Hecker Fink LLP

Appellate Litigation; Cryptocurrency; Cybersecurity and Data Privacy; FCPA and Anti-Corruption; Investigations and Crisis Management; Public Interest Litigation; Regulatory Enforcement and Litigation; Securities Enforcement and Litigation; Trials; White Collar Criminal Defense

Partner

Mike Ferrara is a partner at Hecker Fink LLP.

Mike maintains a broad-based white collar and commercial litigation practice, representing companies, boards of directors and individuals in connection with white collar criminal defense, government investigations and complex civil litigation.

Mike has experience handling civil, criminal, and regulatory matters for individuals and corporations, with an emphasis on decentralized finance (DeFi) and crypto matters. A decorated former federal prosecutor, he has extensive experience as a trial and appellate lawyer following a career of public service that included over a decade as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York (SDNY).

Chambers ranks Mike as one of New York’s top litigators in white collar crime and government investigations, and nationally in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), with their sources describing him as “absolutely fantastic and a great trial lawyer” and “dedicated to his clients and any engagement that comes his way.” Benchmark Litigation recognizes Mike as a “Litigation Star,” and Lawdragon has named him to its “Leading Lawyers in America” and “Leading Litigators in America” lists.

Mike leverages his rich public sector experience to help clients navigate responding to criminal prosecutions and regulatory enforcement proceedings; and conducts internal investigations and provides counsel on compliance to help them avoid such prosecutions and proceedings in the first place. His deep experience in complex fraud, corruption (including FCPA) and cybercrime – combined with his familiarity and comfort with intricate, multinational settings – equips him to deliver compelling results for clients as they face their most critical legal challenges.

As an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the SDNY, Mike investigated, prosecuted and supervised a wide range of cases; including matters involving securities fraud, insider trading, money laundering, FCPA, bank and wire fraud, cybercrime, international drug trafficking and terrorism. During his tenure, he served as Co-Chief of both the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit and the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, supervising two units of approximately 25 Assistant U.S. Attorneys, investigators and other personnel in investigating and prosecuting a wide array of white collar, cyber and national security offenses. Mike also served as a member of the office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, in which role he tried and convicted professional gambler Billy Walters for insider trading.

Other high-profile representative cases that Mike supervised or led include the prosecution of Billy McFarland, the founder and CEO of Fyre Media Inc. and Fyre Festival LLC, for defrauding over 80 investors and causing over $26 million in losses; the Panama Papers investigation, resulting in charges against four defendants for their roles in the decades-long tax scheme; the first-ever securities fraud conviction predicated on a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme; FCPA resolutions with Russian telecom company Mobile TeleSystems PJSC and its subsidiary, resulting in $850 million in penalties; and sanctions-evasion and fraud charges against Türkiye Halk Bankasi A.Ş., or “Halkbank,” for its alleged participation in a multi-billion-dollar Iranian sanctions-evasion scheme. Mike also supervised charges against nine Iranians in U.S. v. Rafatnejad for allegedly hacking the computer systems of hundreds of American universities, companies, and other victims; obtained the conviction after trial of Usama bin Laden’s son-in-law and al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghayth; and supervised the capital prosecution of Sayfullo Saipov for the alleged 2017 terrorist truck attack in Tribeca.

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mike served as a Trial Attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. In that role, he investigated and prosecuted a wide array of federal corruption crimes, including bribery, honest-services fraud, obstruction of justice, and extortion. Most notably, Mike led investigations of dozens of public officials and lobbyists that stemmed from the Jack Abramoff scandal, including investigations of a Congressman, several congressional staffers, and officials across the Departments of Justice, Transportation and Labor. Mike was also briefly detailed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney.

Across his 14 years in government, Mike was counsel in a dozen federal criminal trials and over 20 misdemeanor bench trials; briefed over 40 and argued nine appeals before U.S. Courts of Appeals; and supervised other Assistant U.S. Attorneys in all aspects of appellate advocacy as Deputy Chief of the Appeals Unit in the SDNY.

Mike has received significant recognition for his public service. He is the recipient of the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, the Director’s Award for Superior Performance by a Litigative Team, the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation’s Federal Prosecutor Award and the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Ensuring the Integrity of Government. Most recently, Mike was honored with the Henry L. Stimson Medal, awarded by the New York City Bar to outstanding Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the SDNY and the EDNY.

Prior to joining the DOJ, Mike completed clerkships for the Honorable Michael Chertoff of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and for the Honorable John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the EDNY.

Mike also serves on the Board of Advisors of New York University School of Law’s Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement, which promotes more effective corporate and white collar enforcement and corporate compliance programs through research and meaningful engagement between the public and private sectors.

Mike graduated with distinction from Stanford Law School, where he was Managing Editor of the Stanford Law Review, Perspectives Editor of the Stanford Technology Law Review, and a member of the Moot Court Board. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Boston College.

Select Publications 

Co-author, “Business Crime Laws and Regulations,” Global Legal Group's ICLG (2023)

B.A., Boston College, magna cum laude, 1998 J.D., Stanford Law School, with distinction, 2003