Robert Seiden

Last updated
Robert Seiden
Education New York University
Benjamin Cardozo School of Law (JD)
OccupationLitigation lawyer
OrganizationSeiden Law

Robert W. Seiden is an American former prosecutor, lawyer, global investigator, court-appointed receiver, integrity monitor and founder of Seiden Law LLP, a litigation and sanctions-focused law firm. Seiden also serves on the board of advisors of a private clean energy company, GreenMet after stepping down as chairman. [1]

He has been dubbed a "Wall Street Bounty Hunter" [2] by The New York Times and profiled by The Wall Street Journal [3] and Institutional Investor for his prosecution on behalf of investors against Chinese companies that went dark taking hundreds of millions of dollars from US and foreign investors, including China Sun Group High Tech, China Valves Technology, Sino Clean Energy [4] and Shengtai Pharmaceutical Inc. [5]

Seiden Law LLP, in partnership with the Perles Law Firm, filed the first lawsuit ever against Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, for aiding terrorism in a landmark case in Manhattan federal court that accuses Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao, as well as Iran and Syria on behalf of US victims and their families of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. [6] [7] [8]

Career

Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Seiden attended New York City public schools and received his bachelor's degree from New York University in 1985 and his J.D. from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in 1988. Until 1999, Seiden worked as a prosecutorial trial lawyer alongside fellow prosecutors including overlapping with John F. Kennedy Jr. and under the leadership of legendary prosecutor Robert Morgenthau at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in New York City. [9] He represents the Sherman family in the investigation into the double murder case of Canadian billionaires Barry and Honey Sherman in Toronto [10] and previously served as the initial prosecutor in People v. Edmund Ko involving the murder of a Columbia University law student by her ex-boyfriend, who was convicted using an "ear witness" and the results of mitochondrial DNA typing. [11]

In 2008, after working at a private investigations company as CEO for eight years, Seiden founded Confidential Global Investigations, an investigations firm that investigated Sino Clean Energy, fraudulent behavior against their investors in China. [12] In 2009, Seiden founded Seiden Law, an international law firm based in Manhattan specializing in complex commercial and business litigation and arbitration, OFAC and sanctions cases, anti-terrorism litigation, receiverships, and cross-border transactions.

Since 2008, Seiden has represented a variety of industries and industry leaders, including David Baazov, CEO of Amaya Inc.; Teddy Sagi, the founder of software gaming company Playtech; Libra Group; [13] shipping magnate Nobu Su; crypto billionaire Harry Yeh, [14] and hedge fund managers Gentry Beach and Robert Vollero. [15] [16] Seiden has also worked on behalf of Tyson and Tommy Fury, and has represented software development company Security Matters (NASDAQ: SMX). [17]

Seiden specializes in sanctions litigation matters. He has represented IDF General Israel Ziv with successful removal [18] [19] from the US economic sanctions list. Seiden represents global mining company Solway Investment Group in the US Global Magnitsky sanctions case involving its Guatemalan subsidiaries CGN and Pronico for alleged ties to Russia and corruption and led the effort to disprove these facts and secured removal from the sanctions list on January 17, 2024. [20] [21] [22]

Seiden's international work has included legal work with African nations, such as Egypt, and government officials such as the Attorney General of Malawi, Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda. Seiden Law has also worked on behalf of the Israeli Court against Michael David Greenfield [23] [24] and led the legal team that sued Omar Khan for the theft of millions from wealthy Americans such as Renaissance Technologies alumni Kresimir Penavic in a wine Ponzi scheme. [25] Seiden and his team represent Tokyo Marine and Air Castle insurance carriers in litigation in New York related to claims deriving from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Seiden represents Yelcho International in a $320m judgment enforcement case against Saudi Prince Saud Bin Sultan Bin Abdulazziz Al-Saud. [26]

He has been appointed court receiver more than 30 times for companies such as Link Motion, [27] China Sun Group, [28] Sino Clean Energy, [4] Shengtai Pharmaceutical Inc, [5] and Southern China Livestock. Seiden has been the only American allowed to list companies on China's CBEX.

