativity and focus. Professional cricket player demonstrating teamwork, leadership, discipline, and strategic thinking.
Timeline
SAM Analyst III
Coinbase INC
01.2026 - Current
Senior Fincrime analyst
Revolut technologies
03.2024 - Current
Specialist, Frauds & Investigations
Bank of America
10.2021 - 03.2024
Certificate of Higher Education - Anti money Laundering
Imarticus Learning
Accounting & Finance
St.Andrews college