Firm Wins Full Dismissal of Federal Criminal Charges for UN Economist

Attorneys Justine Harris and Noam Biale secured an outright dismissal of all charges against their client, Hamidur Rashid, in a case brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. Mr. Rashid, a preeminent economist at the United Nations, was accused of visa fraud, fraud in foreign labor contracting, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with his hiring of a domestic worker from Bangladesh. At the time it filed the criminal complaint, the U.S. Attorney’s Office issued a sensational press release alleging that Mr. Rashid “took cruel advantage of his position of power.” Multiple news sources reported on his arrest, comparing the case to a 2014 incident in which an Indian diplomat faced similar charges and left the country under diplomatic immunity.

But Mr. Rashid was completely innocent of the charges. In a series of meetings with prosecutors and agents from the State Department, Ms. Harris and Mr. Biale carefully laid out facts establishing that the accusations against Mr. Rashid were false. After reconsidering its charging decision at the highest levels, the U.S. Attorney’s Office dropped the case entirely and updated its press release to reflect that the charges had been dismissed. Click here to read more.