Our People

Ligia
Bezerra

Senior Director

Americas | Washington, DC office

+1 202 545 3000

lbezerra@nardelloandco.com

Headshot of Ligia Bezerra

With deep roots in Latin America, Ligia Bezerra has several years of experience in complex multi-jurisdiction litigation support, fraud, white collar criminal defense and due diligence investigations.

Ligia is a key member of Nardello & Co.’s investigations in Latin America. Her work has encompassed several practice areas including complex investigations, threat mitigation, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act inquiries, and pre-transactional due diligence exercises, especially those focused on Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Transnational Criminal Organizations.

She previously worked at a global risk management firm in Washington, DC where her work focused on compliance, anti-corruption, and reputational due diligence investigations in Latin America, with a focus on Brazil.

Representative matters

  • Executed a complex pre-acquisition due diligence exercise into a family-owned shipping terminal on the Gulf of Mexico to inform the client’s acquisition and post-merger strategies amidst the US designation of some international cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
  • Conducted multi-jurisdictional research for litigation support work on behalf of an indicted US employee of a multinational and oil and gas firm.
  • Oversaw a complex litigation support investigation into a high-net individual who funded manipulative enterprises and underwrote deceitful public relations campaigns to sway public opinion in the US.
  • Examined agricultural journals and shipping records and conducted discreet source inquiries with growers and exporters to determine the effect of new US Department of Agriculture regulations on exports of a Chilean fruit commodity to the US.
  • Uncovered the funding mechanisms, identified the funders, and traced several undisclosed connections to illuminate a network that subsidized multi-pronged litigation in 20 US jurisdictions.
  • Unraveled a scheme in which entities registered in the US and Latin America were used by the senior executive of a financial firm and his spouse to commit vendor fraud, and identified undisclosed links to relevant parties. At his interview, the subject confirmed the investigative findings
  • While reviewing voluminous discovery material produced by the government in a high-profile corruption case, identified production omissions and problems in the handling of legally privileged documents, which assisted the client’s defense.

Education

  • B.A., International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University

Languages spoken

  • Portuguese (Fluent)
  • Spanish (Fluent)
  • English (Fluent)
  • French (Intermediate)