Mauro M. Wolfe is a Dickstein Shapiro partner in the White Collar Criminal Defense & Investigations Practice. He counsels and defends corporations, financial institutions, and individuals in the areas of securities regulation, securities enforcement, and white collar crime. He also conducts internal investigations related to these areas, as well as in the areas of data breach, art law, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, domestic and international asset forfeiture, computer hacking, terrorism, and Sherman Act antitrust issues. 

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.

Mr. Wolfe came to the Firm after a nine-year government career. The capstone of his government experience was the six-week jury trial of a former systems administrator for one of the world’s largest financial services companies, who was charged with unleashing a malicious computer code on his former employer for personal profit. The malicious code, also known as a “logic bomb,” was designed to cripple the company’s brokerage business and managed to shut down more than 2,000 servers, affecting more than 15,000 desktop computers. The prosecution was the first of its kind in the United States, where an individual was charged with both computer intrusion and securities fraud—two highly complex white collar areas.

Mr. Wolfe offers a unique set of experiences and skills that clients seek and need in today’s highly complex and regulated markets. He is an accomplished trial attorney with an education rooted in business and economics. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Wolfe spent six years working for a large publicly traded company. His corporate background affords him deep business understanding, and he is sensitive to the issues that concern businesses most. Moreover, Mr. Wolfe’s experience with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Securities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey puts him in a rare class of attorneys in the United States. He can carefully guide and counsel clients who are called before securities regulators, a grand jury, or, as is often the case, both. With this special background, Mr. Wolfe is fully prepared and armed to counsel and defend clients challenged by the complex issues faced in today’s regulatory and criminal environments both domestically and internationally.

AREAS OF CONCENTRATION

Mr. Wolfe has investigated and instituted civil and administrative enforcement actions related to many SEC program areas, including matters related to: accounting, financial reporting, broker-dealer sales practices (including suitability and breakpoint issues), Internet securities fraud, stock manipulation, insider trading, corporate financial fraud, and offering fraud. He has also managed criminal investigation teams and led prosecution of criminal cases involving bank, mail, wire, and securities fraud; tax evasion; international money laundering; corporate financial fraud; insider trading; and computer sabotage. Mr. Wolfe’s prosecution experience has also included the seizure and forfeiture of millions of dollars in various assets, including valuable artwork, estates, and fine automobiles. He has worked extensively around the world handling SEC and criminal matters. Mr. Wolfe has also led international criminal investigations involving the cooperation and assistance of, among others, the Swiss Central Authorities, New Scotland Yard, and the British Columbia Securities Commission.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

White-Collar

• Represented Bernard L. Madoff and Ruth Madoff in one of the highest profile criminal and SEC cases in U.S. history.
• Represented a company and officer relating to a state investigation connected to a money-remitting business.
• Represented clients subject to criminal and civil forfeiture matters in France, Cayman Islands, and the United Kingdom.
• Represented individuals and company in connection with an investigation into computer hacking and material support to terrorists resulting in an agreement by the government to close the investigation.
• Represented a Maryland government official before a grand jury investigation.
• 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 Department of Education, resulting in the government’s closing the investigation in less than four months after executing a search warrant.
• Represented a registered representative in connection with an insider trading investigation.
• Defended a British co-principal of a Boston hedge fund in connection with an investigation and litigation brought by the Boston office of the SEC and the Massachusetts Division of Securities.
• Defended a former officer of Hollinger International, Inc. in a civil action by Hollinger concerning allegations of breach of fiduciary duty and diversion of corporate assets.
• Defended a company and its officers in connection with an informal SEC inquiry related to millions of dollars raised in private placement offerings.

FCPA

• Represented a U.S. company in connection with a $2.5 billion transaction in Latin America in connection to a pre-deal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance review.
• Represented a U.S. company in connection with an exclusive sales agreement in Venezuela in connection to a pre-deal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance review.
• Represented a U.S. company involved in a real estate transaction with an African country.

Computer Security 

• Counseled and advised a major financial institution in connection to the company’s computer incident response plans.
• Counseled and advised one of the world’s largest multinational software developers on security issues and conducted an internal investigation.
• Created a portable device incident response plan for a global company that involved 160 individual business units in 38 countries. For the same company, created architecture for a global plan to organize an information security management system. 
• Conducted an international forensic investigation involving data privacy and the laws of the United Kingdom, Spain, France, and Switzerland, among other countries.
• Worked closely with forensic experts in the United States and European Union.

