MoneyGram said Ephraim “Fry” Wernick, a partner in Vinson & Elkins LLP, a firm that specializes in government investigation and white collar criminal defense, will defend the company from James’ and the bureau’s “baseless claims.”

Wernick is a former federal prosecutor who was assistant chief of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Fraud Section.

The AG and bureau said MoneyGram’s unfair practices largely impacted immigrant communities that relied on the company to send money to loved ones back in their homelands.