New York County District Attorney Creates Corporate Crime and Antitrust Task Force

Summary

New York County District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., recently announced the formation of the office’s first Corporate Crime and Antitrust Task Force to target corporate fraud and misconduct, with a focus on antitrust violations, consumer fraud, and health care fraud.

The task force pledges to hold high-level actors and corporations accountable by looking “upstream” to identify the structures and entities that enable and profit from crime. This move bolsters the Manhattan office’s other efforts to target white collar crime, especially during a downward trend in federal prosecutions. Any corporation doing business in New York should pay careful attention to this new initiative, particularly in light of the decrease in federal enforcement and rise in state efforts to combat corporate crime.

The Goal

One of District Attorney Bragg’s major goals is to identify the systems and structures that foster and facilitate criminal activity. Taking a “big picture” approach, Mr. Bragg intends to focus on high-level actors and corporate entities. Mr. Bragg commented, “Powerful institutions that are endangering vulnerable folks, that will be the focus of the Task Force.”

The Task Force, announced on October 14, 2026, will target wage fixing, focusing initially on workers vulnerable to employer collusion in industries such as health care, food service, and retail. The Task Force pledges to hold organizations “fully accountable for corporate criminality, deter industry-wide misconduct, and catalyze systemic reform.” The District Attorney also noted that the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in facilitating crime was of “particular interest,” especially as it pertains to securities fraud, and said the office will expand upon the efforts of the DA’s office to detect AI-enabled crime. Given the emphasis Mr. Bragg placed on AI, the Task Force will likely examine AI-driven price setting in various industries.

The Approach

This Task Force is led by Matthew Bogdanos, who has more than 40 years of experience and is staffed with a team of five assistant DAs and two investigative analysts. This team will work closely with investigators, forensic accountants, and the office’s Financial Intelligence Unit to prosecute white collar crime and antitrust violations.

This is not the first initiative Mr. Bragg has established during his tenure as DA. In 2023, he established the Worker Protection Unit to focus on wage theft prosecutions. Labor markets seem to be a high priority for Mr. Bragg and the New York County District Attorney’s Office, and this new Task Force will ramp up antitrust investigations into conduct that reduces competition in labor markets, such as wage fixing.

This latest initiative supplements the existing efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the New York Attorney General to combat white collar crime. Whether this initiative results in more white collar prosecutions remains to be seen. As of July 2026, federal prosecutions of white collar crime were down 18% from the previous year and down 10% from 2021. It is unclear how much the Task Force and federal offices will cooperate, or whether they will operate independently.

To what extent the District Attorney’s Task Force will work with broader state agencies, like the New York Attorney General’s antitrust bureau, also remains to be seen. Broadly, New York State has been expanding enforcement efforts to combat corporate crime and antitrust violations, and state laws like the Donnelly Act and the Martin Act are potent tools in the DA’s arsenal. Companies doing business in New York should monitor the operations, activities, and developments of the Task Force amid the intensifying landscape of white collar enforcement in New York.

Notably, unlike the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the DA’s office does not have a formal corporate self-disclosure policy that offers companies incentive for their cooperation. The lack of such a policy will likely make it more difficult for the DA’s office to identify corporate misconduct at the early stages.

Ballard Spahr’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Group and Antitrust and Competition Group have robust experience advising public- and private-sector clients on navigating changing DOJ priorities, as well as responding to government requests and investigations and civil enforcement proceedings. Our New York office attorneys include a number of former state and federal prosecutors and experienced defense lawyers who have decades of experience dealing with the New York County District Attorney’s Office, as well as the New York Attorney General’s Office. They stand ready to guide clients through the myriad issues presented by this new Task Force as well as the labyrinth of other federal and state prosecutors who could open investigations into complex issues.

We are currently advising clients on these topics. Please contact us if we can assist you with advice and counsel regarding such matters, or in responding to active inquiries, investigations, or proceedings.

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This advisory was prepared with assistance from Fall Associate, Karli Tellis.

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