Daniel Velez

Board Member

Dan is currently thriving as the Director of Government Investigations at Merck & Co. (Merck), based in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. In this position, Dan is responsible for all U.S.-based internal Merck investigations, as well as managing all U.S. Government inquiries, including subpoenas, requests for information, civil investigative demands, litigation, and congressional inquiries. 

Before joining Merck in 2021, Dan succeeded in a 20-year career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 

Most notably, from 2007 to 2011, Dan served as the Senior Litigation Counsel of the Strike Force/Organized Crime unit, where his cases involved international money laundering enterprises, organized crime, international human trafficking organizations, large-scale drug distribution networks involving Title III call interceptions, and long-term grand jury investigations. 

As part of the DOJ Civil Rights Division in the late 1990s, Dan investigated and prosecuted human trafficking cases before federal human trafficking criminal statutes existed and before the term “human trafficking” was coined. 

His dedication to these cases continued throughout his tenure at the United States Attorney’s Office, where from 2007-2011 he focused on organized crime and international labor trafficking cases. 

Serving in his role as the anti-human trafficking coordinator for the district, Dan conducted training for attorneys, judges, and social workers on human trafficking investigations and prosecutions. 

Dan obtained his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, and his B.A., from Cornell University. 

He recently presented at the National Advocacy Center, Columbia, S.C., the federal training facility for federal prosecutors.