Santiago Batista is an experienced investigator with over 20 years of federal, state, and private investigative experience. He provides clients with expert consulting services in matters involving complex cross-border risk and crisis management, investigative due diligence, anti-money laundering, fraud, and embezzlement investigations.
Mr. Batista specializes in assisting law firms, government, corporate and private clients with predominantly sensitive international investigations in the South and Latin American regions. A great part of his work focuses on assisting in international disputes and criminal investigations; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations; and asset tracing matters.
Most recently, Mr. Batista was the New York office head of an investigations firm which specialized in investigations in the Americas. Prior to joining the private sector, he spent nine years as a criminal investigator at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office where he finished his tenure as Deputy Chief Investigator. In this capacity, he managed more than 50 criminal investigators within the office’s Investigations Division overseeing white collar; money laundering; fraud; public corruption; organized crime; and cybercrime investigations.
While at the District Attorney’s Office, Mr. Batista also oversaw several of the office’s joint international sanctions and money laundering investigations with the FBI, as well as investigators assigned to the Department of Homeland Security’s Money Laundering Task Force; the US Secret Service Electronic Crimes Tasks Force; the US Marshals Fugitive Tasks Force; and the City of London (UK) Police Economic Crimes Directorate. Over the course of his government career, Mr. Batista directed numerous complex multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional cases, wiretaps, and tactical operations.
At Guidepost, Mr. Batista has performed dozens of investigations on behalf of clients throughout the United States as well as on the ground in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Spain, Portugal, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Thailand, Paraguay, and the United Kingdom among other countries. Mr. Batista regularly assists clients with gathering intelligence and developing evidence in support of complex disputes, arbitration, and litigation matters.
Mr. Batista began his investigative career at the U.S. State Department within the Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
Did you know?
Sandy studied Japanese for 4 years and spent a summer in country visiting many of the its islands and cities. Highlights included dining with the mayor of Tokyo and visiting US-Japan joint military facilities.
