New chief of corporate crime task force worked in Atlanta

WASHINGTON - President Bush&#39;s choice as the nation&#39;s top corporate crime fighter, spent many years practicing with a high-profile Atlanta law firm and became U.S. attorney while living here. <br> <br> Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson has spent much of his career as a private attorney defending clients from allegations of fraud and white collar crime. <br> <br> Now, as head of the Justice Department&#39;s Corporate Fraud Task Force, Thompson is being asked to turn that experience into successful prosecutions of corporate wrongdoing. <br> <br> Bush announced the new agency Tuesday in a speech on Wall Street, describing it as a financial crimes SWAT team. The task force will prosecute cases of securities, accounting, tax, mail and wire fraud, money laundering and other financial crimes. <br> <br> Thompson was a partner at the Atlanta law firm of King and Spalding between 1977 and 1982, when he became in Atlanta. He rejoined King and Spalding in 1986 and remained there until he was chosen for the Justice Department position last year. <br> <br> In private practice, Thompson mostly represented white collar defendants. Those included former Fulton County Commissioner Michael Hightower - who pleaded guilty to taking bribes from contractors - and Dan Paradies - who owned an airport gift shop and was convicted for his role in a scheme to bribe members of the Atlanta City Council.