(NEW YORK) April 18, 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP has announced that Carlos F. Ortiz has joined the firms Litigation and White Collar practice groups as a partner. He will be resident in the firms New York City and Edison, New Jersey, offices.
Ortiz comes to DLA Piper from the United States Attorneys Office in the District of New Jersey, where he has had a distinguished prosecutorial career. He has been recognized for his achievements in both the United States and Europe.
As a deputy chief in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, Ortiz supervised four criminal litigation units–government fraud, commercial crime, violent crimes, and the Organized Crime Strike Force–handling a wide variety of complex, high-profile cases, including issues of fraud, public corruption, criminal tax violations, environmental crimes, and international money laundering. He led the global financial investigation that resulted in one of the most important recent Department of Justice successes the breakup of a massive international network of Internet-based commercial money-laundering and child pornography rings.
“Carlos is an attorney of tremendous drive, intelligence, and compassion,†said Adam Hoffinger, national chair of DLA Pipers White Collar practice group. “He is respected and admired in the U.S. and abroad for his determination, his team-building, and his huge achievements.
“With his sensitive understanding of the complexities and nuances of the civil, regulatory, and criminal exposure that corporations and financial institutions may face, and his deep knowledge of tax controversies, Carlos will provide a tremendous resource to clients. And also, people just plain like him. He’s a wonderful human being, and we are delighted to welcome him to the firm.”
As the supervisor of criminal litigation units, Ortiz has conducted investigations into criminal tax violations; bank, mail, and wire fraud; and fraud against government agencies. He has been involved in strategic aspects of white collar prosecutions and, at one point, impaneled and administered five grand juries simultaneously. Ortiz also served as the international coordinator for the United States Attorneys office in Newark.
The investigation that Ortiz initiated and implemented into international money laundering by commercial child pornography rings is the largest such case in DOJ history. In the course of that investigation, Ortiz coordinated the efforts of federal and international law enforcement agencies, banks, and credit card companies. Police forces of several countries are still investigating information unearthed in the course of this massive inquiry.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will honor Ortiz at a Congressional breakfast in May for his leadership in that case, which already has led to more than 1,000 arrests worldwide, and this month Ortiz will participate in a forum on child pornography being sponsored by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children at a conference in Lyon, France.
In 1996, the Department of Justice awarded him its Special Achievement Award. In 1991, the DOJs Tax Division awarded Ortiz its Outstanding Attorney Award.
Ortiz is a member of the New Jersey and New York Bars. In 2004, he was president of the New Jersey Hispanic Bar Association.
