Matthew Fishbein and Trish McNeill. COURTESY PHOTO

The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office is expanding its investigations division with the addition of a former Debevoise & Plimpton attorney who specialized in white-collar defense.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Thursday that he hired Matthew Fishbein as executive assistant district attorney for the investigations division. Fishbein had been a litigation partner at the New York-based firm through 2018.

In a statement to the press, Gonzalez said the addition of Fishbein and the promotion of Trish McNeill as chief of the investigations division will expand the office's white-collar enforcement work.

“Brooklyn's economy has benefited from tremendous growth in our financial industry, booming construction, and an array of innovative new small businesses. But where there is rapid growth, there are also new opportunities for criminal misconduct or schemes,” Gonzalez said. “We must make sure that all businesses comply with our laws to protect those most vulnerable to fraud and abuse—including elders, tenants and immigrants. I am confident that Matt's and Trish's experience will help us achieve this goal as we also continue to conduct investigations against corrupt public officials and criminal enterprises.”

Fishbein joined Debevoise in 2002 and left the firm late last year.

Before joining Debevoise, he served as chief assistant U.S. attorney and chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. As a U.S. attorney, he prosecuted white-collar cases, primarily focusing on political corruption, business and securities fraud and environmental crimes.

More recently, he has worked with New York City officials and handled cases dealing with a range of topics, from businesses with alleged ties to the Iranian government to the legality of online gambling.

Fishbein was part of the defense team in Kirschenbaum v. 650 Fifth Avenue, which in June 2017 resulted in a finding that the U.S. government could seize the Alavi Foundation's majority stake in a 36-story building in Manhattan, after a federal judge determined that the company served as a front for the Iranian government and had moved money in violation of U.S. sanctions.

Fishbein also represented the fantasy sports betting site FanDuel when former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sought to shut down online gambling sites. He was also recently part of a group of lawyers representing the city in connection with probes into Mayor Bill de Blasio's campaign fundraising operations and a land deal connected to a health care facility.

Fishbein is a graduate of Williams College and New York University Law School.