Leo Tsao

Leo Tsao is the Chief of the Bank Integrity Unit, in the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Criminal Division, at the United States Department of Justice. As Chief of the Bank Integrity Unit, Mr. Tsao leads the unit responsible for supervising investigations and prosecutions of financial institutions and related individuals and entities for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, among other crimes. Prior to his current position, Mr. Tsao was an Assistant Chief in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Unit of the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division, where he investigated and prosecuted violations of the FCPA. Prior to joining the Criminal Division, Mr. Tsao spent eight years as a prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and spent five years at law firms in New York City and Washington, D.C. He also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert Boochever for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Tsao received his law degree magna cum laude from Cornell Law School.

Areas of Interest

• Criminal Law and Procedure

Companies

• Partner, Fintech & Payments and Investigations & White Collar Defense Practices Paul Hastings (2022)
• Adjunct Professor Georgetown University Law Center (2018)
• Lecturer on Law Harvard Law School (2018)
• Principal Deputy Chief, Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section U.S. Department of Justice (2019 — 2022)
• Chief, Bank Integrity Unit, Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section U.S. Department of Justice (2018 — 2019)
• Assistant Chief, FCPA Unit at Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section U.S. Department of Justice (2014 — 2018)
• Trial Attorney, Deepwater Horizon Task Force, U.S. Department of Justice U.S. Department of Justice (2013 — 2016)
• Trial Attorney, FCPA Unit at Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section U.S. Department of Justice (2014 — 2014)
• Of Counsel Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel (2011 — 2013)

Education

• Doctor of Law (J.D.) Cornell Law School (1995 — 1998)
• Bachelor’s Degree Rutgers College, Rutgers University (1988 — 1992)