White Collar Criminal Defense Lawyers

White-Collar Crimes: Understanding the Basics

Non-violent crimes that take place in a business or commercial industry are considered to be white-collar crimes. This criminal activity is usually done for significant financial gain. White-collar crime covers many different types of schemes and acts. They do have one thing in common. They all are designed to obtain monetary gain by using deceit.

Common White Collar Crimes

The majority of white-collar crimes involve different types of money laundering, fraud, tax evasion as well as embezzlement, and more. They include other types of fraud and scams. These frauds and scams could be everything from securities fraud to Ponzi schemes, insurance fraud, tax evasion, and others. Corporations as well as individuals, can commit white-collar crimes. They are prosecuted at both the federal and state levels.

Prosecution

For a prosecutor to obtain a conviction for a white-collar crime, they must prove a defendant broke the law and did so willfully and intentionally. There are many ways a prosecutor can obtain a guilty verdict. A white-collar crime must not be completed successfully for a defendant to be found guilty. If plans were made but stopped before the crime was conducted, a defendant could still be charged with a crime and found guilty.

Common White-Collar Crimes

Many types of crimes can fall under the heading of white-collar crimes. Some forms of white-collar crimes are more common than others.

• Tax Evasion – This is a situation where perpetrators try to avoid paying taxes they legitimately owe the government. This can be done in many different ways. It could involve illegally transferring property to avoid paying taxes, filing tax forms with false information, and more. Businesses, as well as individuals, can be guilty of tax evasion.
• Fraud involves intentionally deceiving a person or business for monetary gain. One of the most common forms of fraud is securities fraud. This is associated with trading different types of securities, such as stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and others. This could involve insider trading, misstating a company’s financial records, and more.
• Embezzlement – This is illegally taking money from a person or business to whom a defendant owed a duty. This often happens when an employee embezzles money from the company that employs them. It is common for this money to have been illegally placed in the defendant’s account. It can also involve securities brokers, insurance brokers and others who illegally use the funds of their clients and more.
• Falsification of Documents – This is the modifying, changing, or possessing of a document to use for an unlawful purpose.
• Mail and Wire Fraud – This scheme intentionally keeps another person from honest services or property using wire or mail communication.

Legal Defense

A lawyer can defend their client against accusations of a white-collar crime in many different ways. The goal will be to protect their client’s freedom and build the most robust case. The desired outcomes are having their client get a reduced sentence or dropping their charges utterly. This requires the dedication of the client to working with their attorney. There are some standard legal defenses used with white-collar crimes.

• Entrapment – This will involve showing that law enforcement coerced their client into committing a crime. The goal is to prove a person had no intention of committing a crime. It would not have been done if it weren’t for the actions of government officials and law enforcement.
• Absence of Intent – This is when the defendant admits that a crime was committed, but the defendant did not know they were breaking the law. It will be shown how the defendant lacked the knowledge or understanding to realize they were committing a criminal act.
• Intoxication, Incapacity, Duress, and more – These are defenses where the defendant acknowledges they committed a crime, but the circumstances of the criminal act were beyond their control.

Punishment

A person found guilty of a white-collar crime could be sentenced to incarceration, restitution, fines, community service, probation, and more. The severity of the punishment will be based on an individual case. Defendants without any significant criminal history will typically get a lesser sentence.

Anyone accused of committing a white-collar crime is facing a serious charge. It is a situation that requires hiring an experienced and knowledgeable attorney. Someone in this situation must realize their freedom and future are at risk. Attorneys at the Spodek Law Group know what is required to build a strong defense against an accusation of white-collar crime. They can provide pre-indictment counseling, appeals, and trials in state and federal courts. These legal professionals will also be able to handle administrative or civil action. They know what is required to obtain an acceptable result.