Former federal prosecutor Shirley Emehelu has joined Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC in West Orange as a member in the firm’s government and corporate investigations group.

As an assistant U.S. attorney, she investigated and prosecuted individuals and companies in complex financial fraud matters. Emehelu brings her trial and litigation experience, along with an understanding of prosecutorial strategy, to the firm.

Emehelu served as chief of the asset recovery and anti-money laundering unit for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey from 2017 to 2019, where she had statewide responsibility for federal asset forfeiture, money laundering, victim restitution and federal judgment enforcement matters.

Before serving as chief, she was an assistant U.S. attorney from 2010 to 2017 in the Criminal and Special Prosecutions Divisions, where she investigated and prosecuted significant financial crime and public corruption cases.

Previously, Emehelu was a litigation associate in the New York office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where she focused her practice on internal corporate investigations, federal grand jury and regulatory investigations, corporate compliance and complex commercial litigation.

She is the seventh former federal prosecutor to join CSG’s government and corporate investigations group.