Gina M. Parlovecchio

Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Gina was an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), where she served as the chief of the office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section (INMLS). As an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA), Gina investigated, prosecuted and tried some of the EDNY’s most complex, sensitive and high-profile cases across a wide spectrum of subject matters, including international money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act violations, mail and wire fraud, tax fraud, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) violations, pharmaceutical regulatory compliance, bribery and international public corruption. In her role as a prosecutor, Gina served as lead trial counsel in numerous criminal jury trials, including serving as lead trial counsel in the EDNY’s recent prosecution of one of the world’s largest drug kingpins, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera. She also argued criminal appeals before the Second Circuit. Prior to becoming the chief of INMLS, she served as the INMLS deputy chief and co-chief of the Anti-Money Laundering Strike Force and led the Office’s Mexican Cartel program. She previously served in the office’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section and General Crimes Section, and played a critical role in building the office’s money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act practice.

Before becoming an AUSA, Gina worked on several prominent securities, commercial, patent and employment litigation matters at a large national law firm. Earlier in her career, she clerked for the Hon. Edith Brown Clement of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

• Lead counsel for a money services business owner in connection with an investigation by the Southern District of New York into money laundering violations.
• Lead counsel for a construction company executive in connection with allegations of bank fraud in the Eastern District of New York.
• Represented a European aviation firm in connection with an investigation by the Southern District of New York into potential sanctions and export control violations.
• Conducted an internal investigation for a major financial institution concerning potential misconduct by employees related to first-party bank fraud.
• Conducted an internal investigation for a technology company concerning potential employee misconduct involving fraud, sanctions violations and money laundering.
• Represented a cryptocurrency exchange in a consumer civil action related to an alleged customer data breach.
• Represented a major pharmaceutical company in connection with nationwide opioid litigation in connection with a damages trial.
• Represented Nespresso USA in a trade-dress infringement case concerning retailer’s competing espresso capsules (Nespresso USA, Inc. v. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (USDC SDNY)).
• Represented Nespresso USA in a trade-dress infringement case concerning espresso capsules sold by a competitor coffee producer (Nespresso USA, Inc. v. Peet’s Coffee, Inc. (USDC SDNY)).
• Represented Capri Sun in pre-trial litigation in a trade-dress infringement and breach of contract case involving a distributor’s drink pouches (Capri Sun GmbH v. American Beverage Company, Inc. (USDC SDNY)).

Criminal and Civil Trial Experience

• Trial counsel for BMO Bank in a multi-billion dollar, five-week federal civil jury trial in connection with aiding and abetting and breach of fiduciary duty claims arising from a Ponzi scheme (USDC Dist. Minn.).
• Trial counsel for corporate debtor in bankruptcy adversary proceedings (US Bankr. SDNY).
• Trial counsel for the United States in a dozen federal criminal jury trials (USDC EDNY).

Government Experience

• Lead trial counsel in U.S. v. Guzman Loera, a successful three-month trial against the world’s most notorious drug kingpin for operating a continuing criminal enterprise (encompassing 28 predicate violations including extraterritorial crimes) over a 25-year period. Directed and oversaw pre-trial litigation, trial strategy and coordination with foreign authorities and led a prosecution team composed of 11 prosecutors hailing from three different federal districts.
• Led investigations involving violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and money laundering violations by financial institutions and senior executives.
• Led the cross-border investigation and prosecution, in parallel to French law enforcement authorities, of an international money laundering cell with connections to Hezbollah for conspiracy to launder money, export control violations and material support of terrorism.
• Led the investigation and indictment of high-ranking Venezuelan officials for their role in a corruption and drug trafficking scheme.
• Led the investigation and prosecution of a US person based in Mexico for conspiracy to violate OFAC sanctions.
• Supervised numerous investigations and prosecutions involving allegations of money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act violations, official corruption, OFAC violations, wire fraud, tax fraud and violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
• Investigated a financial institution’s role in conspiring to launder the proceeds of kickbacks and bribes arising from a worldwide bribery scheme connected to FIFA.
• Investigated pharmaceutical companies for their compliance failures in connection with the opioid crisis.
• Served as a key member of the successful trial team in U.S. v. Nadeem, et al., a multi-defendant trial for a $30 million fraud involving charges of wire fraud, bribery, tax fraud, financial structuring and money laundering.
• Successfully briefed and argued federal appeals before the Second Circuit.
• Led and supervised extradition requests to 13 different countries and litigated complex extradition matters.