[11][12] In 1996, Bogdanos led a counter-narcotics action on the Mexico–United States border, he was active during Operation Desert Storm and served in South Korea, Lithuania, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kosovo.

In 2001 Matthew Bogdanos gained national attention for the prosecution of Sean Combs, who was acquitted of weapons and bribery charges in a trial stemming from a 1999 nightclub shootout.

[2][6] Bogdanos wrote a memoir, Thieves of Baghdad: One Marine's Passion for Ancient Civilizations and the Journey to Recover the World's Greatest Stolen Treasures, which he co-wrote with William Patrick.

[15][19] Deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 with NATO counter-insurgency forces, he was released back into the Marine Reserves in September 2010, and returned to the District Attorney's Office.

When supervisors alerted District Attorney Vance, he approved the creation of the first-of-its-kind Antiquities trafficking Unit consisting of prosecutors, federal agents, New York City detectives, and specialized analysts.

[22] [23][24] As a Senior Trial Counsel in the District Attorney's Office, Bogdanos still prosecutes homicides, what he describes as being "connected to the worst moment in people's lives."

In 2015, Bogdanos successfully convicted pharmaceuticals executive Gigi Jordan for poisoning her 8-year-old autistic son, Jude, by forcing him to ingest hydrocodone, ambien, and Xanax, washing them down his throat with orange juice and vodka.

[25][26] In September 2024, a legal dispute emerged between the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Aaron Mendelsohn, a California-based collector, over the ownership of an ancient Roman bronze statue.

They accused the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of employing intimidation tactics to compel Mendelsohn to surrender the statue without due legal process.

The defense maintained that the burden of proof rested with the Antiquities Trafficking Unit, asserting that the New York investigators were attempting to circumvent a transparent legal procedure that would require them to substantiate their claims with concrete evidence.

[29] The National Review cites this case in an article discussing allegations of overreach and abuse of power in Bogdanos’ efforts to seize and repatriate antiquities.

Critics argue that this aggressive approach amounts to a “shakedown,” where collectors and institutions are coerced into giving up their art without a proper legal trial.

In addition, the article criticizes the DA's jurisdictional reach, arguing that the office is overstepping its bounds by targeting artifacts with only tenuous connections to New York.

[30] In May 2024 the New York District Attorney's Office Anti-Trafficking Unit returned 38 Tibetan Buddhist artifacts to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

[31] In 2023, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office found itself embroiled in controversy after allegations surfaced that it had repatriated fake Roman mosaics to Lebanon.

The case revolves around nine mosaic panels, purported to be ancient Roman artefacts, that were returned to Lebanon as part of a broader effort to combat antiquities trafficking.

According to her research, the designs of the alleged fakes were copied from well-known Roman mosaics housed in museums and archaeological sites in Italy, Tunisia, Algeria, and Turkey.

Out of the nine mosaics returned to Lebanon, Fellague claims only one appears to have been inspired by an actual Lebanese artefact — a depiction of Bacchus from the National Museum of Beirut.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office had announced the return of the mosaics in September 2023, as part of a broader effort to repatriate Middle Eastern and North African antiquities that had been allegedly trafficked into New York.

[34] Despite these findings, media releases from the District Attorney’s office in 2023 continued to describe antiquities trafficking as a “multi-billion-dollar business.” Cultural Property News questioned why Bogdanos had not addressed or corrected these statements, suggesting that greater transparency may be needed.

Along with another Assistant District Attorney, fellow U.S. Marine officer Al Peterson, he co-founded a Charity Boxing Foundation called Battle of the Barristers that has raised more than $1 million for wounded veterans and children at risk.