Thomas C. Frongillo, head of the Boston office litigation practice and the Co-Chair of the White Collar Defense & Investigations Group, concentrates on white collar criminal investigations and prosecutions, regulatory investigations and proceedings, and business litigation. Mr. Frongillo represents corporations and individuals in white collar criminal matters involving alleged environmental law violations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, securities fraud, health care fraud, misappropriation of intellectual property, computer fraud, and public corruption. Mr. Frongillo conducts internal investigations for corporations, and regularly advises companies and individuals on corporate and regulatory compliance issues. He successfully defended a former Senior Vice President of W.R. Grace in an 11-week federal criminal jury trial in a case entitled United States v. W.R. Grace, et al. The client, charged with violating the knowing endangerment provision of the Clean Air Act and conspiring to defraud the United States, was acquitted on all counts. Mr. Frongillo previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts for approximately ten years.
Mr. Frongillo’s practice also includes representing clients in civil business litigation, many of which are parallel proceedings filed in connection with criminal and regulatory matters. Mr. Frongillo has handled a myriad of complex civil cases including matters involving trade secret misappropriation, breach of fiduciary duty, securities fraud, RICO, investment banking and executive compensation. In the wake of September 11, Mr. Frongillo also appeared before members of the US Treasury, the SEC, the CFTC and FinCEN in connection with the promulgation of anti-money laundering federal regulations governing the US Patriot Act.
Mr. Frongillo specialized in high-profile, multi-defendant prosecutions of organizations engaged in drug trafficking, money laundering, homicide and violence, firearms offenses and tax violations. He was lead prosecutor in the District of Massachusetts in a case known as “Operation Southwest Express,” a multi-district prosecution of 100 individuals deemed to be the largest international drug and money laundering prosecution conducted by the FBI at that time. Mr. Frongillo was instrumental in forming and leading a coalition of agents and officers of the FBI, the DEA, the IRS, the Boston Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police that dismantled several sophisticated criminal enterprises in New England.
As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Frongillo served as a trial advocacy instructor at the Attorney General's Advocacy Institute of the U.S. Department of Justice. He received awards and commendations from the US Department of Justice, the FBI, the DEA, the IRS, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, the US Customs Service, ATF, the Boston Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, the New York City Police Department, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office.
Mr. Frongillo is the Chair of the White Collar Defense and Investigations Committee of the International Association of Defense Counsel, a Co-Chair of the White Collar Crime Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and on the editorial board of White Collar Crime Reporter (Andrews Litigation Reporter). He is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Epiphany School of Boston and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Boston Legal Services.