Ian Pillinger is a director in the New York office of Guidepost Solutions. A former state and federal government official and prosecutor, Mr. Pillinger focuses his work at Guidepost on complex and multi-jurisdictional investigations, compliance, and security matters for organizations and individuals.
Mr. Pillinger provides comprehensive investigative management and support to a diverse clientele. His clients include prestigious Am Law Top 100 law firms, leading international corporations, and prominent high-net-worth individuals. He handles investigations spanning a broad spectrum of issues, such as pre-employment background checks, due diligence, litigation support, allegations of sexual assault and abuse, blackmail, fraud, and matters involving personal and professional misconduct.
In addition to these areas, Mr. Pillinger also oversees asset tracing assignments and inquiries into financial crimes and property theft, frequently incorporating forensic analysis. His investigative approach routinely involves open-source and public record research, meticulous document and evidence analysis, interviews with subjects and witnesses, and strategic planning, including the coordination of field operations. He frequently assists clients as they navigate both civil and criminal litigation.
Mr. Pillinger has extensive experience with diverse compliance projects. These projects include performing reviews for entities such as a major New York hospital system, insurance providers, maritime enterprises, and several multinational banks. His work includes drafting policies and procedures for a variety of organizations, overseeing their implementation and management, and assisting in the establishment and refinement of compliance frameworks to better serve client needs. He has contributed to the testing and enhancement of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) systems for financial institutions to strengthen their testing protocols and overall compliance infrastructure. He also supported a client’s case before the Asian Development Bank (“ADB”), which included conducting extensive research into World Bank Sanction cases, including reviewing Sanction Board decisions, and ADB fraud and corruption cases.
Before Guidepost, Mr. Pillinger served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, investigating a wide range of felony and misdemeanor criminal activities. He previously served as a Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Department of State in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s Rewards for Justice Program, where he conducted investigations of foreign terrorist organizations, key terrorist leaders, facilitators and financiers, and acts of terrorism that targeted U.S. persons or interests in Asia, Europe, and Africa. He also supported intelligence gathering and counter-terrorism efforts, including those aimed at combatting ISIS recruitment and countering online violent extremist messaging. While at the State Department, Mr. Pillinger worked closely with several international organizations including INTERPOL and EUROPOL.
Before the U.S. Department of State, Mr. Pillinger worked at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement both at headquarters and in the Washington, D.C. Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations, assisting special agents and supporting various national security, passport and visa fraud, and import-export control investigations.
Mr. Pillinger is a member of the New York State Bar. He graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics. He attended law school at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City, where he was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society.
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I’ve traveled to over three dozen countries and counting…
