Franklin Monsour Jr.

• Virginia Commonwealth University, B.A., 1999, cum laude
• Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, J.D., 2003, Dean’s Merit Scholar, Editorial Board Member of the Moot Court Honor Society, Recipient of the Jacob Burns Medal for outstanding moot court competition, Recipient of the Cardozo Best Writing Award

• New York
• United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Franklin Monsour Jr. is a former federal prosecutor and seasoned trial lawyer who focuses his practice on white collar defense, regulatory enforcement and complex commercial litigation. He has substantial experience handling government investigations, False Claims Act (FCA) matters and fraud allegations.

Mr. Monsour has a proven track record of courtroom success. His representations include the well-publicized healthcare fraud case of United States v. Kenia Valle Boza, where he secured a full acquittal after a two-week jury trial. The Department of Justice (DOJ) had alleged that Ms. Valle Boza conspired to fraudulently bill over US$50 million in medical claims to Medicare. The case was touted as a first-of-its-kind Medicare Advantage criminal prosecution. Mr. Monsour and his team mounted an extensive defense, admitting far more evidence than the government and demonstrating that the allegations were baseless. It took the jury only four hours to acquit Ms. Valle Boza of all charges.

In another high-profile case, United States v. Parmar, et al., Mr. Monsour defended Pavendeep Bakhshi against a US$300 million securities fraud indictment. He convinced the DOJ to voluntarily suppress a large portion of its evidence based on search warrant violations and, after numerous presentations demonstrating Mr. Bakhshi’s innocence, to dismiss the indictment. Mr. Bakhshi instead pleaded to a single misdemeanor with a US$5,000 fine.

Mr. Monsour's civil litigation experience includes FCA defense and extensive motion practice. He has persuaded the DOJ to decline intervention in multiple qui tam complaints and secured the dismissal of securities class actions and various other claims, including a US$30 million claw-back action against an innocent investor caught up in a Ponzi scheme. He has investigated and filed civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) cases, obtaining injunctive relief and damages for clients. Mr. Monsour also regularly represents accounting firms in litigation and regulatory investigations.

Throughout his practice, Mr. Monsour has drawn from his experience as an assistant United States attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. In that role, he prosecuted and tried criminal cases involving fraud, narcotics and violent crimes, and represented the DOJ in large-scale civil enforcement actions. Mr. Monsour was lead counsel in negotiating multiple record settlements in FCA, Anti-Kickback Statute and civil penalty recoveries. His cases included the then-largest DEA drug diversion recovery against one of the country’s largest pharmacy chains and the largest compound pharmacy criminal fraud case to go to trial.