Meet the Board:
The Board of Directors, its liaison and legal counsel consists of respected talented people in the business, law enforcement and community relations fields. Combined these individuals bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that certainly will serve the foundation and its mission well.
Robert S. May - President
Robert May grew up in a Manhattan neighborhood called the Lower East Side. During the week, he attended high school and worked in his father's restaurant on weekends learning many aspects of a retail business. After graduating from high school, he worked as a butcher /meat manager maintaining payroll, inventory, profit margins and product control for retail sales during the day. In the evening, he attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In 1980, Robert entered the police academy, graduating as a police officer with the Port Authority of NY & NJ Police Department. For 31 years he remained with the department retiring as a Detective working in the Criminal Investigations Bureau. Robert was involved with several community endeavors on and off duty. Robert was involved on projects with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the Special Olympics program, a Red Cross family shelter among other organizations. Robert started an annual charity softball game between the NYPD and the PAPD to raise funds for several community causes. Robert & a NYPD Detective led an east coast law enforcement effort to provide needed supplies to law enforcement personnel and residents in Louisiana during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Two truckloads of vital supplies were airlifted from Newark Airport to New Orleans at a time when hundreds of trucks were unable to deliver supplies as a result of impassable roadways. When Robert decided to retire in order to care for a family member, he maintained working on investigations until his last day at work. Robert went undercover for the last time as he was hired as a “hit man” to kill an individual at the request of another. Detective May uncovered a serious bio hazard case that involved a well known New York City hospital. That was his last case just before retiring. Robert has been a member and founded several fraternal or social organizations. Robert has been a member of the NYPD Asian Jade Society, was a principal with the founding of the PA Police Asian Jade Society, and was the 1st VP of the National Asian Peace Officers Association. Robert currently is a member of the PA Shomrim Society, the Organization of Chinese Americans and the National Police Defense Foundation. In 1997 Robert, founded the New Jersey Asian American Law Enforcement Officers Association and is currently their President Emeritus. Robert has been recognized for his community service and law enforcement work by the New Jersey State Legislature, the townships of Old Bridge and Parsippany Troy Hills. Robert has been awarded the Sheriff Harry Lee Leadership Award, the Grand Lodge Order of Elks Distinguished Citizenship Award, the NYPD 10th Precinct community service award, the Asian American for Human Services Leadership Award and the Red Cross Good Neighbor Award, among others for his law enforcement efforts and community service. Robert in retirement continues to be active with community and law enforcement related issues. He was a member of a committee from the NJ Attorney General's office regarding important law enforcement related issues. He has also participated in a project with the distinguished Vera Institute. The project brought forth a 3 part publication which was approved by the U.S. Attorney General. The publications, "Police Perspectives, Building Trust in a Diverse Nation" seeks to build productive relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
Nelson J. Chen - Vice President
Nelson J. Chen is currently a Vice President with Morgan Stanley in New York City where he leads a team responsible for reputational due diligence investigations of clients and potential clients of Morgan Stanley. Prior to that Mr. Chen worked for four years as a Managing Director of Actionable Intelligence Technologies (AIT), creators of Financial Investigative Systems (FIS) software. Mr. Chen was responsible for liaising with government agencies and assisting them in their applications of the FIS software. This included training in the practical applications of FIS in investigations dealing with money laundering, financial frauds and the identification of assets. Prior to assuming his position with AIT, Mr. Chen held a number of key positions over his 28 year career with the United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General and the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. Mr. Chen was the Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the El Dorado Task Force in New York City which is the largest anti-money laundering task force in the world. The task force consisted of over 35 federal, state and local agencies with over 250 members. He was also responsible for the supervision of the financial intelligence unit in the New York, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) that was responsible for coordinating the flow of financial intelligence in New York. During his tenure, Mr. Chen oversaw the New York, Multi-Agency, Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) Review team and the Annual Financial Crimes Symposium, a partnership between law enforcement and the financial industry to share information. During his career, Mr. Chen worked and supervised a number of complex, international money laundering investigations dealing with the Black Market Peso Exchange, a form of trade based money laundering, other forms of money laundering, frauds and terrorist financing (Ahron Sharir, Operation C-Chase, Meltdown, Wire cutter and Green Quest). His investigations brought insight into money laundering through the use of gold in the United States. He has lectured as a money laundering expert at many classes, conferences and symposiums throughout the world and received numerous commendations for his efforts during his career. Mr. Chen began his law enforcement career as a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division in 1983 where he worked on tax evasion and bank secrecy act investigations. In 1987 he entered the United States Customs Service, the predecessor to Homeland Security Investigations as a special agent and rose through the ranks to Deputy Special Agent in Charge. He later transferred to the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General and supervised the expansion of the OIG mission in the Northeast Area Office.
Alan Chow - Treasurer
Christopher Cho - Recording Secretary
Christopher Cho was born in Seoul Korea and came to the United States with his family at a young age. We call it the 1.5 generation. In a very short period of time Mr. Cho became an integral part of the family business started by his father which included a chain of delicatessens in NYC, gas stations, real estate and 7-Eleven. Mr. Cho attended Pace University and through actual hands on experience with the various family enterprises, learned of all aspects of business management and finance. His hands on business and technical knowledge has allowed him to successfully control a diversified group of businesses. He has been recognized by Mobil Oil Corporation for being a top 50 gasoline dealer in the United States numerous times. He has been recognized by Valero as a Platinum dealer.
Mr. Cho has been volunteered his time and efforts by assisting with the NJ Korean American Businessman Association, Jersey City Korean American Senior Citizens Organization, Saint Andrew Kim Catholic Church youth group counselor, and Habit of Humanity Bergen County. He coordinated trips for senior citizens with the Jersey City mayor’s office. He maintains and designs the website for both the NJ Asian American Law Enforcement Association and Foundation.
Mr. Cho has been married for 12 years to Yun Su Park and has three children Brendan, Stephanie and David. They currently reside in Bergen County.
Susie Cho - Esq. Legal Advisor
David Lum - Advisor
David Lum was born in New York to immigrant parents. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from the State University at Albany. His first job after graduation was as an associate investigator with Pinkerton Investigation Services. There, David first learned of surveillance, due diligence checks, and other investigative techniques. It was during this time David discovered his passion for investigative work. While working full time at Pinkerton, he attended postgraduate studies in Public Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Looking to utilize his accounting degree, knowledge in public administration and policy studies, as well as his investigative skills, David left Pinkerton and joined the New York State Office of Tax Enforcement as an Excise Tax Investigator. His investigations involved cigarette, alcohol and petroleum smuggling which resulted in a number of convictions and the dismantling of an organized crime organization.
In 2000, David joined the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division as a Special Agent. His field investigative assignments included investigating kickbacks schemes, violations of the foreign corrupt practice act, tax evasion, corporate fraud, cybercrime, and money laundering. His investigations have resulted in prosecutions along with tens of millions of dollars in forfeiture, seizures and restitution to the government and victims.
In 2014, David was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent of the El Dorado Task Force. As a task force manager, David oversees a multi-agency group specializing in OCDETF investigations, international financial investigations, and investigations involving complex money laundering organizations.
David has also been actively involved with the National Asian Peace Officers’ Association (NAPOA). In 2009, he was elected National President by NAPOA’s Board of Directors. Additionally, David has also been an active member of the Society of Asian Federal Officers (regional chapter of NAPOA) and has held various positions on its Executive Board, including President.