By Casey Sullivan

Feb 11 (Reuters) - Jeremy Matz, the former assistant U.S. attorney who led the prosecution of one of the largest real estate fraud cases in California, has joined the law firm Bird Marella Boxer Wolpert Nessim Drooks & Lincenberg, the firm's leaders said on Monday.

Matz, who joined the Los Angeles-based litigation boutique as a partner on Monday, will specialize in white-collar criminal defense and civil litigation, according to partner Terry Bird.

While at the U.S. Attorney's Office, Matz worked both in the securities fraud division, where he prosecuted a variety of money laundering, bank and healthcare fraud cases, and in the criminal division, where he prosecuted cybercrime and drug trafficking cases.

Matz made headlines in 2008 when he helped secure the convictions of as many as 11 real estate agents and appraisers in Southern California for swindling Lehman Brothers Bank and RBC Mortgage Company out of more than $40 million as part of a massive mortgage fraud scheme.

Matz was with the U.S. attorney's office for 13 years. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Matz's father, Howard Matz, was a lawyer with Bird Marella until 1997, when he was named a judge on the Central District of California bench. Howard Matz is now a senior judge in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

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