Louis Freeh
| Louis J. Freeh | |
| Occupation | Founder & Chairman |
|---|---|
| Employer | Freeh Group International Solutions LLC |
| Website | freehgroup.com |
Louis J. Freeh is the founder and chairman of Freeh Group International Solutions LLC (FGIS), a risk management firm based in Wilmington, Del., Washington, D.C., and New York. He is also the senior managing partner of the law firm Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan LLP.[1]
In November 2011, Freeh was appointed as bankruptcy trustee for MF Global Holdings Ltd.[2][3] The announcement was made shortly after Freeh's law firm was hired in the sexual abuse case surrounding Penn State's former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Freeh was hired for the case after MF Global and a committee of its creditors asked the bankruptcy court for permission to name a trustee, so it could get a binding commitment for financing while in bankruptcy and help recover any funds that may be left once customers were paid back. Freeh was appointed to the post by US Trustee Tracy Hope Davis at the request of the bankruptcy judge in the MF Global case, Judge Martin Glenn.[4] Following his appointment, Freeh announced his plans to take an "independent" approach to MF's bankruptcy proceedings.[5]
Freeh, who was the Federal Bureau of Investigation director from 1993 to 2001, serves as the coordinator with regulators around the globe and handles creditor issues and return of funds. Freeh's duties differ from the other trustee, James Giddens, who is handling the liquidation of MF Global's broker-dealer unit and return of customer funds from the futures brokerage operation.
The brokerage case is Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. MF Global Inc., 11-02790, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). The parent’s bankruptcy case is MF Global Holdings Ltd., 11-bk-15059, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
Background[edit]
Freeh served as FBI director under the President Bill Clinton and had previously worked as an FBI agent from 1975 to 1981. He worked for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, beginning in 1981 as an assistant U.S. attorney. He held several titles there, becoming most famous for his work on the organized crime case known as the "Pizza Connection." Following the trial, he was appointed as a special prosecutor in the investigation surrounding the mail-bomb deaths of two prominent civil rights leaders, better known as the "VANPAC" case.
In July 1991, Freeh became a U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, and was later nominated to be the Director of the FBI. He was sworn in on September 1, 1993 and retired from the position in 2001.
Freeh served as vice chairman, general counsel and ethics officer for MBNA America Bank, which was acquired by Bank of America in 2006. He founded FGIS in 2007. Since then, Freeh has also served as an independent monitor in U.S. Department of Justice investigation of Daimler AG in 2010. He also led an 2008 inquiry of SemGroup LP, an energy trading company that went bankrupt.
In addition to working on the MF Global and Penn State cases, Freeh's firm also reviewed security for the SAT college-admissions test, after seven teenagers in Long Island, were arrested on charges of cheating on the exams.
Freeh became an Eagle Scout in 1963 and in 1995, he was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award by the Boy Scouts of America.
Education[edit]
- LLM, Criminal Law, New York University School of Law (1984)
- JD, Rutgers School of Law (1974)
- Phi Beta Kappa, Rutgers University (1971)
References[edit]
- ↑ The Honorable Louis J. Freeh. FGIS.
- ↑ Freeh Approved as MF's Chapter 11 Trustee. WSJ.
- ↑ Former F.B.I. Chief Asked to Oversee MF Global’s Bankruptcy. New York Times.
- ↑ Ex-FBI chief named trustee in MF Global bankruptc. Associated Press.
- ↑ Ex-FBI chief pledges independence in MF Global case. Reuters.