Mauro M. Wolfe practices in the area of litigation, with a focus on white-collar criminal defense; securities enforcement, including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations; complex civil and administrative litigation; internal corporate investigations; and data security and privacy matters. Mr. Wolfe has represented U.S. and foreign corporations, corporate executives, government officials and others in a broad range of white-collar criminal cases involving securities and commodities, bank and procurement fraud, customs and export violations and bribery. Mr. Wolfe is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell in the areas of Criminal Law, White Collar Crime and Litigation.
Capitalizing on personal relationships in the technology, finance and business communities worldwide, Mr. Wolfe also provides strategic advice to several digital media companies at the leading edge of global Internet commerce, including Silicon Valley-based entrepreneurs. Social media, news, politics, marketing and the platforms on which the world communicates are changing the way we think, collaborate and understand each other. Mr. Wolfe helps his clients by strategically engaging the right advisors and accessing the right capital markets options to develop companies from a great idea to a great leading digital media company. Working as a strategic advisor and partner, Mr. Wolfe helps digital media startup companies reach the next level.
In June 2009, Mr. Wolfe was elected to the highly selective and prestigious New York Council of Defense Lawyers, an organization comprising the most well-regarded white collar practitioners in New York.
Mr. Wolfe has been involved in several high profile matters over his career. He has been sourced, quoted, and pictured in various news media including The New York Times, The National Law Journal, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Barron's, Philadelphia Daily News, The Star-Ledger, The New York Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Wall Street Journal Blog, CNET News.com, and many others.
A former senior enforcement attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a former federal prosecutor, Mr. Wolfe has extensive experience working with various U.S. and international law-enforcement agencies and securities regulators, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Internal Revenue Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; U.S. Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Department of Defense-Criminal Investigation Task Force; U.S. Secret Service; the SEC; the New York Stock Exchange; the National Association of Securities Dealers; the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority; the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York state securities regulators; the Swiss Central Authorities; New Scotland Yard; and the British Columbia Securities Commission.
Mr. Wolfe served as the Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Securities and Healthcare Fraud Unit in Newark, N.J. Prior to that, he was the Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, where he worked in the Criminal Division, Major Frauds Unit. Earlier in his career, Mr. Wolfe served as a senior attorney in the Enforcement Division of the SEC's Philadelphia District Office and as an assistant district attorney for the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, Narcotics Division.
Mr. Wolfe is a 1996 graduate of Temple University Beasley School of Law and a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Areas of Practice
ˇ Securities Enforcement
ˇ Complex Civil and Administrative Litigation
ˇ Internal Corporate Investigations
ˇ Data Security and Privacy
ˇ White-Collar Criminal Law
ˇ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance, due diligence, investigations, and defense
Representative Matters
ˇ Represented Bernard L. Madoff and Ruth Madoff in various federal actions for securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, money laundering and related charges.
ˇ Represented a money-remitting business and its officer in a state investigation into allegations of fraud, resulting in no charges being filed against the clients.
ˇ Represented clients who were subject to criminal and civil forfeiture matters in France, the Cayman Islands and the United Kingdom.
ˇ Represented a counterterrorism intelligence company and individuals in an investigation into allegations of computer hacking and material support to terrorists, resulting in no charges being filed.
ˇ Represented a Maryland government official before a grand jury investigation that resulted in no charges being filed.
ˇ Represented a company in the student loan industry in connection with a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the District of New Jersey and the District of Columbia, and by the U.S. Department of Education, resulting in the government closing the investigation less than four months after executing a search warrant and not filing charges.
ˇ Represented a registered representative of a major financial services company in connection with an insider-trading investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
ˇ Defended a British co-principal of a Boston hedge fund in connection with an investigation and litigation brought by the Boston office of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Massachusetts Division of Securities.
ˇ Defended a former officer of Hollinger International, Inc. in a civil action brought by Hollinger concerning allegations of breach of fiduciary duty and diversion of corporate assets.
ˇ Defended a manufacturing company and its officers in connection with an informal Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry related to millions of dollars raised in private-placement offerings.
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
ˇ Representing a client in Asia related to civil and criminal FCPA matters.
ˇ Conducted Foreign Corrupt Practices Act due diligence risk assessment in mergers and acquisitions transaction involving 20 countries in Africa and Latin America.
ˇ Advising European Union-based company on Foreign Corrupt Practices due diligence in connection with a merger and acquisition transaction involving nine countries in Latin America.
