Patrick Hein is a partner in the firm’s Litigation practice. A former federal prosecutor and experienced trial lawyer, Patrick’s practice focuses on representing companies, financial institutions, board members, and executives in complex civil and criminal investigations and litigation. Patrick has extensive experience in the Bay Area and New York litigating matters involving allegations of financial fraud, including securities fraud, cryptocurrency fraud, market manipulation, and insider trading; corruption, including FCPA violations; and anticompetitive conduct. Prior to returning to private practice in San Francisco in 2022, Patrick served for eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, including most recently as Deputy Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section and as a senior member of the Department of Justice’s FIFA Task Force.

During his time at the EDNY, Patrick investigated and prosecuted a wide range of white collar criminal matters involving securities fraud, wire fraud, cryptocurrency fraud, market manipulation, insider trading, FCPA violations, money laundering, and CARES Act fraud. Among his significant matters, Patrick tried multiple high-profile securities fraud cases, including United States v. Nordlicht, et al., in which the co-Chief Investment Officers of the Platinum Partners hedge fund were convicted after a nine-week trial of a scheme to defraud bondholders of $70 million. Patrick was also a lead prosecutor in United States v. Jinkis, et al., in which soccer officials and sports marketing and broadcasting companies and executives were prosecuted in connection with international bribery and money laundering schemes. In addition, Patrick co-led the prosecution of global shipping and oil and gas companies and their executives for violating the FCPA by paying millions of dollars of bribes to Brazilian government officials in a decade-long scheme. Patrick ultimately conducted numerous criminal jury trials at the EDNY and briefed and argued several appeals before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. For his service at the EDNY, Patrick was awarded the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation Prosecutor of the Year Award in 2019 and 2020.

Before joining the EDNY, Patrick clerked for U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz of the District of Maryland and practiced at another global law firm in San Francisco.

White Collar Criminal Defense, Regulatory Enforcement, and Internal Investigations 

• Representing global financial institution in connection with DOJ and SEC investigations.
• Representing sales manager of Japanese company in DOJ criminal prosecution.
• Representing financial advisory firm executive in connection with SEC investigation.
• Representing technology companies in connection with internal FCPA investigations and compliance reviews.  
• Representing special board committee of pharmaceutical company in connection with internal investigation related to shareholder demand.

Securities, Complex Commercial, and Antitrust Litigation

• Obtained favorable resolution for global financial institution in California state court action alleging fraud in connection with $725 million loan to renewable energy company.
• Representing global financial institution in federal securities fraud case related to pre-IPO investment in China-based grocery retailer.
• Representing multinational video game and digital entertainment company in federal antitrust class action alleging monopolization and unfair competition related to changes in distribution strategy.

Federal White Collar Criminal Prosecution Experience at EDNY

Securities Fraud, Market Manipulation, and Insider Trading

• Obtained convictions after nine-week trial of co-Chief Investment Officers of Platinum Partners hedge fund for scheme to defraud bondholders of $70 million.
• Obtained convictions of nine defendants, including corporate executive after five-week trial, for $300 million market manipulation scheme.
• Obtained insider trading conviction of investment advisor tipped off by corporate lawyer client regarding a pending pharmaceutical company merger, which scheme resulted in more than $400,000 in illegal profits.

International Corruption and the FCPA

• Investigated and prosecuted soccer officials and sports marketing and broadcasting companies and executives for wire fraud and money laundering in connection with the Department of Justice’s FIFA Task Force’s long-running prosecution of corruption in international soccer.
• Investigated and obtained corporate resolutions and guilty pleas from global shipping and oil and gas companies, which paid more than $700 million to resolve FCPA charges with the United States, Brazil, and Singapore arising out of decade-long schemes to pay millions of dollars in bribes to government officials in Brazil.

Cryptocurrency Fraud

• Led investigation of multimillion-dollar schemes to manipulate the price of cryptocurrencies using fake press releases and fraudulent online user accounts.
• Led investigation of multimillion-dollar cyber romance scams laundering proceeds through cryptocurrency exchange.

Professional Affiliations

• Member, German American Chamber of Commerce

Awards

• Federal Law Enforcement Foundation Prosecutor of the Year (2019, 2020)