John Marston

Representative Experience

Criminal Defense and Investigations

• Represented individual under investigation by U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
• Represented individual under investigation by federal law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
• Advised non-U.S. energy company in connection with SEC and DOJ investigations of a domestic company.
• Defended individual charged with multiple felony offenses in Maryland.
• Defended individual on appeal from homicide conviction in Maryland.
• Investigated alleged tax fraud perpetrated by principals of target company on behalf of acquiring company.

Tax Controversy

• Represented national shipping company in connection with its classification of workers as contractors, resulting in full concession by IRS while still in the audit phase.
• Represented major financial institutions in litigation and trials related to the validity of hundreds of millions of dollars in claimed foreign tax credits.
• Represented national retailer before IRS Appeals in connection with the validity of loss deductions from sales of stores, resulting in settlement of the dispute prior to litigation.
• Represented multinational technology and pharmaceutical companies in responses to congressional inquiries concerning international tax matters, and prepared executives for potential testimony.
• Member of team that tried estate tax case in U.S. Tax Court, resulting in complete victory for the taxpayer.
• Represented substantial charity in IRS audit related to possible excess benefit transactions, resulting in no liability at the conclusion of the audit.
• Represented individual before IRS to resolve tax debts.

Government

• Investigated, indicted, and tried home improvement contractor who had committed bankruptcy, welfare, and contracting fraud.
• Investigated and indicted former employee of multinational investment bank on wire fraud, identity theft, tax evasion, and money laundering charges.
• Investigated and charged collision center manager who conspired with a U.S. Department of State employee to misappropriate government vehicles.
• Investigated and indicted substantial international money-laundering case.
• Investigated substantial data breach involving government website, which led to nearly $40 million in false tax returns; investigation resulted in money-laundering prosecutions in multiple districts.
• Investigated and charged former high-ranking D.C. government official with subscribing a false tax return.
• Investigated and charged false bomb and hostage-crisis threats called into the D.C. 911 system; identified perpetrator despite his use of deactivated phones and spoofed numbers.
• Investigated and indicted congressional chief of staff on false statement charges.

Other Notable Experience

• Opinion writer published by USA Today and The Hill.
• Commentator featured in articles published by Vanity Fair, CNBC and the New York Times.

Professional Experience

• United States Attorney’s Office, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Fraud and Public Corruption Section, Washington, D.C., January 2013 to April 2018