Federal Fraud Crime Defense Lawyer
Are you facing fraud charges in a federal court?
Federal fraud cases are typically extremely complicated. If you are facing a fraud crime in a United States District Court, the U.S. Attorney's office, who works closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and many other federal law enforcement agencies, have unlimited resources to conduct an investigation and pursue a conviction.
You will need to retain a federal criminal defense attorney with experience defending these types of charges. The legal team at Eisner Gorin LLP has a track record of success defending people and businesses who have been accused of financial crimes.
We are committed to providing aggressive legal representation at every stage of the federal criminal court process. If you know you are the target of a fraud investigation, but have not been formally indicted, it's in your best interest to hire a federal criminal lawyer immediately to give you the best chance of a positive outcome. You need to be proactive in dealing with a federal criminal investigation, as early intervention by our law firm might be able to prevent the filing of formal criminal charges.
In most cases dealing with financial fraud, the evidence that will be used against you is complicated. This means your type of crime will require professional expertise from a federal defense lawyer who has been there before – who has been tested in federal trials – and is very familiar with federal criminal law and the federal court process.
A Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) is a valuable legal tool in corporate criminal enforcement. It allows the federal government to hold companies accountable for criminal conduct while avoiding the potentially devastating consequences of a criminal conviction.
It's important to note the federal court process is far different than a state court process. Choosing a federal crimes lawyer with experience in federal fraud crimes must be a high priority. A conviction will typically result in life-altering penalties. You have too much at stake to choose an inexperienced lawyer or a lawyer who doesn't normally handle federal fraud cases.
Federal Insurance Fraud
Insurance fraud is defined as any act committed with the intent to fraudulently obtain payment from an insurer. Fraudulent claims are frequent in the insurance industry and cost the industry billions of dollars. Consequently, the federal government will not hesitate to prosecute you on the basis of an insurance fraud claim.
There are many different types of insurance fraud being as fraudulent claims occur in all the various areas of insurance. Some of the major areas in which insurance fraud occurs are in the life, health care, automobile, and property insurance industries. Insurance fraud crimes may also range in severity, from soft fraud, which is only slightly exaggerating claims, to hard fraud, which is the act of deliberately causing accidents or damage.
Insurance fraud can be committed by various parties, including applicants for insurance, policyholders, third-party claimants and insurance professionals. If someone intentionally fakes an accident, injury, theft, arson or other loss to collect money illegally from insurance companies, this constitutes insurance fraud. While most insurance fraud is prosecuted at the state level, some insurance fraud cases are prosecuted by federal authorities because the fraudulent activity also violates federal law.
Other federal prosecutions include violations of United States Code Title 18, Section 1033 which is designed to prosecute anyone who is engaged in the business of insurance, including executives, employees, and sales agents, who participates in the perpetration of insurance fraud. Furthermore, Health Care Fraud is specifically prosecuted by federal authorities.
Due to the consequences of an insurance fraud conviction that include mandatory restitution of lost income, loss of professional license and substantial prison sentences and because the defense of such a case can be complicated, it is imperative that you seek the services of an law firm that knows how to deal with these type of cases.
Federal Accounting Fraud
Accounting fraud is very closely linked to securities fraud. In fact, most accounting fraud is committed in an effort to affect the performance of publicly traded corporations. The distinguishing characteristic that places a crime within the scope of accounting fraud is that the individual being charged with the crime is an accountant or agent for an accounting firm and acting within the scope of his or her employment.
Most charges of accounting fraud involve complex methods for misdirecting funds, overstating revenues, understating expenses, or under-reporting the existence of liabilities, sometimes with the cooperation of officials in other corporations or affiliates. The investigation into such fraud charges is led by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission which requires yearly financial reports from all public companies.
United States Code Section 1520 states that any accountant who conducts an audit of an issuer of securities, has to maintain a review work papers for 5 years from the end of the fiscal period. Furthermore it goes on to state that the Securities and Exchange Commission shall promulgate regulations on retention of relevant records for an audit or review conducted by an accountant.
