Fraud-related crimes are defined as deliberately deceiving another in order to obtain money, property, goods or services. Fraud is considered one of the most common crimes in both corporate and private environments. Furthermore, many fraudulent crimes will span across the state lines, affecting victims in cyber space. What this means is that if you are arrested for a fraud crime, you may be facing a federal conviction.

Common Types of Fraud

• Mail and wire fraud – mail fraud refers to any fraudulent activity that takes place using the United States Postal Service or private commercial carrier. Often mail and wire fraud crimes will include pyramid schemes, non-delivery of products and white collar crimes. Wire fraud is any fraudulent activity that takes place through the telephone, fax machine, internet or other communication method. Wire fraud can include pyramid schemes, telephone marketing schemes and internet auction scams.
• Check fraud – forging or counterfeiting checks, using checks that are in someone else’s name or writing checks that you know will bounce.
• Credit card fraud – using someone else’s credit card/debit card to pay for goods and services. Credit card fraud often takes place over the internet.
• Mortgage fraud – fraudulent behavior relating to your mortgage payments or attempting to obtain a mortgage based on inaccurate information
• Tax fraud and tax evasion – using fraudulent material to benefit on your taxes or deliberately omitting material on your tax return.
• Securities fraud – fraudulent behavior relating to securities and investments.
• Insurance fraud – using fraudulent material to benefit through insurance. This may include worker’s compensation, medical assistance or social security insurance cases.

Fraud Penalties

If you are convicted of fraud, your sentence will depend on a number of factors including:

• The severity of the crime
• Whether you are charged in a state or federal court
• Your criminal history/behavior
• The losses suffered by the victims
• The total value of goods stolen through fraud
• Your defense strategy and plea

You may be able to walk away with a non-guilty sentence or minimal penalties depending on your situation. However, those who are convicted of fraud-related crimes can face years in prison, hefty fines, community service, restitution to the victim and will most likely incur a permanent criminal offense on their criminal background check. This black mark on your criminal record can negatively impact your ability to own firearms, to travel overseas, to obtain loans from financial institutions and to find a decent career in the future.

Take Action Now

If you are being investigated for any fraud-related crime, then it is important to seek legal representation sooner rather than later. Even if you have not been arrested but are receiving suspicious phone calls or police activity, it is best to contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer to help you with the legal implications. The Law Offices of William K. Bulmer II can assess your case and determine the best defense strategy for your situation. Do not wait until it’s too late – contact our law offices for a free consultation at 612-384-7003.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.