Ex-federal prosecutors from Eastern Washington join plaintiff law firm

Two former federal prosecutors central to many U.S. Justice Department legal cases involving the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, have joined San Diego-based plaintiffs’ law firm with offices across the Western United States.

Singleton Schreiber announced in an April 28 press release that former U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Fruchter have joined the firm as partners in the  Spokane office.

Waldref became the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington in October 2021 and opened a Tri-Cities Department of Justice office. The new branch helped Justice “to better protect Southeastern Washington communities and fight fraud that impedes the environmental remediation of the Hanford Nuclear Site,” according to the law firm’s website.

Waldref also launched an COVID Fraud Strike Force, and recovered millions of dollars for taxpayers under the False Claims Act, the law firm said. Waldref has been at the Justice Department since 2013, Singleton Schreiber said in the release.

Fruchter has two decades of public service experience prosecuting False Claims Act, health care fraud, environmental violations, and other complex civil and criminal matters, Singleton Schreiber said.