As a federal prosecutor for a decade, Benet led numerous investigations and prosecutions involving complex frauds and financial transactions, including Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions violations. Benet has tried six jury trials and three bench trials to verdict and has pursued forfeiture of criminal proceeds both criminally and civilly.
Benet
Kearney
Managing Director
Americas | New York office
Benet Kearney has over 15 years of experience investigating and prosecuting a wide range of criminal offenses. Most recently, Benet was detailed from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to the District of Columbia, where she served as a Deputy Chief of the Capitol Siege Section.
Previously, Benet was Deputy General Counsel for the New York City Department of Investigation, where she conducted investigations into corruption, official misconduct, waste, fraud, and abuse. She served as case agent in United States v. Mazer et al., a large-scale fraud, bribery, and international money laundering prosecution by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York that involved a municipal information technology project and resulted in the conviction of three defendants at trial, five guilty pleas, a deferred prosecution agreement, and more than $500 million in forfeiture.
Benet began her career as an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where she worked on a variety of securities matters and commercial litigation.
Representative matters
- Prosecuted more than 25 owners and employees of telemarketing companies who defrauded victims by inducing them to invest in “work from home” business opportunities that, in reality, had minimal revenue producing capability.
- Prosecuted members of the “Pure Armenian Blood” racketeering enterprise and their associates in connection with a long-running coast-to-coast scheme involving access device fraud, identity theft, and bank fraud.
- Prosecuted three executives of a cocoa trading company for submitting fraudulent borrowing base reports to banks in connection with obtaining a credit facility in excess of $350 million.
- Investigated international financial institutions for potential sanctions and Bank Secrecy Act violations.
- Prosecuted the owners of a Miami export company for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business responsible for the transfer of more than $100 million into and out of the United States.
Languages spoken
- English (Fluent)
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D.
- Princeton University, A.B.
Certifications
- Admitted to the New York State Bar
- Admitted to the Southern District of New York Bar
- Admitted to the Eastern District of New York Bar
- Admitted to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals Bar
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