Marybeth Grunstra

Marybeth Grunstra is a former US federal prosecutor and AML/CFT professional with 15 years of operational, policy, and international experience.

Marybeth began her career at the U.S. Department of Justice's Money Laundering & Asset Recovery Section in Washington. There, she strengthened laws and regulations to prevent and combat financial crime – including drafting an offence codified into federal law which criminalises the concealment of beneficial ownership – and developed guidance for prosecutors nationwide.

Between 2012 and 2020, Marybeth investigated and prosecuted complex money laundering cases as part of the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. This specialised team ensured that the U.S. financial system was not used to launder the proceeds of foreign corruption, bribery, embezzlement, and other serious crimes. Marybeth prosecuted and convicted the enablers who helped corrupt officials launder their stolen wealth. She also pursued civil forfeiture actions to recover these ill-gotten gains and return them for the benefit of the people victimised by corruption. She worked closely with law enforcement and financial intelligence professionals, conducting international cooperation, enforcing foreign judgments, and negotiating asset sharing agreements. Marybeth represented the United States in various fora, including the FATF, CARIN, and several bilateral dialogues in Latin America and Europe. She also served as a liaison between DOJ and the U.S. Treasury to carry out national risk assessments and craft new strategies to combat illicit finance.

Marybeth has a storied history working with and for the FATF. She is the only person to have handled a FATF Mutual Evaluation from the perspective of the assessed country (U.S. – 2016), as an assessor (Russia – 2019), and from the FATF Secretariat (Brazil – 2023). Working at the FATF in Paris between 2020 and 2026, Marybeth lead the ICRG’s Europe/Eurasia Joint Group, listing, reviewing, and assisting countries on the FATF’s grey list. Additionally, she led FATF’s work to amend 6 of the 40 FATF Recommendations over the years, introducing new tools to freeze and recover assets and embedding a humanitarian exemption into the FATF Standards on financial sanctions. Marybeth was also the primary author and coordinator of the FATF’s 2025 Asset Recovery Guidance and Best Practices.

Marybeth recently Scotiabank as the Senior Manager for Global Sanctions, based in London. She graduated magna cum laude from the George Washington University (B.A.) and American University Washington College of Law (J.D.).