Art Law/Forfeiture

• Counseled and defended a New York art dealer related to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement, FBI, INTERPOL, and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York investigation involving alleged stolen fine artwork from Latin America.
• Counseled and defended Isle of Man and Italian art dealers in the seizure of a piece of art by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District and Immigration and Customs Enforcement related to the export of the piece from Italy.
• Counseled and defended British art investors in connection to the seizure of multimillion dollar artwork by U.S. and foreign authorities.
• Negotiated a favorable resolution for an Italian art dealer in connection with a sales dispute involving Sotheby’s over a piece of art valued at $5.8 million.
• Defended a New York art dealer involved in civil litigation related to the provenance and title of artwork.
  

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

Mr. Wolfe began his legal career in 1996 in the Philadelphia office of Christie, Pabarue, Mortensen & Young, P.C. As an associate, he participated in the defense of a $250 million RICO case, United States v. Allen Stewart. From 1997 through 1999, he served as the Assistant District Attorney of the Narcotics Unit in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. In this capacity, he tried numerous criminal trials, motions, and preliminary hearings.

In 1999, Mr. Wolfe became a senior attorney in the Enforcement Division of the SEC’s Philadelphia District Office. From 2001 to 2003, he was the Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. In this position, he provided securities fraud expertise to the Criminal Division, Major Frauds Unit.

From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Wolfe served as the Assistant United States Attorney in the Securities and Healthcare Fraud Unit for the District of New Jersey’s United States Attorney’s Office in Newark, NJ. Mr. Wolfe has extensive experience working with various 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 Investigations, U.S. Secret Service, the SEC, the New York Stock Exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers, and the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York state securities regulators.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Mr. Wolfe currently is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

He is a member of the following organizations:

• The New York Council of Defense Lawyers;
• Board of Directors for Latino Justice PRLDEF;
• International Bar Association;
• Hispanic National Bar Association; Alumnus, InRoads, Inc.; and 
• Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting

PUBLICATIONS

• Author, “The First Major Wall Street Subprime Indictments: Aberration or Tip of the Iceberg?,” Thomson/Aspatore (Fall 2008)
• Co-author, “Chapter 16: Electronic Data and Crisis Management,” eDiscovery For Corporate Counsel, Thomson West Publishing (2008)
• Author, “The EDD Expert Witness: Choose Carefully,” New York Law Journal (August 26, 2008)
• Author, “Facing Down Computer Security Threats,” New York Law Journal (May 17, 2007)
• Author, “Seven Steps to Prepare Your Clients for a Catastrophic Computer Attack,” AAJ’s Business Torts (Spring 2007)

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

• Speaker, “Hot Topics Every In-House Counsel Needs to Know,” Ethical and Legal Considerations for In-House Counsel, New York, NY (November 24, 2009)
• Speaker, “Ethics and Compliance: What Every In House Counsel Needs to Know,” Corporate Lawyering Association, New York, NY (November 18, 2009)
• Guest Speaker, “Understanding the FCPA from the EU Perspective,” audience of EU partners for major accounting firm, (November 2, 2009)
• Guest Speaker, “Understanding Corporate Internal Investigation Challenges,” University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, PA (October 19, 2009)
• Moderator, “A Change Management Process,” ACC Webcast: The Siemens Compliance Program (September 29, 2009)
• Moderator, “Corporate Internal Investigations: New Challenges in an Increasingly Complex Business Environment,” Hispanic National Bar Association 34th Annual Convention, Albuquerque, NM (September 3, 2009)
• Speaker, “Portable Device Security and Data Privacy: Building a Worldwide Incident Response Plan,” InfoSecurity Forum 2009 (June 29-30, 2009)
• 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, MD (June 2009)  
• Speaker, “The Fundamentals of Internal Investigations: Law and Ethics,” University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, PA (October 6, 2008)
• Panelist, “eDiscovery for Corporate Counsel,” CLE Program, Penn Club, New York, NY (September 16, 2008)
• 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, MD (June 7, 2008)
• Speaker, “Visual Persuasion at Trial,” New York Law School (April 16, 2008)
• Panelist, “International Crisis Management and Internal Investigations,” International Corporate Practice Ethical and Legal Considerations, Penn Club, New York, NY (January 31, 2008)
• 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) 
• Speaker, “Criminal Trial of a Logic Bomb Attack,” CSI 2007: Security From Your Perspective (November 3-9, 2007)
• Speaker, “The Fundamentals of Securities Regulation and Enforcement,” New York Law School (October 17, 2007)
• Speaker, “Hot Topics in Securities Law,” HNBA 2007 Convention: Lawyering in the Americas El Abogado Global, San Juan, Puerto Rico (October 3-7, 2007)
• Speaker, “Keeping Your Data Safe and Secure,” American Lawyer Media (March 9, 2007)
• Speaker, “‘The Trial of U.S. v. Duronio’ - Investigating a Logic Bomb,” LegalTech New York 2007 (January 29, 2007) 
   

EDUCATION

Mr. Wolfe graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Business Administration and a minor in economics (1990). He received his J.D. from Temple University School of Law (1996).