Brooklyn DA adds white-collar litigator and veteran prosecutors to staff

Brooklyn’s growth spurs the need for more white-collar prosecutors

January 25, 2019 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Matthew Fishbein joins the Brooklyn District Attorney’s staff as the assistant district attorney for the Investigations Division. Photos courtesy of the Brooklyn DA’s Office

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The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday that it added an experienced litigator and veteran prosecutor to its staff as it expands white-collar enforcement work in response to Brooklyn’s growing financial sector.

Matthew Fishbein has been added as the executive assistant district attorney for the Investigations Division, and Trish McNeill has been named chief of the Investigations Division, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced.

“Brooklyn’s economy has benefited from tremendous growth in our financial industry, booming construction and an array of innovative new small businesses,” Gonzalez said. “But where there is rapid growth, there are also new opportunities for criminal misconduct or schemes. We must make sure that all businesses comply with our laws to protect those most vulnerable to fraud and abuse — including elders, tenants and immigrants.

“I am confident that Matt’s and Trish’s experience will help us achieve this goal as we also continue to conduct investigations against corrupt public officials and criminal enterprises,” Gonzalez continued.

Fishbein, a litigation partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, specialized in white-collar criminal defense, internal investigations and complex commercial litigation. He previously held leadership positions for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern and Southern districts of New York.

In the Eastern District, where he focused primarily on white-collar crime, Fishbein rose to chief assistant U.S. Attorney after he served as Chief of the Appeals Division and Chief of the Special Prosecutions Unit.

Fishbein is a fellow at the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been recognized by Chambers USA and The Legal 500 USA as a leader in white-collar litigation. He also received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the NYC Bar Association in recognition of his pro bono representation of several clients in death-penalty trials and appeals.

McNeill has served as deputy chief of the Investigations Division at the DA’s Office for four years and is known for her role in the takedown of the largest gun-trafficking ring in Brooklyn’s history and an investigation into a $146 million health care fraud scheme that led to an 878-count indictment of 34 defendants.

McNeill also led the Immigrant Affairs Unit that has taken on an expanded role of insuring that local immigrants don’t suffer unintended consequences, such as being turned over to ICE officials for low-level crimes.

McNeill is also known for her work as a trial attorney who has investigated and prosecuted cases from homicides, arsons and kidnappings to organized crime, complex mortgage fraud schemes, enterprise corruption, hate crimes, loansharking, murder-for-hire and larceny schemes and conspiracies. She was also part of a team that conducted a joint investigation and successful RICO prosecution of Lucchese crime family members.

McNeill received the U.S. Attorney General’s Directors Award for Superior Performance by a Litigation Team and the United States Department of Justice HIDTA/Asset Forfeiture Program Award for her work in investigating and prosecuting the 13 founders of the Cuban Mafia in a Southern District of Florida case.