Trenton, NJ – Acting on the recommendation of Attorney General Anne Milgram, Gov. Jon S. Corzine today nominated David M. Szuchman to be the director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law & Public Safety, the lead state agency charged with protecting consumers’ rights and regulating more than 40 professional boards.
Szuchman, 35, who is currently senior counsel in New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s appointments office, has been an assistant attorney general in the New York Attorney General’s Office, a trial attorney in the criminal division of the U.S Justice Department, and an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
“David Szuchman’s integrity, commitment to consumer protection, and experience in prosecuting criminal and white collar cases are the reasons I selected him to head one of the most important divisions in our department,’’ said Milgram, who had worked with Szuchman in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in the late 1990s. “The people of New Jersey depend on the consumer affairs division to fight for their interests and David will prove to be an able and aggressive leader in that fight.’’
“I am honored and humbled by the confidence Governor Corzine and Attorney General Milgram have placed in my ability to lead New Jersey’s most important consumer agency, and look forward to my confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Szuchman said. “I am excited at the opportunity presentedto me to protect the rights of consumers and guard against unscrupulous activities.’’
As senior counsel to the deputy secretary for appointments in the Spitzer administration in New York, Szuchman has supervised the background investigations for potential appointees for the last year. He was an assistant attorney general in the criminal prosecutions bureau of the New York Attorney General’s Office for the previous two years, investigating and prosecuting bid-rigging, money laundering, identity theft and mortgage fraud cases. He also prosecuted a coin scam case which victimized the elderly in New York and other states.
Before working for then Attorney General Spitzer, Szuchman spent more than three years in the child exploitation and obscenity section of the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice, prosecuting criminal cases involving child pornography, internet crimes, money laundering, sex trafficking of minors, and child abuse.
In the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan from 1997 to 2001, Szuchman was a member of the domestic violence and sex crimes unit, prosecuting criminal cases.
He was a legislative attorney for the New York City Council from 2001-2002, drafting bills and committee reports on consumer affairs and finance issues, and state and federal legislation. He was also counsel to the city council committee on consumer affairs.
Szuchman was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, and received a law degree in 1997 from Hofstra University School of Law in Hempstead, Long Island.
Szuchman is married and has two young sons, and plans to move to New Jersey if confirmed by the Senate.
His confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled for February 14.
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