PROVIDENCE, RI - Assistant United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha, a civil litigator since 2001 and an Assistant United States Attorney since 2005, has been appointed by United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch to serve as the Civil Division Chief for the United States Attorney’s Office.
Prior to being named Civil Division Chief, Mr. Cunha served as the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Coordinator in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island. In that capacity, he was responsible for cases in which the United States, as plaintiff, seek to vindicate governmental interests, combat fraud, and recover funds under the Federal False Claims Act.
Prior to joining the Rhode Island office in 2014, Mr. Cunha served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Massachusetts for five years. While in the Boston office, he was appointed Chief of that office’s Affirmative Litigation Unit and was responsible for litigating and supervising the investigation of a number of nationally significant health care fraud matters. In 2010, Mr. Cunha was recognized with the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the highest honor conferred by the Department of Justice, for his work on the prosecution team in United States v. Pfizer, which resulted in a recovery of $2.3 billion dollars; the largest civil and criminal healthcare fraud recovery made by the United States as of that time.
Mr. Cunha began his career with the Justice Department in the Eastern District of New York, where he served as an Assistant United States Attorney from 2005-2008. Before joining the Department, Mr. Cunha worked as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, representing the City and its officers in federal litigation.
Mr. Cunha received his Bachelor of Arts, with honors, from Brown University in 1998, and his Juris Doctorate, also with honors, from the George Washington University Law School in 2001.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
