Feds Credit New GC, McDermott for Tech Chief’s Fraud Prosecution

A unique collaboration between a newly promoted general counsel and lawyers at McDermott Will & Emery helped lead to the criminal charges against Amir Golestan, a technology executive accused of illicitly obtaining lucrative IP addresses.

Golestan and his company—Micfo LLC—on Nov. 18 pleaded guilty to 20 criminal counts after two days of testimony in a federal wire fraud trial in Charleston, S.C. Golestan was accused of fraudulently obtaining thousands of IP addresses from the American Registry for Internet Numbers Ltd.

The first-of-its kind criminal case could have wider implications for prosecutions of those that jeopardize the technology allowing the internet ...