Joe Poluka is a defense attorney with extensive experience in representing clients in the investigation and defense of a wide variety of criminal, civil, and regulatory matters, including complex fraud related to securities, financial institutions, healthcare practitioners, employee conduct, political corruption, taxation, and the environment. He conducts internal investigations and advises executives and corporate clients on the financial, reputational, and criminal impact of violations, while helping them mitigate or eliminate such losses.
As a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Joe brings a rich prosecutorial experience to his clients. He has received numerous awards for his investigation and prosecution of complex white collar fraud and corruption matters, including bribery, embezzlement, environmental crimes, export (Trading with the Enemy Act), insider trading, and terrorism crimes.
While at the U.S. Attorney's Office, Joe also served as the deputy chief of the Violent Crimes, Terrorism & Immigration Fraud Section, as well as the coordinator of the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council (“ATAC”), consisting of over 85 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies that coordinate information sharing and cooperation on terrorism matters. He also was the USA PATRIOT Act spokesperson for the Eastern District.
Joe is a sought-out speaker on anti-terrorism matters and other white collar topics for, among others, the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Association of Audit Committee Members, Inc., Temple University, and the American Conference Institute's FDA Boot Camp. He also has appeared on American Law Journal TV, most recently in 2015 on “‘White-Collared’: Is the Department of Justice Targeting Corporate Executives?”
Recently, Joe was retained, on a bipartisan basis, by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to serve as independent counsel to the Judiciary Committee in connection with House Resolution 659 of 2016, which authorized the Committee to investigate the conduct of Attorney General Kathleen Kane to determine whether she was liable to impeachment for misbehavior in office, which investigation was concluded following her conviction on state criminal charges.