Ronald G. White, an experienced trial and appellate lawyer, focuses his practice on white-collar criminal defense, SEC enforcement matters, corporate internal investigations, and complex civil litigation. A skilled advocate both in and out of the courtroom, Mr. White has been recognized for many years by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, and Best Lawyers in America as a leading lawyer in the area of white-collar criminal defense, describing him as a “superb” and “excellent” defense attorney of “unique and unequaled experience.” He has been cited as a “tireless” advocate who takes “a very professional, very responsive and very smart approach” to defending clients in government investigations and “develops a strategy of defense few can match.”
Mr. White represents major corporations and executives in connection with investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, various United States Attorney’s Offices, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Attorney General’s Office and other regulatory enforcement agencies, involving allegations of insider trading, securities fraud, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, bank fraud, tax evasion, health care fraud and criminal antitrust violations. He also regularly conducts internal investigations and defends major corporate clients in civil and criminal investigations by prosecutors and regulators. In addition, he represents clients in significant civil litigation matters in federal and state courts, including securities class actions and complex commercial litigation.
In recent years, Mr. White secured a series of significant court victories in one of the most high-profile FCPA investigations of late. In a case establishing new legal precedents, he won dismissal of all charges against his client, a senior executive of one of the world’s largest hedge funds, in a massive SEC enforcement action. Similarly, in a parallel criminal prosecution, he negotiated a favorable resolution of the case in which the government dropped all fraud and conspiracy charges against his client. Earlier, he obtained a complete dismissal for the client of a securities class action litigation arising from the same facts.
Mr. White has represented clients in many of the most high-profile government investigations of the last several years, including: a hedge fund executive in the DOJ and SEC’s FCPA investigation of Och-Ziff; a Hong Kong business executive in the DOJ and SEC’s FCPA investigation of 1MDB, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund; Standard & Poor’s, one of the world’s leading credit rating agencies, in connection with investigations and multi-billion dollar lawsuits brought by DOJ and the California Attorney General; the CEO of a media company in connection with the DOJ investigation of FIFA, soccer’s governing body; one of the nation’s largest banks in connection with the DOJ and SEC investigation of hedge fund Platinum Partners; and Swiss private banking executives in connection with the tax evasion investigation by DOJ and SEC of a global financial institution.
Mr. White has tried numerous cases in the New York federal courts, and has briefed and argued many appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Between 2011 and 2013, Mr. White served on the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where he represented indigent criminal defendants on a pro bono basis.
Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, he served for 10 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York. From 1999 through 2004, he served as the Deputy Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Business & Securities Fraud Section, supervising a group of federal prosecutors handling major white-collar criminal and securities fraud prosecutions. During his tenure as a supervisor of the securities fraud section, the unit brought a number of significant corporate fraud prosecutions, including those against Computer Associates and Symbol Technologies.
As an Assistant United States Attorney, he also personally handled numerous investigations, trials and appeals involving securities fraud and insider trading, bank fraud, money laundering, health care fraud and tax evasion. Mr. White was twice awarded the U.S. Department of Justice’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Among the significant matters prosecuted by him were: United States v. Jacobs, et al. (prosecution of CEO, CFO and other top officers of Allou Healthcare, a public company, for bank fraud and securities fraud); United States v. Shuster (prosecution of CEO of public company for conspiring with Jordan Belfort, the so-called “Wolf of Wall Street,” to commit securities fraud and international money laundering); United States v. Gordon, et al. (three-month-long, ten-defendant trial involving charges of mail fraud, bankruptcy fraud and tax evasion); United States v. Tec-Air Services, et al. (prosecution of corporation which operated FAA-approved aircraft repair facility and its five highest-ranking executives on charges of defrauding customers and endangering air safety by intentionally failing to properly repair and service aircraft emergency equipment of major airlines); and United States v. Dhinsa (four-month-long federal death penalty trial, convicting wealthy businessman of the murder of two federal witnesses and a multi-million-dollar consumer fraud).
During his tenure at Georgetown University Law Center, he served as Associate Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.
Show MoreRepresented credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s in connection with investigations and multi-billion dollar lawsuits by DOJ and the State of California alleging violations of the federal FIRREA statute and California consumer protection laws arising out of S&P’s rating of structured finance securities.
Represent the CEO of a media company in connection with the investigation of FIFA, soccer’s governing body, by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Represented Swiss private banking executives in connection with the DOJ/SEC investigation of a global financial institution for allegedly assisting American citizens to evade taxes and violate securities laws.
Represented a financial institution executive in connection with an investigation of tax shelters by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York which was described by the government as the largest tax evasion case in history.
Represented a corporate finance executive in connection with an accounting fraud investigation by the SEC and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Represented a hedge fund manager in connection with an investigation and enforcement proceedings by the SEC in the District of Connecticut.
Conducted an internal investigation and defended one of the largest U.S. banking institutions in connection with an investigation of banking and securities law violations by the SEC and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board of ABN AMRO Bank N.V. regarding anti-money laundering policies and practices at the bank's US dollar clearing unit.
Represented a freelance journalist in a defamation action brought by a former high-ranking Mexican government official arising out of a Forbes article titled “Top 10 Most Corrupt Mexicans of 2013.”
Represented satellite television distributor EchoStar in a $2 billion breach of contract action.
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