Category Archives: White Collar Crime
Could I Lose My Florida Public Pension If I’m Convicted of a Felony?
If you are a public employee, such as a police officer or school teacher, a criminal conviction can have significant consequences beyond going to jail or losing your job. Depending on the crime, you may also forfeit any pension you earned as a public employee. In fact, such forfeiture is mandated by Florida’s constitution…. Read More »
Criminal Fraud and the “Nature of the Bargain”
White collar crimes, such as wire and mail fraud, are based on a “scheme or artifice to defraud.” Basically, if you use deception to deprive a person of their money or property, that is fraud. This requires the government to prove that the defendant (1) knew they were making false statements or acted with… Read More »
Tampa Man Convicted of Wire Fraud for Misuse of COVID-19 Relief Loan
Under federal law, the crime of wire fraud requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant “acted with the intent to defraud” the victim, among other elements. Put differently, the government must show that the defendant acted with a specific intent to cheat someone else for the purposes of financial gain. This can… Read More »
Understanding the Legal Risks of Using Counterfeit Currency in Florida
Counterfeiting is one of the oldest white collar crimes prosecuted in the United States. In fact, the United States Secret Service was founded in 1865, not to protect the President from harm, but to investigate and arrest people who manufactured counterfeit coins and bank notes. Today, counterfeiting is much less common than it was… Read More »
Can You Go to Jail for Failing to Pay Restitution?
In most cases, you cannot be sent to prison for failing to pay a debt. One exception is if you are required to make financial restitution as a result of a criminal conviction. For example, it is common for courts to require defendants convicted of financial fraud to pay restitution to their victims. If… Read More »
Hillsborough County Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Income Tax Fraud
Many Florida residents fall prey to financial scams that promise them a way to earn easy money. While many of these schemes only end up costing victims their own money, there are cases where the targets are convinced to participate in the scam themselves. Unfortunately, these people often get caught and find themselves prosecuted… Read More »
Is Medicaid Fraud the Same as Grand Theft in Florida?
Although it is common for Florida prosecutors to bring multiple criminal charges arising from the same act or event, the Constitution’s prohibition against double jeopardy imposes certain restraints. Notably, if the state charges two separate offenses, one crime must require proof of an element that the other does not. Put differently, a person cannot… Read More »
What Is “Money Laundering”?
In white collar criminal cases, federal prosecutors frequently charge defendants with some form of money laundering. In broad terms, money laundering is the process of attempting to ‘”cleanse the taint” from the proceeds of some criminal activity. One of the key federal money laundering statutes, 18 U.S.C. § 1956, makes it a crime for… Read More »
Are Ponzi Schemes Illegal in Florida?
Back in the early 20th century, a Boston man named Charles Ponzi realized that you could make a tidy profit through the use of international reply coupons. An IRC is a coupon that you can exchange for a certain number of priority airmail postage stamps from another country. Ponzi had agents buy IRCs in… Read More »
Florida Man Sentenced to 12 Months (and 1 Day) in Federal Prison for Mail Fraud
White collar criminal prosecutions in Florida tend to focus on fraud. This encompasses a wide range of non-violent yet still criminal conduct designed to deprive a person of their property through deception. Such fraud often invokes federal prosecution as these cases almost always involve the use of some means of interstate communication or commerce,… Read More »
