Businessman Acquitted of Structuring and Money Laundering, Prevails on $17,000,000 Asset Forfeiture Count

THE CHALLENGE

Our client was a local businessman charged in a high profile federal case with Conspiracy to Structure Monetary Transactions and nine counts of Money Laundering. The indictment also sought forfeiture of $17,000,000 in assets.

OUR APPROACH

The underlying facts spanned multiple years and included hundreds of thousands of transactions recorded on millions of pages of financial records. The case was complex, the evidence was voluminous, and step one was to understand the facts and determine whether there was a defense.

We assembled a team that included former IRS special agents and forensic accountants and we divided up tasks. Years of financial records were quickly reviewed and summarized, while managers and employees inside our client’s business and at his various banks were interviewed. It became clear that there was a viable defense, and our client instructed us to reject multiple plea offers made by the government.

When our client decided not to plead guilty and proceed to trial, our next step was to out-think and out-work the government. We fully prepared our defense, presented our case to a mock jury, and watched through live video feed while the mock jury deliberated. Following deliberations, we interviewed the mock jurors and gained insights into how various aspects of our defense were perceived. We carefully reviewed the results from the first mock trial, fine-tuned our defense, and then presented the case to a second mock jury. Following the second mock trial, we put the finishing touches on our defense and proceeded to trial.

THE RESULT

Our client was acquitted of Conspiracy to Structure Monetary Transactions, nine counts of Money Laundering, and prevailed against the government on an asset forfeiture count seeking $17,000,000 of his assets.