Manhattan’s district attorney hired a top prosecutor who pursued mafia bosses to investigate Trump

• Manhattan’s district attorney hired top prosecutor Mark Pomerantz to join its Trump investigation.
• Pomerantz has a long career prosecuting white-collar crime and organized crime. 
• The Manhattan DA is investigating whether the Trump Organization committed financial crimes. 
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Manhattan’s district attorney has hired a top prosecutor who specializes in white-collar and organized crime to join its investigation into Donald Trump and his businesses, multiple reports say.

Mark Pomerantz, who has a long career as a federal prosecutor and trial attorney, was sworn in earlier this month as an assistant district attorney, The New York Times first reported.

Pomerantz has joined the team assembled by District Attorney Cyrus Vance to investigate whether the Trump Organization committed insurance and tax fraud, and falsified records, The Times reported. 

Reuters reported that in his new role, Pomerantz interviewed Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer, on Thursday.

Insider has contacted the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for confirmation of the hire.

In court documents, the office has said that its investigation is focused on “possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct” at the Trump Organization, the umbrella company for Trump’s various business interests. 

Trump has long denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the investigations are politically motivated. 

Vance’s investigation is the only known criminal probe being conducted into Trump’s business dealings, with a civil probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James investigating whether Trump falsely reported property values to secure loans and tax benefits. 

Pomerantz has several decades of experience as a trial lawyer and litigator, having led the criminal division of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York between 1997 and 1999. 

During his time in the job he oversaw the prosecution of several organized-crime cases, including that of John A. Gotti, the son of the Gambino crime family boss John J. Gotti, on racketeering charges. According to The Times, Pomerantz was involved in the 1988 case which established the legal definition of racketeering, which has been used to prosecute organized-crime figures.

After his stint at the US attorney’s office, Pomerantz then moved into private practice.

According to his profile on the University of Pennsylvania’s website, where he serves on the advisory board for the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, Pomerantz has “has handled major matters and internal investigations involving all aspects of alleged corporate misconduct, including securities and bank fraud, mail and wire fraud,” as well as organized-crime offenses, tax crimes and bribery.