Eric Snyder Partner

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Eric is a member of the firm’s nationally ranked Government Investigations and White Collar Litigation department, located in our New York office. A veteran trial lawyer and investigator, Eric represents cross-border, international companies and individuals targeted in U.S. Government prosecutions involving a range of allegations including Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA) violations, antitrust violations, money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) violations, wire, securities, and commodities/futures fraud, healthcare fraud, construction fraud, economic espionage/trade secrets theft, commercial bribery, labor racketeering, and violations of the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Prior to joining McGuireWoods, Eric served as a federal prosecutor for sixteen years, including eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York. He focused on the prosecution of cases involving bank and wire fraud, money laundering and International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) violations. Eric also handled a high-profile asset forfeiture matter related to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions. During a four-month criminal trial, he litigated issues before the U.S. District Court under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA).

Earlier in his career, Eric served as a trial lawyer in the Justice Department and as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. In 2010, he left the U.S. Attorney’s Office for private practice, and in 2015, he re-entered public service as Senior Counsel to the U.S. Secretary of State where he led the U.S. State Department’s response to the Congressional investigation into the attack on embassy facilities in Benghazi, Libya. During his extensive law career, Eric was lead counsel in more than 30 successful jury trials and argued six appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Court.

While pursuing his undergraduate degree in Economics at New York University, Eric served as the president of Student Government and captain of the Men’s Varsity Swim Team.

Experience

  • Advised a multinational U.S.-based IT/software provider in its internal investigation into allegations of FCPA violations.
  • Represented the board of directors of an international natural resources company based in Asia in conducting an internal investigation into alleged FCPA violations and violations of the World Bank sanctions regime.
  • Represented a two-time Attorney General of the United States before Congress in its investigation of the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
  • Represented a sitting U.S. Secretary of State in an investigation conducted by the Inspector General to the U.S. State Department.
  • Defended an individual charged in SDNY with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity theft.
  • Represented an executive at an international commercial bank in an investigation being conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Senate (Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations), and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York into money laundering allegations and IEEPA violations for transactions involving Iran.
  • Represented an individual who works for a publicly traded U.S. manufacturing company in connection with an antitrust investigation being conducted by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
  • Represented the plaintiff in an eight-defendant civil RICO/RICO conspiracy action pending in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire that alleges predicate acts, including Hobbs Act extortion, money laundering, wire fraud, and various state level criminal offenses.
  • Represented a Chinese national charged in the Southern District of New York with various offenses related to an alleged economic espionage scheme and theft of trade secrets from a U.S. university involved in cutting-edge technology research.
  • Represented numerous executives of an international construction and engineering firm (with operations worldwide) in a multijurisdictional FCPA investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
  • Represented a large U.S. based energy company which had significant operations in Latin America and was accused of a bribery payment to a very senior Petrobras official implicated in the Lava Jato investigation in Brazil.
  • Represented a commodities trader who was investigated by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for “spoofing” activity in his trading of several commodities from his trading desk in Rio de Janeiro.
  • Representation of a large financial institution in Dubai in a large multidistrict litigation, defending against claims brought under the ATA.
  • Representation of a very senior executive in an international construction company who was alleged to have paid massive bribes to obtain large government contracts in Ecuador.
  • Previously resided in Latin America for several years during the height of the U.S. DOJ’s investigations into bribery schemes in Latin America.
  • Represented an art dealer who was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for money laundering offenses arising from art transactions for which he was alleged to have received criminal proceeds.
  • Represented an entity in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in applying for an OFAC license for a transfer of funds to an Iranian entity.
  • Represented a leading European law firm in connection with an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (Tax Division) into participation in alleged tax evasion schemes involving offshore trusts and bank accounts in “tax havens.”
  • Represented a Japan-based executive of an international financial institution in investigations being conducted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice into allegations of anticompetitive behavior related to derivatives products.
  • Represented a senior IRS official in an investigation conducted by various committees in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate into allegations of inappropriate targeting of certain political groups.
  • Represented an audit committee in the internal accounting investigation of a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed company and a related U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.
  • Served as a government-appointed integrity monitor in the Hurricane Sandy reconstruction efforts in New York City.
  • Represented Swiss bankers, Swiss asset management companies, and Swiss trust professionals who were targeted by the Department of Justice (Tax Division) and the U.S. Senate (Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations), including a Geneva, Switzerland-based head of private banking for a large, international bank; the Swiss president and CEO of a publicly traded company who was indicted in the Eastern District of New York for his involvement in a stock broker bribery scheme; numerous Swiss bankers (in Zurich and Geneva) who serviced American client accounts; and the president and CEO of a Zurich-based private bank.
  • Represented the CEO of a New York investment firm responding to an investigation conducted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into allegations of insider trading.