Prior to joining Vela Wood, Karthik served as a federal prosecutor for 10 years at the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of Texas and Eastern District of New York. He is a trial lawyer with deep experience in complex investigations, export controls and sanctions, cybercrime, and white collar matters.
While at the Western District of Texas, Karthik served as the Western District’s Cybercrimes Coordinator, Disruptive Technology Strike Force Coordinator, and Emerging Technology Coordinator. He led investigations into malware distributors, cybercrime markets, ransomware actors, cryptocurrency schemes, business email compromises, money laundering, and other cybercrime offenses. As a national security prosecutor, Karthik investigated and charged export control violations for the unlawful export of sensitive technology.
At the Eastern District of New York, Karthik investigated and charged cases involving drug cartels, corrupt public officials, mail and wire fraud, and violent crimes. Before his service as a federal prosecutor, Karthik was an attorney at a large international law firm in New York where he worked on commercial disputes, investigations, and complex products liability, class action, and environmental trials. Karthik began his career as a law clerk for the Hon. Julia S. Gibbons of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the Hon. Michael A. Ponsor of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Karthik has handled multiple trials in federal court, including trials charging securities fraud, wire fraud, narcotics offenses, firearms offenses, and fraud against the government. He has extensive experience with federal, state, and local law enforcement, including multiple cases with foreign law enforcement partners in national security and cybercrime prosecutions.
Karthik has spoken to industry and academia on national security, cybercrime, and insider threat issues. He has spoken on issues facing the semiconductor industry at the Capital Factory’s Fed Supernova event, helped to organize and kick-off the Central Texas Microelectronics Working Group, which brings law enforcement and industry together to discuss emerging critical technology issues and share best practices for safeguarding companies. He also served as a guest lecturer at the University of Texas, Austin Law School, addressed trade groups on disruptive and critical emerging technologies in the Americas, and discussed anti-money laundering and sanctions evasions issues at the Austin Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists.
Karthik graduated from Columbia Law School in New York, New York. While in law school, Karthik was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Articles Editor for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, and interned with a human rights organization in Budapest, Hungary. Prior to law school, Karthik graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Political Science & History.
Karthik grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He loves traveling, watching movies, and spending time with his spouse and kids.
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*Some transactions reflect work at prior firms.
- Led and managed teams that successfully disrupted multiple international malware operations as well as one of the largest online cybercrime forums in the world*
- Was a member of the trial team in the successful securities fraud prosecution of Martin Shkreli in United States v. Shkreli*
Fun Facts:
- He is an avid traveler and Vienna is his favorite international destination.
- He is a lifelong 49ers and Warriors fan.
- He enjoys long walks with his pup Jiffy.
Education:
- Columbia Law School, J.D.
- University of California, Berkeley, B.A. in Political Science and History