About Us
With decades of combined experience in financial integrity, national security, and regulatory affairs, The Camstoll Group is uniquely qualified to provide comprehensive analysis and reliable advice in the most challenging information-dependent situations.
Drawing on our distinctive capabilities and expertise, we design and implement bespoke intelligence, analysis and capacity building solutions that empower individuals and organizations to see more clearly, manage risk more effectively, and ultimately make better decisions.
Working closely with our clients, we identify practical, actionable solutions to the most complex issues they face.
What We Do
The Camstoll Group serves a diverse range of clients including governments, financial institutions and multinational corporations. Working across these industries and practice areas, we provide our clients with strategic advice, risk analysis, regulatory and policy guidance, and change management and strategic communications support, underpinned by reliable intelligence and analysis.
Our Team
Matthew Epstein is the Chief Executive Officer of The Camstoll Group. Prior to Camstoll, he served as a Managing Director at ICE Canyon – an investment management firm with over $3 billion in assets under management, specializing in emerging markets and global credit strategies. At ICE Canyon, Mr. Epstein headed the Middle East office, responsible for regional investor relations and strategic initiatives. He also served on the firm Investment Committee.
Prior to ICE Canyon, Mr. Epstein served as the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Attaché to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Based in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, he led the Treasury’s initiatives to coordinate economic policy with public and private sector finance officials in the Gulf. Mr. Epstein advised senior Treasury officials on major economic developments in the Gulf, including currency policy, sovereign debt, banking sector stability and foreign investment. He was also responsible for illicit finance and regulatory issues, with a particular focus on Iran sanctions and terrorist financing.
He is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley (BA) and the UCLA School of Law (JD).
Benjamin Schmidt is a Managing Director of The Camstoll Group. Prior to Camstoll, Mr. Schmidt was Managing Director of FUSIONGPS, a strategic intelligence consultancy in Washington, DC. There, he leveraged open source material to provide decision support and advisory services to corporations, law firms, financial institutions and non-profits. At FUSIONGPS, Mr. Schmidt coordinated complex international research projects examining illicit financial and money laundering activity, investigated and mapped international networks of front companies and organizations, and conducted due diligence on investments in emerging markets for financial institutions.
Prior to that, Mr. Schmidt was a team lead and senior analyst in the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, where he examined foreign political, security, and illicit financial issues. His work was often included in the President's Daily Brief and other senior level US intelligence products.
He was a Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholar, and received the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2011.
Mr. Schmidt is a graduate of The George Washington University (BA) and the University of Maryland (MBA).
Howard Mendelsohn is a Managing Director of The Camstoll Group. Prior to Camstoll, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff for the Enterprise Compliance Department at PNC Financial Services Group. In this role, Mr. Mendelsohn had responsibility for working with the Chief of Compliance and Compliance and AML leadership teams to meet departmental goals, lead special projects and strengthen Compliance and AML risk management.
Prior to joining PNC, Mr. Mendelsohn served as Acting Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Intelligence and Analysis. As Acting Assistant Secretary, Mr. Mendelsohn led the office of about 150 intelligence professionals and was responsible for the operation of all intelligence and counter intelligence functions including oversight of analytical production, risk assessment, security and strategic planning and oversight for the allocation of resources and budget.
As Deputy Assistant Secretary, he was responsible for leading efforts to evaluate intelligence and financial information relating to U.S. national security interests and worked with Treasury Department principals and Intelligence Community colleagues to assess, develop and advance strategies to deny hostile states and other illicit actors access to the U.S. and international financial systems. Prior to that position, he served in various senior analytical and investigative positions in OIA and OFAC focused on countering illicit financing.
For his service with Treasury and the Intelligence Community, he was awarded the Treasury Distinguished Service Award and the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal.
Mr. Mendelsohn is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh (BA) and the University of Miami School of Law (JD).
Frazer Burkart is a Director of The Camstoll Group. Prior to Camstoll, he served as an independent strategic advisor to institutions, family offices and entrepreneurs on critical business and investment matters across a range of industries.
Mr. Burkart was with The Carlyle Group – a global investment management organization with $150 billion in assets under management. At Carlyle, he was a Principal of Carlyle Strategic Partners where he participated in the management of $1.5 billion of capital dedicated to distressed debt and special situations investments. His industry experience spans aerospace, general industrials, building products, services, healthcare and financial institutions. In this position, Mr. Burkart identified, researched and evaluated investment prospects; conducted industry and business due diligence; and represented Carlyle in negotiations, transactions and board representation.
Prior to Carlyle, Mr. Burkart served as an Associate of Tennenbaum Capital Partners – a private investment firm engaged in special situations investing with over $5 billion in assets. In this position he served as a member of the investment group and managed special projects for the firm’s managing partner.
He has also worked as a Financial Analyst at Banc of America Securities.
Mr. Burkart is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (BA) and the Harvard Business School (MBA).
Benjamin Davis is a Director of The Camstoll Group. Prior to joining the Camstoll Group, Mr. Davis served as a prosecutor and private attorney, and focused his practice on the litigation of complex product liability, financial fraud and other criminal matters.
Davis was the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Attaché in Jerusalem from 2008 to 2009. In this capacity he served as a senior US representative to the Palestinian Authority, leveraged programs to promote legal and financial sector reforms in the region and closely collaborated with the Palestinian and Israeli banking sectors to promote compliance with international banking standards.
During 2007, Davis was a Co-Lead of the US National Security Council’s Iraq Threat Finance Cell in Baghdad, Iraq. In this position he co-directed an interagency task-force targeting insurgency facilitation and funding networks and synchronized policy and investigative actions with the Central Bank of Iraq. He also worked as an analyst in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Department of the Treasury at various points between 2005 and 2008.
Prior to Treasury, Davis worked as a Legislative Aide in the United States Congress and served as a campaign director for numerous political campaigns.
Davis received the United States Secretary of the Treasury’s Honor Award in 2008.
He is a graduate of Georgetown University (BS), the University of Chicago (MA) and the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America (JD).
Mark Nakhla is a Director of The Camstoll Group. Prior to Camstoll, Mr. Nakhla was an Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton, an international consultancy, where he supported clients on issues related to the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia. His functional expertise focused on strategic research and analysis, political-military affairs, security cooperation, counter-terrorism, and illicit finance.
Prior to joining Booz Allen, Mr. Nakhla was an International Affairs Specialist in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he advised and provided policy support to the U.S. Department of Defense’s senior policy makers on issues facing U.S. interests in Iraq and the Middle East. Mr. Nakhla was regularly responsible for drafting and managing documents for the President, Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Departmental Leadership, the White House and National Security Council.
Prior to the Department of Defense, Mr. Nakhla was a Research Assistant at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he worked on Middle East public diplomacy and policy issues. Previously, he was an Analyst in the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control examining political and illicit financial issues.
Mr. Nakhla is a Graduate of George Mason University (BA) and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service (MA).
Contact Us
Los Angeles
Washington D.C.
(424) 234-8440
[email protected]