Further, Seiden has had various published articles in Law 360 and the New York Law Journal including “Private Investigator: Application of the Attorney-Client Privilege,” [29] “How Lawyers and Investigators work Together Post-Enron,” [30] and “Tips for Obtaining Removal from OFAC’s Sanctions List”. [31]

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References

  1. ↑ "GreenMet Growth Includes New Leadership on its Board of Directors". GreenMet. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  2. ↑ Stevenson, Alexandra; Goldstein, Matthew (2016-03-16). "Bounty Hunter Tracks Chinese Companies That Dupe Investors". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  3. ↑ Rapoport, Michael. "Court Appointee Chases (and Finds) Investor Cash That Vanished in China". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  4. 1 2 "Bounty Hunter Tracks Chinese Companies That Dupe Investors". New York Times. March 15, 2016. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  5. 1 2 "'They'd Find Fraud, Fraud, Fraud.'". Institutional Investor. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  6. ↑ "Crypto exchange Binance sued by Hamas hostages, Oct. 7 victims' families for allegedly 'facilitating terrorism'". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  7. ↑ "Binance Sued by Hamas Hostage, Families of Victims in Attack". Bloomberg.com. 2024-01-31. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  8. ↑ "October 7 Victims, in a Blockbuster Suit, Take on Iran, Syria, and a Cryptocurrency Exchange". The New York Sun. 2024-02-02. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  9. ↑ Rapoport, Michael (21 June 2015). "Court Appointee Chases (and Finds) Investor Cash That Vanished in China". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  10. ↑ Star, Kevin Donovan Toronto (11 January 2021). "Barry Sherman's son says his father asked him to repay tens of millions of dollars, two weeks before murders, but Barry was 'all in' with son's business". Toronto.com. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  11. ↑ "METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW YORK; Murder Suspect Casts Suspicion on Girlfriend". New York Times. March 28, 1998. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  12. ↑ Yue, Jillian (2016-03-02). "US Court Orders China Businessman Jailed In Legal Battle". China Money Network. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  13. ↑ Libra Group Names Manos Kouligkas CEO; George Logothetis Executive Chairman" Kokkinidis, Tasos, Greek Reporter. July 21, 2022. Accessed April 13, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Securities commission moves against Vancouver crypto exchange company amid money-laundering concerns". Vancouver Is Awesome. 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  15. ↑ "After Decade-Long Legal Fight, Hedge Fund Managers Win $46 Million; Now Comes the Appeal". New York Law Journal. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  16. ↑ Chung, Juliet (2020-01-14). "New York Court Vacates $91 Million Payout to Former Hedge Fund Employees". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  17. ↑ SMX. "SMX preparing Legal Investigatory Capabilities Against Possible Illegal Shorts and Spoofing by Empowering Seiden Law LLP, its New Illegal Shorts and Spoofing Legal Counsel to Work with Mr. Joshua Skule former FBI Executive Assistant Director". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  18. ↑ "US Treasury Department lifts sanctions against former IDF general". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  19. ↑ "U.S. Lifts Sanctions on Retired Israeli Major General Accused of Weapons Deals in South Sudan | Kharon". brief.kharon.com. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  20. ↑ "Global Magnitsky Designation and Designations Removals; Issuance of Counter Terrorism General Licenses | Office of Foreign Assets Control". ofac.treasury.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  21. ↑ Solano, Luis (May 29, 2023). "La geopolítica del níquel y las tierras raras en Guatemala" (PDF).
  22. ↑ "Solway Investment Group Guatemalan subsidiaries granted license to resume operations". Yahoo Finance. 2023-10-03. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  23. ↑ Staff, ToI. "'Israeli Madoff' convicted over $150 million Ponzi scheme". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  24. ↑ "Seiden Law Group brings Largest Ponzi Scheme in Israeli History to US Court, Enabling Broad Discovery to Help Recover Swindled funds on behalf of Victims". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  25. ↑ "Wine consultant accused of cheating Wall Streeters hit by more claims". 2019-10-23. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  26. ↑ "Dockets related to "Prince Saud Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud"". Trellis. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  27. ↑ Rapoport, Michael (2015-06-21). "Court Appointee Chases (and Finds) Investor Cash That Vanished in China". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  28. ↑ "Order for default and appointment: State of Delaware: China Sun Group" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  29. ↑ "Private Investigator: Application of the Attorney-Client". New York Law Journal. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  30. ↑ "How Lawyers and Investigators Work Together Post-Enron". New York Law Journal. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  31. ↑ "Tips For Obtaining Removal From OFAC's Sanctions List - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
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