Fraud Scheme Updates

Peter Hardy, a former federal prosecutor, is a litigation attorney in Holland & Knight's Philadelphia office. Mr. Hardy's practice focuses on white collar criminal defense and internal investigations, Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) regulatory compliance, criminal tax and civil tax controversy defense, and civil litigation involving allegations of fraud. According to reviews in Chambers USA, Mr. Hardy is "brilliant and efficient" and "an insightful and strategic adviser." He is also "incredibly responsive" and "provides practical, actionable advice." Mr. Hardy advises corporations and individuals across a range of industries against allegations of financial fraud, including money laundering, tax fraud, mortgage fraud and lending law violations, securities fraud and public corruption. He conducts internal investigations, defends against grand jury investigations and has litigated complex criminal matters at the trial and appellate levels. Mr. Hardy also counsels financial institutions and businesses on their AML obligations under the BSA and other compliance requirements, including issues involving sanctions law, countering the financing of terrorism, money transmission, digital assets and cryptocurrency, cannabis and anti-corruption. In addition, Mr. Hardy advises on potential disclosures to the IRS and counsels clients through every stage of a tax controversy, from audit through administrative appeal to litigation for a civil case, and from the grand jury investigation to any prosecution for a criminal case. He has both represented whistleblowers before the IRS and defended corporations against the allegations of whistleblowers. Mr. Hardy also handles complex civil litigation relating to allegations of fraud, including Ponzi schemes, fraudulent transfers and false claims. Mr. Hardy is the author of Criminal Tax, Money Laundering, and Bank Secrecy Act Litigation, a well-reviewed and comprehensive legal treatise concerning the investigation, prosecution and defense of criminal tax, money laundering and BSA cases, published by Bloomberg BNA. Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Hardy was an attorney at a national law firm, where he founded the AML team and the tax controversy team. Before entering private practice, Mr. Hardy spent more than a decade as a federal prosecutor. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia, where he focused on fraud and financial crime cases. He also served as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division in Washington, D.C., where he tried criminal cases in several federal districts.