Finch McCranie LLP’s Larry Thompson Appointed as Independent Corporate Compliance Monitor and Auditor in Volkswagen AG Emissions Proceedings

ATLANTA, May 4, 2017 – The U.S. government has appointed Larry D. Thompson, counsel to Atlanta-based Finch McCranie LLP and former deputy U.S. attorney general, as the Independent Corporate Compliance Monitor and Auditor for Volkswagen AG (VW). Thompson’s appointment is part of VW’s criminal plea agreement stemming from the company’s scheme to sell diesel vehicles containing software designed to cheat on U.S. emissions tests.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Thompson will oversee VW’s compliance reforms and implementation of the terms of the plea agreement over the next three years. During his tenure as Deputy Attorney General from 2001 to 2003, Mr. Thompson led the DOJ’s National Security Coordination Council, as well as the government-wide Corporate Fraud Task Force.

Prior to serving as Deputy Attorney General, Thompson was a partner with the Atlanta-based law firm of King & Spalding, LLP. He previously served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and as Independent Counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development Investigation. Before joining Finch McCranie LLP in 2015, Thompson served as Senior Vice President for Government Affairs and General Counsel for PepsiCo.

To assist him in monitoring VW’s corporate compliance, Thompson has assembled a team of leading corporate fraud investigators, compliance counselors, and environmental law experts. Key members of Thompson’s support team include:

1. Executive Deputy Monitor, Jonny Frank, partner with StoneTurn, a leading forensic accounting, compliance and expert services firm, and a DOJ-appointed Independent Compliance and Business Ethics Monitor to a Top 5 global investment bank
2. Deputy Monitor for Anti-Fraud, Ethics and Compliance, Scott Marrah, former assistant U.S. Attorney, currently partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton and Co-Leader of the firm’s Government Enforcement & Investigations team and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee
3. Deputy Monitor for Emissions and Environmental, Benjamin Wilson, chairman of the national environmental law firm Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. and court-appointed monitor in the Duke Energy coal ash cleanup\
4. Counsel to the Monitor Michael A. Sullivan, former federal prosecutor and currently partner at Atlanta-based Finch McCranie LLP
5. Counselor to the Monitor David Uhlmann, former chief of DOJ’s Environmental Crimes Section and current University of Michigan Law School professor and director of Environmental Law and Policy Program

About Finch McCranie

Finch McCranie LLP is one of the most experienced specialty law firms in the United States, with a history of more than 50 years. Led by former federal prosecutors, its practice includes compliance, monitorships and internal investigations; white collar criminal defense; representation of whistleblowers worldwide in qui tam litigation under the False Claims Act, and in the IRS and SEC Whistleblower Programs; complex business litigation and serious injury litigation. The firm is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. with two attorneys, both former Department of Justice trial attorneys, based in Washington, D.C. Finch McCranie LLP has earned the highest rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which rates law firms nationwide.

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