ˇ Advising global U.S.-based mergers and acquisitions company on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act issues that have arisen post-closing.
ˇ Advised a U.S. company with regard to negotiating the potential Foreign Corrupt Practice Act risks connected with the sale of its Asian subsidiary to another U.S.-based company.
ˇ Represented a U.S. project-development company in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance review conducted in connection with a $2.5 billion transaction in Latin America.
ˇ Represented a U.S. medical device manufacturer in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance review conducted in connection with an exclusive sales agreement in Venezuela.
ˇ Represented a U.S. real estate developer involved in a real estate transaction with an African country, resulting in the sale of a New York City building being in compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
ˇ Advised a U.S. company regarding negotiating the potential Foreign Corrupt Practice Act risks connected with the potential sale of its Asian subsidiary to another U.S.-based company.
Computer Security
ˇ Counseled and advised a major financial institution in connection with the company's computer incident-response plans.
ˇ Counseled and advised one of the world's largest multinational software developers on security issues and conducted an internal investigation.
ˇ Created a portable device incident-response plan for a global company with 160 individual business units in 38 countries. For the same company, created architecture for a global plan to organize an information security management system.
ˇ Conducted on behalf of one of the world's leading software and technology services companies an international forensic investigation to determine whether the loss of laptop computers and other personal digital assistant devices had resulted in violations of the data-privacy laws of the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Switzerland, among other countries.
Art Law/Forfeiture
ˇ Counseled and defended a New York art dealer in connection with an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Federal Bureau of Investigation, INTERPOL, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York involving fine artwork alleged stolen from Latin America.
ˇ Counseled and defended Isle of Man and Italian art dealers in connection with the seizure by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of art suspected to be illegally imported Italian antiquities.
ˇ Counseled and defended British art investors in connection with the seizure by U.S. and foreign authorities of multimillion-dollar artwork.
ˇ Negotiated on behalf of an Italian art dealer the favorable resolution of a sales dispute with Sotheby's regarding a piece of art valued at $5.8 million.
ˇ Defended a New York art dealer involved in civil litigation related to the provenance and title to artwork.
Professional Activities
ˇ New York Council of Defense Lawyers
ˇ Co-founder, Hispanic Lawyers Society of New York (2007)
ˇ Hispanic National Bar Association
- New York and New Jersey regions
ˇ Member of Steering Committee for the U.S. Attorney's Office District of New Jersey Alumni Association
ˇ Association of Securities and Exchange Commission Alumni
Experience
ˇ Duane Morris LLP
- Partner, 2011-present
ˇ Dickstein Shapiro LLP
- Partner, 2006-2011
ˇ U.S. Attorney's Office District of New Jersey
- Assistant U.S. Attorney, Securities and Health Care Fraud Unit, 2003-2006
- Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, 2001-2003
ˇ U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Senior Attorney, Enforcement Division, 1999-2003
ˇ Philadelphia District Attorney's Office
- Assistant District Attorney, Narcotics, 1997-1999
ˇ Christie, Pabarue, Mortensen and Young, P.C.
- Associate, 1996-1997
Board Memberships
ˇ LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Chairman, Nominations Committee
Honors and Awards
ˇ AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
AV® Preeminent™ and BV® Distinguished™ are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies.
