Robert B. Buehler joined Heller Ehrman LLP in June 2006 and is a member of the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defense and Securities Litigation Practice Groups.

Experience

In February 1995, Mr. Buehler became an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.  During his eleven-year tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Buehler participated in a wide variety of significant investigations and successful prosecutions of numerous criminal violations, including racketeering, money laundering, securities fraud, bank fraud, tax evasion, and health care fraud.  Mr. Buehler handled more than a dozen jury trials, as well as several arguments to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

In 2001, Mr. Buehler became Chief of the General Crimes Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and, in 2002, he  was named Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime & Terrorism Unit , becoming the Chief of the Unit the following year.  As Chief of the Organized Crime & Terrorism Unit, Mr. Buehler oversaw a variety of terrorism financing, money laundering, and financial fraud investigations and prosecutions.   In addition, among other matters, while Chief of the Organized Crime & Terrorism Unit, Mr. Buehler supervised or personally handled the investigation of the United Nations’ Oil-for-Food Program; the investigation and prosecution of the successful attempt to fix the figure skating competitions at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City by high-ranking members of Russian Organized Crime; the prosecution of John A. Gotti, the former acting boss of the Gambino Organized Crime Family, as well as many other significant organized crime figures; the prosecution of the leaders of various labor unions in the New York City area; and the investigation and prosecution of numerous terrorism matters, including the attempted murder of a prison guard in Manhattan by members of al Qaeda.  For several years, Mr. Buehler was also the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council coordinator in the Southern District of New York, in which capacity he worked with a variety of different federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Buehler served as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas P. Griesa, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York.  He also spent several years in private practice.

Representative Engagements

• Represent the former Chief Financial Officer of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. in an SEC enforcement action, and related class action and shareholder derivative litigations, in connection with the company's historical stock option granting practices.
• Represent the Chief Executive Officer of an online payment processing company in connection with an investigation by the Department of Justice of money laundering, Internet gambling, and related violations.
• Represent the former Chief Financial Officer of a computer technology company in related investigations by the Department of Justice and the SEC of accounting fraud and stock options backdating allegations.
• Represent Banco Delta Asia under the administration of the Government of Macau S.A.R. in connection with the Treasury Department's investigation and enforcement action under Section 311 of the U.S.A. Patriot Act.
• Represent major publicly-traded computer software security company in an investigation by the New York State Attorney General's Office of allegedly deceptive online sales practices.
• Represent the former Vice President of Finance at an international equipment rental company in related investigations by the Department of Justice and the SEC of accounting fraud related to the company's purchase accounting practices.
• Represent a former officer of a major banking institution in a criminal antitrust investigation of the municipal derivatives market.
• Represent former Vice President of Finance at a multifaceted financial services company in an investigation by the SEC of accounting fraud related to the company's revenue recognition practices.