Steve Welk

Steve Welk is a Partner at Dentons, practicing in the Commercial Litigation group, specializing in Dispute Resolution. He is widely recognized for his experience in federal asset forfeiture and money laundering law, focusing on commercial litigation and defending individuals and corporations in white‑collar criminal defense matters, with an emphasis on financial crimes, domestic and international money laundering, kleptocracy, large‑scale fraud, and RICO violations.

Prior to joining Dentons, Steve served as Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California (Criminal Division). He led the litigation team that investigated and completed the seizure and forfeiture of more than $1.4 billion in assets traceable to the looting of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund (1MDB)—the largest recovery to date under the DOJ's Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. He was also lead counsel in United States v. Mongols Nation, securing guilty verdicts on RICO charges against the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang after a two‑and‑a‑half‑month jury trial, and obtained the first‑ever jury verdict ordering the criminal forfeiture of an OMG's federally registered collective membership marks.

Steve holds a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law (1990) and a B.A. from the University of Southern California (1986). He is admitted to practice in California, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Northern, and Southern Districts of California.

He has received numerous awards, including the Department of Justice John Marshall Award for Asset Forfeiture (2016, 2022), the Executive Officer for U.S. Attorneys Director's Award for Superior Performance (2020), and the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award (2011).