Need a White Collar Defense Attorney in NYC or NY?
A white collar defense attorney handles charges for specific types of fraud ( bankruptcy, mortgage, securities, health care, insurance, hedge fund , corporate, financial institution), asset forfeiture / money laundering, piracy and intellectual property theft.
People charged with white collar crimes can face serious felony charges, federal prosecution and long prison sentences. Although white collar criminal charges are usually brought against on person or individual, businesses can also be charged with white collar offenses.
The penalties for white-collar offenses include:
- Paying fines and restitution
- Home detention
- Community confinement
- Forfeitures
- Probation and supervised release
- Jail and prison time
Sentencing
Keep in mind as with other crimes, white collar crime punishments can be reduced if the accused takes responsibility for his or her crimes and cooperates with the criminal investigation. However, a person charged with a white collar theft crime with previous criminal offenses (or a “strikes” conviction against them) can face jail time.
So What Are White Collar Criminal Penalties?
Most of the time penalties for white collar crimes and schemes are less severe than violent crimes such as assault, rape and robbery. The courts will often sentence violent offenders to longer sentences (see below) than white collar and financial crimes. In most cases with white collar crimes, violence is not a factor. As a result, penalties and punishments imposed by the courts are usually less severe, depending on the felony class, prior offenses, etc…
Felony Classification and Felony Classes
So how to court decide sentences for white collar crimes?
Judges and prosecutors will classify the offense as a felony or misdemeanor and look at the details of each case (these cases are called “wobblers”) because they are decided based on:
- injury to victim
- intent
- past criminal record
When looking at felony vs misdemeanor charges and sentencing, Judges and prosecutors will also take into account special circumstances or high-risk crimes. Courts will try to determine the likelihood of repeat offenses. Felony crimes of this type will include any crime of violence, such as rape or sexual assault, aggravated assault and crimes such as illegal manufacturing, sale or distribution of a controlled substance.
What is white collar crime or as it is more commonly known, fraud?
Fraud is considered a white collar crime and typically occurs when the accused tricks a victim into voluntarily handing over money or property. It is the deliberate deception of a person, business or company for personal and unlawful gain.
Some common types of fraud are:
- Investment Fraud
- Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion
- Securities & Commodities Fraud
- Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud
- Health Care Fraud and Medicare Fraud
- Embezzlement
- Forgery
- Theft and Larceny
- Bank Fraud, Bad Checks
- Internet Fraud, Google Fraud, E-scams and Cyber Crimes
- Ecommerce Fraud
Other common white collar crimes include:
- Bribery
- Extortion
- Blackmail
- Counterfeiting
- Racketeering
- Money Laundering
- Kickbacks
- Currency Schemes
- Insider Trading
- Welfare Fraud
We hope you find these white collar defense attorney resources helpful.
