Financial crime is an umbrella term that encompasses any activity that relates to gaining assets unlawfully. These offenses can lead to severe criminal penalties, and it's essential to seek representation from experts knowledgeable about ever-changing financial regulations. Read on to learn about the financial crimes that securities fraud defense lawyers are trained to handle.

What Are the Most Common Types of Financial Crime That Securities Fraud Defense Lawyers Handle?


Embezzlement

Embezzlement occurs when an individual or organization who's been entrusted to manage funds misuses the assets for financial gain. This type of crime is often hidden under the guise of legitimate transactions, which is why uncovering embezzlement requires diligent research.

An embezzler may skim off the top, such as an accountant who takes cash payments from his company's clients but underreports the amount deposited over time. Other cases may revolve around large purchases under the cover of ordinary business transactions, such as an executive who buys a personal yacht using company funds but then records it as other legitimate expenses.

Fraud

Fraud is a deceptive action designed for unlawful gain. This includes providing false statements or withholding important information to receive something that wouldn't otherwise be provided. Oftentimes, the perpetrator of the fraud knows information that the victim does not and uses this asymmetry to deceive the victim.

Although crimes of fraud share the same base definition, they take numerous forms. These include:
Credit card fraud
Bankruptcy fraud
Insurance fraud
Healthcare fraud
Mortgage and bank fraud
Wire fraud
Ponzi schemes
Pyramid schemes
Procurement fraud

Stock Market Abuse


Securities fraud is a specialized area of fraud that pertains to investments, especially instruments offered on the stock market. There are many degrees of illegality in this realm. It can be as simple as the misuse of legitimate information, such as insider trading of non-public information to gain from trading a company's stock. Another method is market manipulation, which is an attempt to artificially influence market prices to benefit the trader, such as a pump-and-dump scheme.

Securities fraud can reach more extreme levels as well. For example, a company may deliberately mislead investors by misreporting financial statements. Another example includes an investment scam that promises returns too good to be true, all intended to dupe investors out of capital. To find out more about the nuances of these types of financial crimes, contact a securities fraud defense lawyer for advice.

Tax Evasion

Tax evasion occurs when someone refuses to pay or underpays taxes illegally. A false declaration to tax authorities constitutes a crime, whether that is underreporting individual income, reporting false expense deductions on corporate taxes, or failing to pay payroll taxes.


Forgery & Counterfeiting

A forgery passes as an authentic document in order to obtain something else or deprive someone else of something of value. For example, a forgery can include falsifying another person's signature, fraudulently modifying licenses, or presenting fake deeds. Statutes at the federal level also cover forgery situations that could affect interstate commerce, such as securities, bonds, and contracts.

Counterfeiting is the forgery of currency or other physical items. This could include counterfeit consumer goods, such as a poor-quality version of a designer handbag sold as the original. Counterfeiting even extends into the art world, in which forged artwork is created and sold as valuable paintings made by an old master.

Bribery & Corruption

Bribery is the crime of offering another individual something of value, notably money, in return for something beneficial to the briber that would not be received otherwise. For example, it would be bribery if a public official received payments in exchange for granting approval of certain government licenses.

If bribery is a part of a larger culture of illicit practices, then this is known as corruption. For example, this might describe a governmental agency where staff signs off on projects that contractors would not have been able to achieve lawfully. The organization breeds corruption because weak procedures have been implemented to stop dishonest dealings.

Money Laundering

Money laundering is the process of acquiring money from illegal activities and 'cleaning' it so that it appears as legally obtained funds. For example, criminal operations might launder profits from illegal drug sales, funds embezzled via corporate theft, or investments siphoned from Ponzi schemes. Hiding how the money was originally acquired is often arranged by having these funds flow through banking transfers or cryptocurrency transactions.

In summary, financial crimes involve directly stealing assets or indirectly modifying who owns an asset through illegal means. Although those accused of "white-collar crimes" haven't committed violence, there are still severe legal penalties. These consequences can include significant fines, restitution, and even imprisonment. To mount an effective legal defense strategy against these allegations, it's crucial to seek representation from attorneys experienced in the complex nature of these regulations.