FTI executive, former monitor, joins Boston-based consulting firm

Neal Hochberg, a former senior advisor at FTI Consulting, has joined Charles River Associates as vice president of its risk, investigations & analytics practice in New York. 

The firm announced on 15 January that it hired Hochberg for his experience in advising outside counsel, board management on accounting and forensic investigations. Hochberg has expertise investigating financial fraud including violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  

"Hochberg’s experience testifying in accounting and forensic investigations will help grow our services in this area and enhance the work we undertake for clients across our portfolio," said Charles River’s President and CEO Paul Maleh.

Prior to joining Charles River, Hochberg spent a couple months as a board chairman at Cansortium, a Miami-based medical cannabis company. He also spent 16 years at FTI Consulting as vice chairman of the firm’s forensic and litigation consulting segment. 

During his time at FTI Consulting, Hochberg was selected as the monitor overseeing an FCPA settlement between JGC Corporation, a Japanese-based company, and the US Department of Justice. JGC Corporation settled with the DOJ in 2011 and agreed to pay $218 million in a penalty to resolve FCPA charges. According to the DOJ, the engineering company was accused of participating “in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction contracts.”

The monitorship, which concluded in 2014, lasted three years. 

"We thank Neal for his contributions and wish him well," an FTI Consulting spokesperon told GIR.

Last year, FTI Consulting secured work on a major FCPA monitorship for German healthcare company Fresenius Medical Care. The firm was brought in to provide forensic support to Erin Sloane, a New York-based partner at WilmerHale, who was selected to be Fresenius’ monitor for two years. The healthcare company settled with US authorities in March 2019 and agreed to pay $231 million to resolve FCPA charges. 

A spokesperson for Charles River said that Hochberg was not available to comment at this time.