Daniel L. Zelenko is a partner in Crowell & Moring's White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement Group in the firm's New York office. He focuses on securities enforcement investigations, white collar criminal defense, corporate internal investigations, criminal antitrust matters and complex civil litigation.
Prior to joining Crowell & Moring in 2008, Dan spent almost nine years in the SEC's Division of Enforcement and as a federal prosecutor with the Department of Justice. Most recently, Dan served as a Branch Chief in the SEC's New York Office, where he was lead counsel and supervised attorneys, accountants and investigators on several high profile investigations and enforcement proceedings.
Recent representations include:
- A registered investment adviser in connection with an SEC examination and an industry-wide SEC investigation related to Collateralized Debt Obligations;
- Several registered broker-dealers in connection with various SEC enforcement investigations related to insider trading and market manipulation;
- A government contractor in connection with a public corruption and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation by the Department of Justice;
- A senior officer of a publicly-traded corporation in a securities fraud investigation by the Department of Justice and the SEC;
- Several senior executives of a publicly-traded pharmaceutical company in an accounting fraud investigation based on allegations of improper revenue recognition; and
- A senior executive in a criminal antitrust investigation conducted by the Department of Justice
Representative cases while at the SEC include:
- the largest ever mutual-to-stock bank conversion scheme involving more than 65 banks and multiple defendants (SEC v. Fingerhut, et. al)
- subprime mortgage portfolio accounting practices at a major financial institution
- stock option backdating practices at a Fortune 100 company
- a settled enforcement action involving an investment bank that aided and abetted hedge funds engaged in deceptive mutual fund market timing
- a scheme involving a registered representative who defrauded a 9/11 widow out of more than $250,000 (SEC v. Dunn)
- abuses of finite reinsurance products by several corporations and their top executives
- an administrative trial that resulted in a lifetime industry bar for a registered representative in connection with a securities offering fraud
In addition, during 2007 Dan served as co-lead counsel and Special Assistant United States Attorney in a criminal jury trial involving the manipulation of multiple publicly-traded companies. The trial resulted in a conviction on all counts.
Before joining the SEC in 2004, Dan was a Trial Attorney in the National Criminal Enforcement Section of DOJ's Antitrust Division where he conducted investigations of international corporations and their executives for price fixing, bid rigging, market allocation conspiracies and related federal crimes. He was the lead prosecutor on several grand jury investigations, including the prosecution of an international cartel that provided transportation services to the Department of Defense. While at DOJ, Dan was also appointed Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia where he successfully prosecuted several felony and misdemeanor cases and assisted the terrorism prosecution team after 9/11 in United States v. Zacarias Moussaoui.
Dan has been a panelist and faculty member at bar association and industry conferences; and he has provided training to multiple law enforcement organizations on securities enforcement and white collar crime. He also co-edited a chapter in the ABA Handbook on Antitrust Grand Jury Investigations.
Upon graduation from law school, Dan clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Dan is active in the American Bar Association and has previously served as an officer of the Criminal Justice Section of the Federal Bar Association. He is also a Barrister in the New York American Inn of Court and a member of the New York State Bar Association White Collar Crime Committee.