While an Assistant US Attorney in the Fraud and Public Corruption Section of the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, in the earliest federal prosecution involving virtual currency, Laurel successfully handled the money laundering and money transmitting prosecution of the “e-gold” enterprise, a then-novel online digital currency service used to fund various criminal enterprises. As a result of her work on that groundbreaking prosecution and other internet-related cases, she received the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Outstanding Advocacy in Protecting Citizens from Online Crime.
Laurel’s decades of high-level government experience also include serving as an Assistant Deputy Enforcement Director for the Office of Enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, leading complex and sensitive investigations of bank and non-bank subjects including large banks, private educational institutions, and mortgage loan companies. Laurel also recently served as the General Counsel for the Office of the Inspector General at the US Department of Homeland Security, where she managed and advised on high-stakes criminal and administrative investigations, audits, inspections, and congressional relations.