Overview
Anel Viamontes is a litigator at the center of the firm's biggest cross-border matters. Fully bilingual in English and Spanish, she works alongside Daniel Fridman on his most significant cases, from white-collar investigations to complex civil litigation, with a particular focus on clients across Latin America. The Legal 500 recognizes her for white-collar defense.
Since joining the firm in 2020, Viamontes has worked on some of its most significant matters, a Section 1782 proceeding in which the firm sued Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan directly for alleged misappropriation of client funds, a Congressional investigation of nonprofit immigration organizations, an FCPA indictment spanning the Philippines and Venezuela, and cross-border asset-recovery matters for Latin American clients defrauded by investment advisers and developers, including litigation for the recovery of a roughly $20 million inheritance for an Argentine client pressed across three forums at once, FINRA arbitration, AAA arbitration, and civil litigation in Miami.
She also leads the firm's eDiscovery practice, managing document review across regulatory, criminal, and civil matters from search-term design through production, privilege logs, and quality control, which has made her an asset on the firm's most document-intensive investigations and litigation. She presents in Spanish as comfortably as in English, and she recently spoke, in Spanish, at a conference in Argentina.
Before joining the firm, Viamontes served as an Assistant State Attorney in Palm Beach County and externed for Judge Adalberto Jordan of the Eleventh Circuit, Magistrate Judge Patrick Hunt in the Southern District of Florida, and the Department of Homeland Security in asylum and removal proceedings. She earned her law degree, cum laude, from Florida International University College of Law and is a founding member of the Stonewall Legal Alliance.
Experience
White Collar & Government Investigations
- False Claims Act Defense of a U.S. State Government Agency
Selected through a competitive process as lead counsel for a U.S. state agency in a DOJ Civil Division False Claims Act investigation over alleged quality-control fraud in a federal benefits program. The government's demand exceeded $40 million, reflecting the treble damages and per-claim civil penalties available under the FCA. Resolved for $17.5 million, a fraction of the government's original demand; Mr. Fridman signed the settlement on the agency's behalf.
- Confidential DOJ defense – Gunvor / PetroEcuador bribery scheme
Represented a Canadian national and former Gunvor employee charged in the Eastern District of New York with conspiring to launder proceeds of an approximately $22 million bribery scheme involving Ecuador's state oil company, PetroEcuador. Gunvor S.A., the Swiss energy trading company, separately pleaded guilty in March 2024 to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and paid a $374.56 million criminal fine as part of a $474.4 million global resolution, admitting it paid intermediaries more than $97 million between 2012 and 2020 to bribe PetroEcuador officials to obtain and retain oil-trading business. Covered by Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and international press.
- Public company audit-committee investigation
Engaged by a public company's CEO to assist an audit-committee investigation into allegations concerning personal-versus-business expenses.
- House committee inquiry into immigration nonprofits
Co-led the pro bono representation, under the firm's rule-of-law initiative, of four nonprofit immigration-assistance organizations targeted in a House Committee on Homeland Security inquiry into the use of federal funds by more than 200 NGOs.
- DOJ price-fixing probe of industry executives
Assisted on internal investigations connected to a DOJ price-fixing probe involving industry executives, work that helped establish a client's non-involvement.
Healthcare Fraud
- Nurse-witness in a $192M Medicare fraud prosecution
Persuaded the DOJ not to charge a nurse employed by a nurse practitioner under federal indictment for a $192 million health care fraud conspiracy. The client cooperated and testified at trial, where the nurse practitioner was convicted and sentenced to 20 years, and has since resumed her career.
Latin America & Cross-Border
- Civil RICO recovery for Argentine real estate investors
Recovered for Argentine real estate investors defrauded in a U.S. real-estate scheme in which the same property was sold to multiple buyers, bringing civil RICO claims and coordinating with Argentine co-counsel; the matter settled in 2023.
- Oro Negro bondholders Section 1782 discovery
Represent Oro Negro bondholders in an active cross-border effort to trace at least $27 million diverted from special purpose vehicles that held bonds tied to Pemex oil drilling rigs off the coast of Mexico, using 28 U.S.C. Section 1782 to compel discovery in the United States, including discovery sought from opposing counsel Quinn Emanuel over roughly $8 million traceable to client accounts.
- Section 1782 discovery for Argentine fraud victims
Helped obtain federal court authorization for discovery from Wells Fargo and Citibank on behalf of Argentine real estate investors defrauded in a scheme in which the same property was sold to multiple buyers, opening access to U.S. bank account information requested by an Argentine judge through a Section 1782 petition.
- Confidential DOJ defense – Gunvor executive, PetroEcuador bribery scheme
Worked on the defense of a former Gunvor executive charged in the Eastern District of New York in connection with an approximately $22 million PetroEcuador bribery scheme. Gunvor S.A., the Swiss energy trading company, separately pleaded guilty in March 2024 to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and paid a $374.56 million criminal fine as part of a $474.4 million global resolution, admitting it paid intermediaries more than $97 million between 2012 and 2020 to bribe PetroEcuador officials to obtain and retain oil-trading business.
Complex Commercial Litigation & Arbitration
- Recovery of a $20M inheritance lost to adviser fraud
Pursues recovery for an Argentine client defrauded of a roughly $20 million inheritance, pressing the banks and advisers across three forums at once: FINRA arbitration, AAA arbitration, and civil litigation in Miami, with claims exceeding $10 million.
Recognition
CALI Excellence for the Future Award, Legal Skills and Values II
Graduated in the top 15% of class, Florida International University College of Law
Quarterfinalist, FIU Board of Advocates Intramural Appellate Advocacy Championship
Insights by Anel Viamontes
Injunctive Relief and Civil RICO – Not For the Faint of Heart
Federal courts across the United States are currently split on the question of whether a private plaintiff is entitled to injunctive relief under the federal RICO statute. As things currently stand, the fate of a private plaintiff seeking injunctive relief under the federal RICO statute depends on where they file suit. And while the Supreme Court has had an opportunity to resolve the circuit split, it has thus far opted not to do so.
FFS Partners Daniel Fridman and Alejandro Soto Teach FCPA Class to Latin American Compliance Professionals
On October 8 and 12, 2020, Fridman Fels & Soto partners Daniel Fridman and Alejandro Soto, with the assistance of associates Anel Viamontes and Gabi Sliwka, taught a class regarding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and its relationship to the SEC Whistleblower Program, compliance protocols, and internal investigations to compliance professionals in Latin America attending the Executive Program of Ethics and Compliance LATAM under the auspices of the Universidad Católica Argentina’s Business School together with the International Compliance Association.
