Matthew Laroche

Career

Matthew Laroche is a partner in Milbank’s New York office and a member of the firm’s Litigation & Arbitration Group. Matt’s practice focuses on white collar defense, government and internal investigations, complex civil litigation, and regulatory compliance.

An accomplished former federal prosecutor, Matt represents prominent financial institutions, multinational companies, asset management firms, boards, and individuals in high-stakes investigations and criminal and regulatory enforcement matters. With a specific background in multinational settings, financial corruption, and cybercrime, Matt regularly advises clients facing critical and novel legal challenges. He also has significant experience in cryptocurrency matters, frequently representing individuals and entities in cryptocurrency-related criminal, civil, and regulatory probes and enforcement actions.

Matt is a highly experienced trial lawyer. He has served as lead or co-lead attorney in over a dozen federal and state trials, including some of the most complex and significant trials in recent years. In 2024, he co-led a major victory and complete dismissal midway through trial for a client accused of criminally possessing allegedly stolen handwritten lyrics to songs from the Eagles’ 1976 album “Hotel California,” a highly publicized criminal case in Manhattan Supreme Court. In 2023, Matt co-led the successful trial defense of flexPATH Strategies, LLC, one of the largest target date fund providers in the world, in a federal class action lawsuit involving claims that flexPATH breached its fiduciary duties in connection with the management of over $600 million in assets. Matt secured a judgment in favor of flexPATH on all claims following a two-week long trial. In 2022, Matt led the defense and secured a favorable result in a federal criminal trial in the Southern District of New York on behalf of a client accused of participating in a global wire fraud conspiracy.

Clients also frequently turn to Matt in high-profile enforcement-related matters and investigations based on his extensive experience appearing before federal and state regulators and prosecutors including the US Department of Justice (“DOJ”), Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), New York District Attorney’s Office, and State Attorneys General. Matt has represented clients in numerous matters that have resulted in regulators or prosecutors terminating investigations, including investigations of the former CEO of a Fortune 500 company, the CEO of an Investment Management Company operated by one of the largest financial institutions in the world, the General Counsel of a large pharmaceutical company, and a former high-ranking executive of a global aviation firm.

In addition to his regular practice, Matt is significantly involved in many pro bono matters. Most notably, in 2022, Matt convinced the State of Delaware to dismiss its murder case against pro bono client Mark Purnell, who had spent over 16 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Prior to joining Milbank, Matt served for over six years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the Southern District of New York where he investigated and prosecuted some of the country’s most significant national security cases, including matters involving cybercrime, espionage, financial corruption, money laundering, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”), sanctions evasion, international drug trafficking, and terrorism. Among the high-profile matters that he led include the years-long investigation and prosecution of a former Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”) cyber developer charged with the largest theft and disclosure of classified information in the CIA’s history.

Matt also helped lead the investigations and prosecutions of the former president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Moros, and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials for narcoterrorism, financial corruption, and related crimes in connection with an alleged state sponsored drug trafficking cartel known as the Cartel de Los Soles; the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, numerous high-ranking Honduran public officials, national police, and military officials involved in state sponsored drug trafficking, financial corruption, and money laundering; several of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted international terrorists; and Sayfullo Saipov for the 2017 terrorist truck attack in Tribeca. He was also responsible for leading numerous other classified investigations involving espionage, counterintelligence, FARA, sanctions violations, and money laundering.

Matt is a recommended white collar attorney in the Legal 500 USA, with clients saying he is a “top-notch lawyer” (Legal 500). He has also been recognized in Lawdragon’s 2024 “500 X – The Next Generation” and in Benchmark Litigation’s 2024 “40 & Under List." Additionally, he received significant recognition for his public service, including being the recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the DOJ’s highest honor, and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Administrator Award for achievements combatting state sponsored drug trafficking and financial corruption in Honduras.

Before joining the DOJ, Matt was an associate at Milbank and law clerk for the Honorable Richard C. Wesley of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Matt earned his law degree from Albany Law School, where he graduated salutatorian and was editor-in-chief of the Albany Law Review. He received his M.A. and B.A., summa cum laude, from the University at Albany.