Grant Thornton LLP admitted Geoffrey Luiz as Public Sector partner, Jeff Martin as Tax partner, Paul Peterson as Forensic Advisory Services partner, Paul Seckar as Public Sector principal, Dave Simprini as Public Sector principal, Brian Wolohan as Audit Methodology & Standards partner, and promoted Jin Bahk to Partnership Taxation managing director and Aaron Beason to Public Sector managing director in the firm’s DC-area offices. Across the firm, Grant Thornton admitted 39 new partners and principals, and promoted 28 professionals to managing director.
Partners, principals and managing directors excel in helping clients achieve smart, quality growth in all aspects of their businesses. Noted for their exceptional contributions to Grant Thornton, these professionals have an extraordinary ability to lead and build relationships with clients and people at all levels of the firm.
“Geoffrey, Jeff, Paul, Paul, Dave, Brian, Jin and Aaron have proven themselves as leaders to our clients, colleagues, the community and the profession,” said Sean Denham, Grant Thornton’s Atlantic Coast regional managing partner. “We recognize their tremendous accomplishments and thank them for their commitment to helping build our high-performance culture as we continue to grow in the Metro DC marketplace.”
Geoffrey Luiz joined the firm in 2010 and has more than 12 years of experience in financial statements audits and performance audits, largely in the public sector. He has executed financial statement audits including opinions on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting at many large federal entities. He has also led performance audits with objectives focused on internal controls and compliance at many public sector as well as commercial entities. Prior to being admitted as a partner, Luiz served as a managing director.
Luiz is a CPA in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. and a member of the AICPA, as well as a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA). He is a board member of the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) in the Baltimore Chapter and a committee member of the International Consortium on Governmental Financial Management. Luiz received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland.
Jeff Martin joined the firm in 2003 and the firm’s Washington National Tax Office in 2006, where he has more than 10 years of experience advising clients on executive compensation and benefit matters, including equity-based compensation, deferred compensation, fringe benefits, golden parachute payments, mergers and acquisitions, and profits interests. Martin is the tax technical leader of the firm’s Golden Parachute Express Services and he leads many of the firm’s internal and external training programs related to compensation and benefits. Prior to being admitted as a partner, Martin served as a senior manager.
Martin is a CPA in Virginia and Washington, D.C. Martin is an active member of the AICPA, where he is the vice chair of the technical resource panel on employee benefits. He is also the tax chair for the AICPA National Conference on Employee Benefit Plans. Martin received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from West Virginia University.
Paul Peterson joined the firm in 2010 and has more than 18 years of experience as an auditor, forensic accountant and investigator, and focuses his practice on advising companies on global fraud and anti-corruption matters. An experienced fraud examiner, he has worked with in-house and external counsel, internal audit, compliance departments, management, and audit committees on fraud issues including investigations, fraud and corruption risk assessments, compliance M&A due diligence, and developing and enhancing anti-corruption compliance programs. Throughout his career, Peterson spent multiple years overseas working on forensic matters and most recently lived in China for three years helping multinational corporations navigate fraud matters and building Grant Thornton China’s Forensic Practice. Prior to being admitted as a partner, Peterson served as a senior manager.
Peterson is a CPA in Illinois and Virginia and a member of the AICPA. He is a certified internal auditor, certified fraud examiner and is certified in financial forensics. Peterson received a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University.
Paul Seckar joined the firm in 2015 and has more than 20 years of experience solving complex business problems with a variety of data analytics. He formulates analytic strategies to advance client capabilities, leads engagements focusing on analytic studies and model-based solutions to identify recommendations for improved performance, and delivers analytic applications and systems. Prior to being admitted as a partner, Seckar served as a senior manager.
Seckar is a member of the Association of Government Accountants. He received a master’s degree from George Mason University and a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University.
Dave Simprini joined the firm in 2010 and has more than 12 years of experience auditing and advising clients on information assurance and cybersecurity risk. He has assisted clients in assessing, designing, and optimizing IT controls governed by a broad array of frameworks at the federal, state, local and commercial levels. He leads engagements with specific focus on security compliance, cyber operations, data management, enterprise resource planning implementations, vulnerability management, and penetration testing. Prior to being admitted as principal, Simprini served as a senior manager. Before his professional services career, Dave served in the United States Navy for eight years in the naval nuclear propulsion program.
Simprini is a CISA, certified defense financial manager, and certified scrum product owner. Simprini received a master’s degree from Catholic University of America and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.
Brian Wolohan rejoined the firm in 2014 where he has been leading the firm’s Audit Data Analytics group and working with the Audit Methodology and Audit Risk Management groups to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the firm’s risk analysis, audit execution, and inspection approach. He has more than 20 years of experience in data analytics, risk assessment, strategic planning, and working with regulators and other stakeholders to advance regulatory and public policies that promote audit quality. Prior to being admitted as a partner, Wolohan served as a managing director.
Wolohan is a CPA in Washington, D.C. and Virginia. He serves on the Board of the Rutgers AICPA Data Analytics Research Initiative as well the AICPA’s Audit Data Analytics Guide Working Group. Wolohan received his MBA and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Jin Bahk joined the firm in 2016 and has more than 20 years of public accounting experience. He specializes in partnership taxation across various industries, including real estate, specialty finance and technology services. He is also involved in various stages of partnerships from investment and formation to operations and liquidation of partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, contesting income tax audits and assessments on behalf of his clients. Prior to being promoted to managing director, Bahk served as a director.
Bahk is a certified public accountant (CPA) in Maryland and Virginia and a member of the American Institute of CPAs. He is a licensed attorney in Maryland. Bahk received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maryland and his bachelor’s degree from Emory University.
Aaron Beason joined the firm in 2008 and has more than 13 years of experience delivering management consulting services to clients across the Public Sector. His specialization includes risk management and analysis, performance transformation and reporting, business process reengineering, as well as activity-based costing and fee management and analysis. Beason leads the Enforcement and Immigration Services Segment with the Security and Defense Business Unit where is responsible for capture and delivery across DHS law enforcement mission areas. Prior to being promoted to managing director, Beason served as a senior manager.
Beason is a certified project management professional. He received a master’s degree from American University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