Federal Investment Fraud
Securities fraud, or investment fraud, is committed when a corporate officer or director makes a material misrepresentation by withholding or distorting information related to stock information (usually pertaining to the value of the stock) or they unlawfully disclose confidential information related to a stock, and then acts upon the unlawful disclosure of certain confidential stock information. This can be committed on paper or over the internet.
The means of committing the crime does not change the law regarding the criminal act. 15 U.S.C. Chapters 2A-2D govern with regards to the appropriate law and punishment for securities fraud. If convicted of this fraud crime, you may be facing large fines and/or imprisonment.
Like many types of financial fraud, securities fraud could include stockbrokers, traders, accountants, and attorneys. These professionals have the ability to defraud stockholders our of millions of dollars. The Securities and Exchange Commission and federal courts have imposed both civil and criminal securities fraud sanctions upon a wide group of organized crime rings.
Federal Bankruptcy Fraud
In the current economy, bankruptcy fraud has been on the rise. Bankruptcy fraud is defined as the concealing and misstatement of assets during bankruptcy proceedings. The Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigations Bankruptcy Fraud Program aggressively investigates bankruptcy fraud cases.
After investigation, cases are referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution. Both individuals and corporations can be investigated and prosecuted under bankruptcy fraud statutes. United States Code Title 11 states many of the laws regarding bankruptcy.
However, the criminal sanctions are found in United States Code Title 18, Sections 152 and 157. Section 152 provides for punishment for anyone who fraudulently conceals from a trustee or creditors or the United States Trustee property belonging to the estate.
Embezzlement against estate in bankruptcy proceedings is a federal crime under 18 U.S. Code 153. Those convicted of bankruptcy fraud charges face large fines and/or imprisonment of no more than five years.
Other Types of Federal Fraud Offenses
Fraud is defined by the FBI as the art of deliberate deception for unlawful gain, and is considered a type of white collar crime. Fraud Crimes typically occur in business or corporate environments, which is why they are considered to be white collar crimes. There are many different types of fraud, including:
- Attempt and Conspiracy,
- Anti-Kickback Statute
- False Claims Act
- Health Care Fraud
- Mortgage Fraud
- Bank Fraud
- Bankruptcy Fraud
- Charity Fraud
- Concealment of Assets
- Consumer Fraud
- Contractor Fraud
- Credit Card Fraud
- Election Law Crimes
- Financial Reports
- Food Stamp Fraud
- Money Laundering
- Mail Fraud
- Major Fraud
- Wire Fraud
- Internet Fraud
- False Statement Influencing a HUD Insured Loan
- Fake ID Documents
- Securities Fraud
- Social Security Fraud
- Government Program Fraud
- PPP Loan Fraud
- Honest services Fraud
- Odometer Fraud
- Medical Loss Ratio Fraud
- Medicare Risk Adjustment Fraud
- Upcoding and Unbundling
If you are facing federal fraud charges, it is very important that you seek representation from a qualified attorney as soon as possible. Fraud charges are very serious, and depending upon the circumstances of the crime you are associated with, you could face some very harsh penalties if convicted. Heavy fines and imprisonment are the most common penalties people face, although the amounts of each vary in severity based upon the specific fraud crime.
Federal Fraud Crime Defense
Most fraud crimes are heavily investigated by government agencies before formal charges are ever filed. The investigative phase is extremely pivotal to the direction of a case, but many individuals neglect to hire representation when they find out they are under investigation.
Having a federal criminal defense lawyer looking out for your best interests and protecting your rights during the investigation can greatly improve the future outlook of your case. We have successfully defended clients who have found themselves facing all types of federal white collar crimes, including insider trading and ponzi schemes. Although our office is located in Los Angeles, we handle federal internet crime cases anywhere in California and throughout the United States.
We have a complete understanding of federal procedure and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to properly assert your rights to help you avoid the many negative consequences of federal criminal charges and sentencing.
Federal investigators will go to almost any length to obtain evidence, even if they violate the suspect's constitutional rights in doing so. The presence of an attorney will ensure that your rights are not violated and should this occur your lawyer will take the proper legal measures to have the illegally obtained evidence thrown out, potentially ruining the prosecution's case against you. Were you arrested and charged with fraud crime? Contact Eisner Gorin LLP now!
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