DOJ Drops Long-Running Court Case Against Akin Client Bijan Rafiekian
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(Washington, D.C.) – Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to dismiss its long-running criminal prosecution of Akin client Bijan Rafiekian, a former U.S. government official and one-time business partner of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Shortly thereafter, Judge Anthony Trenga of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia entered an order dismissing the charges against Mr. Rafiekian with prejudice.
The five-year legal battle, which included a two-week jury trial and two appeals to the Fourth Circuit, began in 2019 when Mr. Rafiekian was indicted for allegedly conspiring with Mr. Flynn and others to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act by acting as a secret operative of the Turkish government (learn more here).
The decision to dismiss rather than retry the case stemmed directly from Mr. Rafiekian’s recent appellate victory in the Fourth Circuit, which was argued on appeal by Supreme Court & appellate partner James Tysse. On May 18, 2023, the appellate panel affirmed by a 2-1 vote the district court’s order granting a new trial for which jury selection was scheduled to begin in October.
The Akin trial team was led by former federal prosecutors Stacey Mitchell and Mark MacDougall. They were joined at trial by Mr. Tysse, counsel Adam Bereston, associates Samantha Block and Madeline Bardi and senior legal assistant Adria Hicks. Robert Trout of Schertler, Onorato, Mead & Sears LLP served as co-counsel.
Following DOJ’s decision to dismiss the case, Mr. MacDougall stated, “The Justice Department has finally conceded that this case should never have been indicted. Mr. Rafiekian has been the target of baseless federal prosecution for the past five years only because he made the poor decision to be in business with Michael Flynn. Along with his family and his lawyers, Bijan is particularly grateful to the Court for its unwavering commitment to equity and for ensuring that justice would be done.”
Akin is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
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