Alumnus Michael Diaz, Jr. featured in Business Week Article on Asset Forfeiture
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Miami attorney and UM Law alumnus Michael Diaz, Jr. was featured in a June 25 Business Week article on Ponzi schemes and asset forfeiture experts.
In “Big Game Asset Hunters,” the magazine highlights Diaz’s work representing U.S. investors who say they were burned in a $170 million Ponzi scheme allegedly coordinated by Canadian real estate developers, Frederick and Derek Elliott.
Click here to read the article on the Business Week website.
Diaz and his team at the international law firm of Diaz Reus & Targ, LLP, which Diaz founded in 1990, work tirelessly to uncover hidden assets. In the Elliotts’ case, Diaz’s team has obtained temporary restraining orders that have frozen more than $60 million belonging to the Elliotts.
Diaz is also an international expert on fighting money laundering and financial transactions that support terrorist activity, and has spoken at anti-money laundering conferences in Spain, Miami, Venezuela, and Dubai. He has published various articles in legal periodicals and trade journals regarding international arbitration and doing business in Latin America, China, and the Middle East, and is one of Florida’s most effective international litigators.
The 1986 UM Law graduate was born in Havana, Cuba. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in international finance from the University of Miami in 1983 before studying at the Law School, where he served as associate editor of the Inter-American Law Review, and was recognized for his trial advocacy skills receiving the Order of the Barrister National Excellence Award from the Wig and Robe Society.
Upon graduating from the Law School, Diaz served as an assistant state attorney in the Miami- Dade County State Attorney’s Office from 1986 to 1990 under the Honorable Janet Reno, former U.S. attorney general and Miami-Dade County state attorney. During his tenure as a prosecutor, Diaz was rapidly promoted and became a division chief, where he primarily investigated and prosecuted major crime cases.
In 1990, Diaz joined and later became a partner in an AV rated international litigation firm where he litigated complex commercial and international money laundering cases. He went on to open his own AV rated litigation and arbitration firm and has been engaged in the successful representation of Fortune 500 multinational corporations and foreign government entities involving regulatory and complex commercial investigations, financial fraud, intellectual property disputes, and human rights cases all over the world.
Diaz is considered a preeminent attorney and is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. In addition, he was selected as a Florida Super Lawyer for his work in international law and as a High Impact Leader by Florida Trend Magazine for global affairs. Diaz has also been nominated for the Key Partner Award by the South Florida Business Journal, and was named a Power Player in The Power Issue of the South Florida Business Leader Magazine. He has also been named a 2009 Business Leader of the Year.
posted 17-August-2009
