Violations of law at a bank or by using accounts of a financial institution are commonly prosecuted in federal court as “bank fraud”.
The United States Attorney’s Office will seek an Indictment (a charging document formally charging the person with a crime) for bank fraud based upon a relatively non-complex theft or embezzlement of monies by a bank employee, or a more complex scheme to defraud based upon false statements, such as an overvaluation of property or securities. Also, the federal prosecutor’s office will seek an Indictment for bank fraud based upon a complex scheme to defraud, such as a scheme based upon a series of false loan applications and misuses of loaned monies or non-existent collateral.
The United States Code contains federal crimes that are prosecuted by the Department of Justice or its field offices, the United States Attorney’s Offices, in respective districts in the different states. Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344, titled Bank Fraud, makes it a crime to defraud a bank or commit a scheme to defraud regarding the accounts of a financial institution. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1344 reads as follows:
BANK FRAUD
Whoever knowingly executes, or attempts to execute, a scheme or artifice—
1) to defraud a financial institution; or (more…)
For lawyers, every case brings its own unique and complicated facets to the courtroom. However, there are a certain number of set precedents to know when your client is under investigation for criminal fraud and related securities enforcement.
1. Federal criminal investigations are conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the grand jury, and may or may not occur simultaneously with an SEC investigation.
If you or a loved one is facing charges of securities fraud in Texas, contact Matthew Arnold, Dallas securities fraud defense attorney. If not, keep reading.
2. As in a criminal case, generally, your client can assert the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination as to his/her statements in an SEC investigation or litigation. This may not be true with regard to responses to SEC discovery requests. Learn 10 more. (more…)
Fraudulent misrepresentations and schemes to defraud which use the United States mail to further that fraudulent conduct, can be prosecuted as mail fraud. Also, another commonly used federal law to prosecute misrepresentations and frauds is the statute known as “wire fraud.”
The United States Attorney Office will seek an Indictment (a charging document formally charging the person with a crime) for mail fraud when the prosecution believes it has evidence of any fraud scheme that uses the mail systems to make that fraud scheme function.
If you or a loved one is facing charges of wire fraud in Texas, contact Matthew Arnold, Dallas wire fraud defense attorney. If not, keep reading.
There is no specific requirement for the type of fraudulent scheme that has to be alleged by the U.S. Attorney Office, only that there is some kind of fraud or misrepresentation wherein the U.S. mails or commercial carriers are used to mail an item related to the scheme, such as a check, a contract, an application for credit, property valuations, etc. Originally, the mail fraud statute required some type of use of the U.S. mail; now, the statute requires the use of either the U.S. mail or any mail carrier in an attempt to carry out the fraud. (more…)
“Money laundering” as it is commonly called, involves the transfer of monies that are a product of criminal activity - whether that activity is drug trafficking related or white collar crime related. Although there is a fairly broad definition of money laundering, the federal money laundering laws were enacted to attempt to take the profit out of criminal activity.
If you or a loved one is facing charges of money laundering in Texas, contact Matthew Arnold, Dallas money laundering defense attorney. If not, continue reading.
Congress has passed several laws over the years to prevent profits of criminal activity from being utilized, such as Currency Transaction Reports. The Anti-Money Laundering Statutes criminalizes the movement and use of profits/wealth created by criminal activity. See Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956 and 1957.
Many people have concerns about these statutes, included the apparently broad application of these statutes, especially concerns about reaching into legitimate business activities. A common example of this concern is a scenario where an individual or business handles money with no knowledge of any criminal origin, which could result in prosecution for money laundering in federal court.
In summary, the government has to prove that a person knowingly made some transfer or transaction with monies that were proceeds of a specified unlawful activity. The two commonly used statutes in federal courts, 18, U.S.C., Sections 1956 and 1957, list the specified unlawful activities that are the basis for federal money laundering. Learn all the statues. (more…)