Lester Joseph

Lester Joseph is the Manager of the Global Financial Crimes Intelligence Group at Wells Fargo & Company. The primary mission of this Group is to provide intelligence on money laundering activity and financial crime trends to all parts of the bank. He joined Wells Fargo as the International Investigations Manager in the Financial Intelligence Unit in March 2010.

Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Mr. Joseph worked for the United States Department of Justice from 1984 to February 2010. From 2002-2010, he was the Principal Deputy Chief of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (AFMLS). He was a Deputy Chief in the Section since October 1991. During his tenure in AFMLS, the Section played a major role in several noteworthy money laundering investigations and prosecutions involving major financial institutions, including the investigations that resulted in the guilty pleas of Riggs Bank (2005) and E-Gold Ltd. (2008), and Deferred Prosecution Agreements with Credit Suisse (2009), Lloyds TSB Bank PLC (2009), Sigue Corporation (2008), Union Bank of California (2007), American Express Bank International (2007), BankAtlantic (2006), and Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (2003), based on criminal violations involving the Bank Secrecy Act or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Mr. Joseph began his career with the Department of Justice in 1984 as a Trial Attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. From 1981-1984, he served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County (Chicago), Illinois. He received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago and his B.A. from the University of Michigan. He has been an Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University in Washington, DC, and at George Mason University in Virginia