White Collar Crime Attorney Miami, FL

Under Investigation for a White Collar Criminal Case?

"White collar crime" is a term used to describe a criminal offense which occurs or is committed in a business environment. The majority of white collar crimes are non-violent theft crimes and involve theft by deception, or fraud. White-collar crime is always financially motivated and is typically carried out by someone who works for the target of the crime.

Managers, accountants, brokers and CEOs are the type of people that are often charged with white collar offenses, hence the term "white collar" to describe the crimes. White collar criminal cases are often highly complex and may be technical. Therefore, a Miami white collar crime attorney must be experienced specifically in these types of cases in order to provide the most effective representation.

Avoiding the Penalties for a Corporate Crime

No matter the specific white collar crime charges that you are facing, you will need a Miami white collar crime lawyer to protect your rights and help you avoid the negative consequences of a conviction. These may include imprisonment, heavy fines, restitution to the victim or victims, probation, the loss of professional licenses, and more. Your reputation may forever be ruined and you may have problems finding employment or carrying out future business ventures.

If you are faced with white collar criminal charges, contact our Miami white collar crime lawyers at (305) 330-1360 today!

Types of Business Crimes

In criminology, corporate business crime occurs when crimes are committed either by a corporation, or by individuals that are acting on behalf of the corporation or other business entity. Corporate business crime can overlap with white collar crime, organized crime and state corporate crime. With corporate business crime, the majority of the individuals committing such crimes are white-collar professionals.

Corporate business crime can include environmental or health and safety violations or it can be financial as in insider trading. Since corporate crime is closely related to white collar crime, the Federal Bureau of Investigation goes on to define white collar crimes as, "those illegal acts which are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and which are not dependent upon the application of threat or physical force or violence" (1989,3).

Difference Between Corporate Crime and White Collar Crime

What sets corporate business crime apart from other crimes is that it deals with the company as a whole. Corporate crimes benefit the investors or those individuals that are of high rank within the company itself. Although there is a fine line between corporate crime and white collar crime, the difference between the two is that white-collar crimes benefit the individual themselves, whereas corporate business crimes benefit the corporation.

Common White Collar Crimes

A majority of white-collar crimes are carried out by one or two people, and the payoff of these crimes is much less than millions of dollars. The following are some of the most common forms of white-collar crime.

Bribery

Bribery is when someone offers gifts or monetary compensation to a third party to elicit the desired outcome. Here is an example of bribery: suppose someone works for the government and has control over a vote that will impact a business. Once the business finds out about the vote, they send a “gift” to the third party in hopes that they will vote positively towards the business.

It should be noted that attempted bribery is charged in the same way as bribery. Therefore, even if the intended recipient does not accept the bribe, the party that offered the bribe could be charged.

Embezzlement

Embezzlement is when someone entrusted with assets (money, an estate, etc.) steals a part of all of what was entrusted to their care. Embezzlement only refers to situations where the thief has lawful possession of the property. Therefore, someone only managing a property would not be charged with embezzlement for stealing the property.

Typically speaking, embezzlement is performed by money managers within a business corporation. Other common embezzlers include:

• Investors,
• Bank tellers, and
• Account managers.

Extortion

Extortion is when someone threatens violence unless he or she receives monetary compensation. Extortion is similar to blackmail in that the offender uses force to guarantee the desired outcome. In typical extortion scenarios, an employee may extort from another employee, or an outsider may extort a specific employee.

Forgery

Forgery is when someone falsifies or imitates information and presents it as the original. Forgery is often used to obtain access to documents or assets that would otherwise be inaccessible to the perpetrator.

Common examples of forgery include:

• Falsified signatures;
• Falsified documents;
• Counterfeiting.

Accounting Fraud

Accounting fraud is when an employee of a company tampers with company financial records to conceal the theft of funds. While accounting fraud is similar to embezzlement, embezzlement does not include an act of fraud concealment after the fact. Therefore, accounting fraud is in some ways a more severe crime than embezzlement.

Healthcare Fraud

Healthcare fraud can be committed by one or both of the following parties, the patient and the caregiver. When patients commit healthcare fraud, they may lie about certain aspects of their lives to receive treatments that they don’t deserve. On the other side of healthcare fraud, caregivers may lie about treatments performed to receive funds for procedures that were never accomplished.

Investment Fraud

Also commonly referred to as securities fraud, investment fraud is when a stockbroker, brokerage firm, or financial professional makes false promises to clients and fraudulently sells proprietary investments. In other words, an investor tells people to invest in something that isn’t real or is different than advertised.

Insider Trading

Insider trading is when an employee of a company buys or sells stocks as guided by internal information that is not available to the public. Insider trading is a serious problem because it can drastically influence the public market.

As you can see, there are many kinds of white-collar crimes, and each one can result in severe penalties for the accused. If you are facing criminal penalties, Hager & Schwartz is here to help you!

Have You Been Accused of a White-Collar Crime?

If you or a loved one has been accused of white-collar crime, it’s essential that you hire an experienced Miami white collar crime attorney for your case. An accusation of committing white-collar crimes can instantly impact your job, your family, and your friends. Additionally, most white-collar crimes are felony offenses, which means that the accused may face a year or more in jail if they are convicted of their crimes.

However, Hager & Schwartz can help you fight for your rights.

Our award-winning law firm is known for assisting clients through some of the toughest times in their lives. Our aggressive and tenacious approach to criminal defense has won clients freedom from baseless charges that have no legs to stand on.

Are you looking for experienced representation with a Miami white collar crime lawyer? Call (305) 330-1360 now for a free consultation for your case!