Preet Bharara, a former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), is a highly regarded lawyer who focuses on investigations and criminal litigation matters. Bharara led some of the most significant criminal and civil litigations brought in the SDNY on behalf of the United States, leaving an indelible impact on the office. He is widely recognized as one of the most effective and transformative US Attorneys to ever lead the SDNY and one of the most credible voices in law enforcement.
In May 2009, President Obama nominated Bharara to become the US Attorney for the SDNY, with Bharara’s nomination unanimously confirmed by the US Senate in August 2009. While serving as US Attorney from 2009 to 2017, he oversaw more than 200 Assistant US Attorneys.
During his tenure, Bharara formed the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit, which has continued the office’s history of prosecuting leaders and associates of global and domestic terrorist, narco-terrorist, narcotics and money-laundering organizations. The Unit has convicted many major terrorists, including Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghayth, London imam Abu Hamza and Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, as well as international criminals such as arms trafficker Viktor Bout and Somali pirate Abduwali Muse.
Before serving as US Attorney, Bharara was Chief Counsel to Senator Charles Schumer, the current US Senate Majority Leader. Bharara was also the Staff Director of the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts. While Staff Director, he helped lead the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation of the controversial firing of US Attorneys, which led to the resignation of the sitting Attorney General. From 2000 to 2005, Bharara was an Assistant US Attorney for the SDNY, where he prosecuted cases involving organized crime, racketeering, securities fraud, money laundering and narcotics trafficking. Bharara was previously a litigation associate at two other law firms in New York, where he represented a variety of corporate and individual clients.
Bharara is an author, a frequent public speaker, and a much-valued voice in the national dialogue. He is a distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the New York University School of Law, and regularly speaks to corporations, legal associations and trade groups on ethics and compliance, culture and diversity issues. He wrote a New York Times best-seller titled Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Thoughts on Crime, Punishment and the Rule of Law, which provides an overview of the way the US justice system works and why the rule of law is essential to society. Bharara also shares his perspectives as host of the “Stay Tuned with Preet” and “Café Insider” podcasts on the Vox Media Podcast Network. In 2012, Bharara was featured on the cover of TIME magazine and appeared on its list of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.”
Updated Sep 2024
