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Nathan Joseph Hochman -- Department of Justice
Assistant Attorney General (Tax Division)

Nathan J. Hochman was confirmed by the Senate as Assistant Attorney General of the Tax Division, United States Department of Justice, on December 19, 2007. A former federal prosecutor and head of the Los Angeles Disaster Fraud Task Force, Mr. Hochman has been practicing tax and criminal law since 1988. After matriculating at Brown University in 1985, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and Stanford Law School in 1988, where he graduated with distinction and served as Executive Editor of the Stanford Journal of International Law, Mr. Hochman clerked for United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles. From 1990 to 1997, Mr. Hochman was one of the most productive and successful Assistant United States Attorneys in the Criminal Division for the Central District of California. From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Hochman prosecuted over 180 cases in the Public Corruption and Government Fraud section. Those cases ranged from tax crimes, SEC crimes, bank fraud, money laundering, telemarketing fraud, bankruptcy fraud, health care fraud, defense contractor fraud, education fraud, and customs fraud, to bribery, theft against government programs, perjury, obstruction of justice, violent crimes, and a wide variety of environmental crimes. Mr. Hochman has had over 20 jury trials and has argued over 20 appeals before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Hochman served as the Environmental Crimes Coordinator for almost two years and spearheaded the Los Angeles Disaster Fraud Task Force. That Task Force emanated from the January 1994 Northridge earthquake and was comprised of over 40 law enforcement agents from 10 different Federal and State agencies. Through the task force, Mr. Hochman convicted over 70 individuals for defrauding Federal disaster assistance programs, including FEMA, SBA, and USDA, and recovered over $16 million through deterrent efforts. In recognition of his efforts, Mr. Hochman received the U.S. Department of Justice's Director's Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney, the Inspector General's Award of Excellence, the Federal Bar Association's Younger Federal Lawyer Award, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association's Prosecutorial Award. At Hochman, Salkin, one of the nation's preeminent tax firms that Mr. Hochman's father, Bruce Hochman, founded over 45 years ago, Mr. Hochman represented clients in civil and criminal tax cases, white collar criminal cases, and business litigation. Mr. Hochman, a Certified Specialist in Criminal Law, is a co-author of Tax Management's Portfolio on "Tax Crimes," and has written and lectured on tax and criminal issues. In addition to his professional work, Mr. Hochman has been actively involved and held numerous leadership positions in a number of non-profit institutions, including Cedar Sinai Medical Center, the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Stanford Law School, the Brandeis-Bardin Institute, the American Jewish University, the White Collar Crime Committee of the American Bar Association, the American Jewish Committee, the Legal Services Division of the United Jewish Fund, and the Jewish Community Foundation. Mr. Hochman is married to Vivienne Vella and has three children.


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