Marcelo Ovejero

Marcelo Ovejero is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Miami office and a member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice. Mr. Ovejero focuses his practice on corporate internal investigations, compliance, white collar criminal defense, and complex business arbitration and litigation, with special attention to matters arising from or connected to Latin America.

Mr. Ovejero regularly advises domestic and multinational companies on issues relating to bribery under the Foreign Corrupt Practices (FCPA) and other anti-corruption laws, anti-money laundering (AML) and the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), compliance best practices, economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – including sanctions resulting from Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) designations – fraud, kickbacks and other ethical lapses.

Mr. Ovejero has conducted internal investigations for companies in the energy, financial, forensic services, healthcare, insurance, logistics, telecommunications and other industries. He has also assisted clients in the design, review and implementation of effective compliance and training programs. Mr. Ovejero's experience involves representing corporate and individual clients in matters before the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), OFAC, U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and other federal and state agencies. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Mr. Ovejero has handled matters related to Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Venezuela and the United Kingdom, among other countries.

While in law school, Mr. Ovejero served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and for the Honorable Valerie E. Caproni of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

In addition, Mr. Ovejero is an attorney in his home country of Argentina, where he received his first law degree and served as a law clerk to a federal judge in Buenos Aires.

Representative Experience

• Representing a multinational technology solutions company in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) involving several countries in Asia
• Assisted a large worldwide beverages and food manufacturer in implementing measures to adapt its compliance program in Mexico to the effects of Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) designations
• Represented a leading Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) lender concerning criminal and civil investigations involving the U.S. House of Representatives and multiple U.S. Attorneys' offices and multiple investigative agencies
• Led an internal investigation for a Fortune 500 mining company concerning allegations of bribery in Argentina and Chile
• Secured specific license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) allowing a U.S. bank controlled by a foreign government subject to blocking sanctions, to continue operating in the U.S.
• Defending a target in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and DOJ bribery and money laundering investigation of conduct connected to an oil and natural gas company owned by a foreign government under investigation in the Eastern District of New York
• Conducted an internal investigation of a large drug and alcohol rehabilitation and sober home company on allegations involving kickbacks, patient brokering and medical necessity
• Conducted an internal investigation for a leading telecommunications company under government scrutiny for alleged political contributions to the ruling political party of a foreign government in violation of the FCPA
• Designed and created an anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, OFAC sanctions and export controls compliance program for one of the largest fast-food franchisees in Mexico and Central America, which assisted the company in securing multimillion-dollar financing from a leading U.S. financial institution