Corporate antitrust violations. Multinational cryptocurrency scams. Money laundering through digital exchanges and gambling services. These are the kinds of investigations that typically draw the attention of federal prosecutors. However, in New York, local district attorneys’ (DA) offices are increasingly pursuing complex and technologically novel crime.
This month, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg announced the office’s first Corporate Crime and Antitrust Task Force. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Virtual Currency Unit in recent months has dismantled infrastructure supporting a wide-ranging international cryptocurrency scam and secured a prison sentence in a separate $16 million fraud.
The actions of these prominent state prosecutorial offices exhibit a specialized capacity to pursue complex frauds in cases that have traditionally been the bailiwick of federal authorities. The enforcement landscape for complex white collar investigations in New York now very much extends beyond the purview of the U.S. Attorney’s offices, which have reportedly experienced impactful departures, including within the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
Manhattan’s Chief Prosecutor Sets Sights on Corporate Crime and Antitrust
Bragg’s new Corporate Crime and Antitrust Task Force will focus on complex investigations involving corporations and corporate executives, including antitrust violations, health care fraud, and consumer fraud. The stated goal goes beyond prosecuting individual wrongdoers. The office intends to hold “high-level actors, corporations, and structures that enable and profit from crime” accountable, deter industry-wide misconduct, and encourage systemic reform. That is a broad mandate for any DA’s office. It puts corporate decision-making and the systems supporting misconduct at the center of the inquiry.
According to the Manhattan DA’s press release, the task force will be led by Matthew Bogdanos, a 40-year veteran of the office, with approximately five assistant district attorneys and two investigative analysts at his side. The team brings experience in financial services fraud, securities fraud, and antitrust matters, supported by investigators, forensic accountants, and the office’s Financial Intelligence Unit.
The move comes amid recent reports of sizable departures of experienced professionals from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, which may leave room for state regulators to fill a resulting enforcement gap.
Brooklyn Prosecutors Dismantle International Organization’s Crypto Scam
Meanwhile, across the East River, the Brooklyn DA’s Virtual Currency Unit has embraced another ambitious mandate and delivered major results in actions targeting cross-border crime in the digital asset space.
This month, the Brooklyn DA’s Office announced that it worked with the FBI to seize and disrupt 241 domains and 112 servers supporting a multinational cryptocurrency investment scam targeting Russian-speaking communities in the United States.
The alleged scheme began with Russian-language social media advertisements and calls from purported investment advisers to victims who were guided into purchasing cryptocurrency and transferring it to fraudulent investment platforms. When they tried to withdraw their money, they were locked out or told to pay additional fees and taxes. Investigators also uncovered a related operation that approached victims with false promises to recover their losses.
The enforcement strategy evolved with the investigation. The unit had initially seized or disrupted 400 domains associated with cryptocurrency investment fraud, but replacement websites appeared quickly. Investigators then targeted the nerve centers supporting the operation, the servers, seeking to cut off access to software, victim information, and the data needed to keep the websites running.
The office estimates that the scheme stole tens of millions of dollars and reports seizing approximately $300,000 so far, while working to claw back more. This discrepancy illustrates a common reality in international crime: where the work of disabling the machinery of fraud ends, the work to make victims whole begins.
Brooklyn Untangles One Individual’s Web of Crypto Fraud
The Brooklyn DA’s Office initiative has also produced individual criminal accountability.
On September 23, 2026, a defendant was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to a 31-count indictment, including money laundering, grand larceny, and criminal possession of stolen property.
According to the DA’s announcement, the defendant impersonated a representative of a major crypto exchange and warned users that hackers threatened their assets. Approximately 100 victims across the country transferred cryptocurrency to supposedly secure wallets that were actually accessible to him, through which he siphoned nearly $16 million.
The Virtual Currency Unit uncovered the scheme through analysis of blockchain data, digital forensic evidence, transaction records, and material recovered through search warrants. Investigators traced stolen assets through exchanges and other services, including cryptocurrency gambling platforms.
The defendant was ordered to forfeit assets valued at more than $500,000 and make restitution of almost $16 million. The court imposed the sentence despite prosecutors’ request for a sentence of 7 to 21 years.
Conclusion
The Manhattan DA’s Office’s new Corporate Crime and Antitrust Task Force indicates a local commitment to pursuing widespread, complex crime. This initiative has an outsized impact in New York City, where countless global businesses operate. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn DA’s Office’s commitment to tackling crypto fraud, whose purveyors extend beyond Brooklyn’s borders but target residents in New York’s most populous county, shows that local prosecutors will not wait for federal authorities to police this evolving criminal sphere. The collective actions of these highly respected New York prosecutorial offices alter the enforcement landscape for organizations and individuals operating in New York, who should expect increased scrutiny arising from these well-resourced initiatives.