Craig Carpenito is a partner in the firm’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group and co-leader of its Government and Special Investigations Group. His practice is focused on securities regulatory and enforcement matters, white collar criminal defense, health care and complex civil litigation, and governmental and corporate investigations. Craig represents public corporations, their officers, directors and employees, regulated entities and others in investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, the New York and New Jersey Attorney General’s Offices, and other federal and state criminal and civil authorities, as well as in related civil litigation and administrative proceedings.
Craig has substantial experience in all phases of litigation, including the successful trial of numerous, complex matters to verdict. He has experience in many federal securities fraud cases, including those related to accounting and financial fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, illegal short sales, bank conversion fraud, options backdating, and the disclosure obligations of publicly traded companies. Craig also has experience in health care cases stemming from fraudulent billing practices in the health care industry, including cases dealing with federal and state consumer and insurance fraud prevention acts. Craig has worked closely with the DOJ, SEC, NYSE, NASD, HHS, FBI, IRS and other state and federal agencies.
Prior to joining Alston & Bird, Craig served for more than seven years with the Department of Justice and as an SEC enforcement attorney. Most recently, Craig served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Securities and Health Care Fraud Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Craig served as Senior Counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division in New York City.
Craig is a frequent speaker on securities enforcement topics and the trial of complex cases, having lectured before the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Staff in New York and Washington, D.C., as well as before Self Regulatory Organizations and state regulatory authorities.
Craig received his J.D. in 2000 from Seton Hall University and his B.A. in political science in 1996 from Rider University. He also worked in the legal and compliance department of Neuberger Berman, LLC, a broker-dealer and asset management company, prior to and while attending law school.
- The successful representation of several officers and directors of a publicly traded company being investigated by the SEC for allegations of impropriety in their alleged misuse of accounting reserves.
- The successful representation of the chief investment officer of large financial institution in SEC investigation and civil litigation concerning public disclosures of the firm’s investment portfolio.
- Counsel to private equity fund in litigation against its former CEO and numerous other individual and corporate defendants alleging fraud and misappropriation.
- Counsel to large credit rating agency on matters relating to the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006 and other securities regulatory matters.
- Counsel to several global, private investment companies on securities regulatory and compliance matters.
During his tenure in the government, Craig was primarily responsible for several high-profile investigations, enforcement proceedings and trials, including:
- The successful prosecution of the chairman of Cendant for his participation in a securities fraud conspiracy that resulted in a $14 billion loss to shareholders (U.S. v. Walter Forbes).
- The investigation and prosecution of several insider trading cases, including the successful prosecution of a former Cirrus Logic director (U.S. v. Alfred Teo, Sr.) and a successful civil enforcement proceeding against a former director of Interstate Bakeries Corp. (SEC v. E. Garrett Bewkes, et al.).
- The investigation and prosecution of a brokerage firm, its CEO and several traders for violations of the SEC’s Short Sale Rules (In the Matter of Andover Brokerage, LLC, et al.)
- The investigation leading to a civil enforcement action against one of the big four global advertising companies for their participation in an accounting fraud resulting in restatements totaling over a half-billion dollars (SEC v. Interpublic Group of Companies, et al.).
- The investigation of stock option backdating practices of several companies, including a leading biotechnology company.
- The investigation and prosecution of several market manipulation, pump and dump, and Ponzi schemes, including U.S. v. Stewart Kaiser, et al. (successful prosecution of pump and dump scheme touting anti-terrorism device shortly after 9/11); U.S. v. Guy Urciuoli (successful prosecution of V.P. of Finance of technology company for $5 million fraud); and U.S. v. David Kaye (successful prosecution of $13 million Ponzi scheme).