Preet Bharara

United States Attorney
Southern District of New York

On May 15, 2009, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Preet Bharara to become the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Bharara’s nomination was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 7, 2009, and he was sworn in as the United States Attorney on August 13, 2009. In that role, Mr. Bharara oversees the litigation of all criminal and civil cases brought on behalf of the United States in the District, which is comprised of Manhattan, Bronx, Westchester, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Sullivan counties. He supervises an office of more than 450 employees, including more than 200 Assistant United States Attorneys.

Mr. Bharara is a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and serves as Chair of its Subcommittee on White Collar Fraud. Mr. Bharara is also a Co-Chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group of the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

As United States Attorney, Mr. Bharara oversees numerous criminal and civil cases, including groundbreaking financial fraud and insider trading prosecutions, historic international terrorism cases, and the resolution of alleged civil rights violations at various public venues. Since becoming United States Attorney, Mr. Bharara has formed a specialized unit in the Criminal
Division dedicated to addressing the significant threats posed by large-scale sophisticated frauds and emerging cyber crimes. He has created another specialized unit of prosecutors, merging two previously independent units, to pursue and prosecute the leaders of organizations that engage in transnational acts of terrorism, narco-terrorism, narcotics trafficking, and money laundering. Under his supervision, the Office continues to combat corruption by city, state, and federal officials, as well as violent crime in New York City and the rest of the District.

Prior to becoming the United States Attorney, Mr. Bharara served as the Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts. During his tenure, he helped to lead the Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into the firing of United States Attorneys.

From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Bharara served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted a wide range of cases involving organized crime, racketeering, securities fraud, money laundering, narcotics trafficking, and other crimes.

Mr. Bharara was a litigation associate in New York at Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman from 1996 to 2000 and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher from 1993 to 1996. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with an A.B. in Government in 1990, and from Columbia Law School with a J.D. in 1993, where he was a member of the Columbia Law Review.