The Business of White Collar Crimes

Sami is an attorney and principal of Azhari LLC, with over 14 years of experience as a trial lawyer. He has tried over 100 jury and bench trials. His practice focuses on federal and white collar criminal defense, where he has defended attorneys, traders, and corporate executives on a litany of federal crimes including wire fraud, bank fraud, racketeering (RICO), and conspiracy charges. His clients also include physicians, business owners, professional athletes, and board members.

He handles all aspects of federal criminal prosecutions, representing witnesses, targets, and defendants from the investigative phase through trial, and if necessary, sentencing and appeals. He has dealt with every investigative agency including FBI, ATF, DEA, IRS, Department of Homeland Security and the United States Secret Service.

He has been consistently recognized in numerous publications, such as Super Lawyers Magazine as being one of the most highly skilled and highly regarded criminal lawyers. He achieved the Illinois Rising Star award for 8 consecutive years, an honor given to the top 2.5% of attorneys in the state.

He also handles criminal fraud charges that revolve around the Paycheck Protection Program that was rolled out after the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. He recently received a federal jury acquittal on behalf of his client, a foreign national from Mauritania that was facing federal criminal charges in the Northern District of Illinois. The case went to a jury trial where he was found not guilty of all charges.

He has been published numerous times in publications on issues of white-collar criminal defense, jury deliberations, and other matters. Recently, The Champion, the nationwide journal for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers published his article, Guilty Until Proven Guilty: The Prosecution of Public Corruption and White-Collar Crime.