Nelly Arocha is a Director in Control Risks’ Compliance, Forensics and Intelligence practice, based in Mexico City. As a lawyer with experience across a variety of industries during her time with the Mexican federal government, Nelly brings a diverse background to the practice.
Nelly has more than 15 years of experience in several government postings that include the President's Office, the Federal Institute for Transparency and Access to Public Information and the Ministries of Education and of Communications and Transport, among others. At the Federal Electoral Institute, she participated in conducting investigations in two of the largest campaign finance cases in Mexico. Additionally, as head of the Internal Control Office at a government agency, she was responsible for auditing federal expenditures and monitoring the implementation of internal controls to ensure the efficiency of the institution and prevent corruption. Her areas of expertise include transparency and government reform, data protection, government accountability, investigations and audit.
Nelly’s experience related to investigations and compliance includes the following projects:
- Conducting investigations into campaign and party finance related to federal elections in Mexico.
- Performing forensic investigations, including public servant misconduct, asset misappropriation and misuse of public funds.
- Reviewing and assessing compliance programs and systems of internal controls, and providing recommendations for improvement and remediation of gaps.
- Assisting in developing the security program for data protection for the office of the president of Mexico.
- Serving as project manager overseeing the internal and external audits of several governmental programs, and coordinating the implementation of recommendations for the enhancement of compliance programs.
Prior to joining Control Risks, Nelly was a legal advisor to the Undersecretary of Communications at the Ministry of Communications and Transport. In addition to graduating as a lawyer from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Nelly holds a MA in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a MSC in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is fluent in English and Spanish.