Selected Publications
ˇ Co-author, "Non-Compliance with U.S. Anticorruption Law: Are You Losing Millions in Company Value?" Asian-Mena Counsel, May 2012
ˇ Quoted in "SEC Defense Lawyers Well-Advised to Consider Criminal Exposure Early On" by Phyllis Diamond, BNA's Securities Regulation and Law Report, March 7, 2011
ˇ Author, "Does the U.S. Have Limitless Jurisdiction Enforcing the FCPA?" IBA Criminal Law Section News, May 2010
ˇ Co-author, "Lost Laptop: Eight Steps to Avoid a Disaster," Bloomberg Law Reports: Risk & Compliance, December 2008
ˇ Author, "The First Major Wall Street Subprime Indictments: Aberration or Tip of the Iceberg?" Thomson/Aspatore, Fall 2008
ˇ Co-author, "Chapter 16: Electronic Data and Crisis Management," eDiscovery for Corporate Counsel, Thomson West Publishing, 2008
ˇ Co-author, "The EDD Expert Witness: Choose Carefully," New York Law Journal, August 26, 2008
ˇ Author, "Facing Down Computer Security Threats," New York Law Journal, May 17, 2007
ˇ Author, "Seven Steps to Prepare Your Clients for a Catastrophic Computer Attack," AAJ's Business Torts, Spring 2007
Selected Speaking Engagements
ˇ Panelist, "White Collar Crimes: Recent Cases / Internal Investigations," 2012 Hispanic National Bar Association 3rd Annual Midyear Corporate Counsel Conference, Jersey City, New Jersey, March 30, 2012
ˇ Speaker, "Corporate Compliance and Business Ethics Programs," Hispanic National Bar Association's 36th Annual Convention, Dallas, Texas, August 31, 2011
ˇ Speaker, "Building Winning White-Collar Cases," University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business, Forensic Accounting course, Annapolis, Maryland, June 18, 2011
ˇ Speaker, "Real-life Impact of United States v. Booker on Sentencing and Plea Negotiations," U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) - District of New Jersey and New Jersey USAO Alumni Association CLE, Newark, New Jersey, May 15, 2011
ˇ Speaker, "Updates in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," ABA's Sections of Litigation and Criminal Justice Joint Annual Conference, Miami, April 15, 2011
ˇ Speaker, "A New Era of Regulation and the Dodd Frank Act," HNBA 2011 Mid-Year Corporate Counsel Conference, New Orleans, March 9-12, 2011
ˇ Speaker, "Hot Topics Every In-House Counsel Needs to Know," Ethical and Legal Considerations for In-House Counsel, New York City, November 24, 2009
ˇ Speaker, "Ethics and Compliance: What Every In-House Counsel Needs to Know," Corporate Lawyering Association, New York City, November 18, 2009
ˇ Guest Speaker, "Understanding the FCPA from the EU Perspective," audience of EU partners for major accounting firm, November 2, 2009
ˇ Guest Speaker, "Understanding Corporate Internal Investigation Challenges," University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 19, 2009
ˇ Moderator, "A Change Management Process," ACC Webcast: The Siemens Compliance Program, September 29, 2009
ˇ Speaker, "A New Era of Regulation and the Dodd-Frank Act," Hispanic National Bar Association 2011 Mid-Year Corporate Counsel Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 11, 2011
ˇ Moderator, "Corporate Internal Investigations: New Challenges in an Increasingly Complex Business Environment," Hispanic National Bar Association 34th Annual Convention, Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 3, 2009
ˇ Speaker, "Portable Device Security and Data Privacy: Building a Worldwide Incident Response Plan," InfoSecurity Forum 2009, June 29-30, 2009
ˇ Speaker, "Conducting Winning Investigations for Forensic Accountants and Auditors-A Defense Lawyer's Perspective," University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business, Forensic Accounting course, Annapolis, Maryland, June 2009
ˇ Speaker, "The Fundamentals of Internal Investigations: Law and Ethics," University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, October 6, 2008
ˇ Panelist, "eDiscovery for Corporate Counsel," CLE Program, Penn Club, New York City, September 16, 2008
ˇ Speaker, "Law 101 for Forensic Accountants and Auditors-A Trial Lawyer's Perspective," University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business, Forensic Accounting course, Annapolis, Maryland, June 7, 2008
ˇ Speaker, "Visual Persuasion at Trial," New York Law School, April 16, 2008
ˇ Panelist, "International Crisis Management and Internal Investigations," International Corporate Practice Ethical and Legal Considerations, Penn Club, New York City, January 31, 2008
ˇ Speaker, "Government Investigations That Focus on In-House Attorneys: When in Doubt, Blame the Lawyers," Minority Corporate Counsel Association 2008 Seventh Annual CLE Expo, March 26-28, 2008
ˇ Speaker, "Criminal Trial of a Logic Bomb Attack," CSI 2007: Security from Your Perspective, November 3-9, 2007
ˇ Speaker, "The Fundamentals of Securities Regulation and Enforcement," New York Law School, October 17, 2007
ˇ Speaker, "Hot Topics in Securities Law," HNBA 2007 Convention: Lawyering in the Americas El Abogado Global, San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 3-7, 2007
ˇ Speaker, "Keeping Your Data Safe and Secure," American Lawyer Media, March 9, 2007
ˇ Speaker, "The Trial of - Investigating a Logic Bomb," LegalTech New York 2007, January 29, 2007