Category Archives: White Collar Crime
Posting Bond: The Next Best Thing to Freedom
The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits excessive bail and, in the same breath, also prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. It implies that detaining defendants who have not been convicted is unjust, that requiring them to post bail in exchange for their freedom is just, and that setting the bail amounts so high that… Read More »
Immunity From Prosecution in Criminal Cases
The Fifth Amendment is not just for when you are on the witness stand. In general, you have the right to choose not to say things in the presence of law enforcement or prosecutors, or under oath during depositions, that could lead to you being convicted of criminal charges that you are currently facing… Read More »
Financial Crime or Business as Usual?
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. When you think about it carefully enough, most careers involve moral gray areas. Even if you have the best of intentions, you are working within a corrupt system. You go into the medical profession because you want to heal the sick, but you end up enriching… Read More »
Credit Card BIN Attacks
Artificial intelligence is enjoying its moment as the villain of the week, and an increasing number of people find it plausible to attribute emotions such as enjoyment to artificial intelligence. A few decades ago, the thought of robots making decisions that would cast individual human beings, or even humankind in general, into peril was… Read More »
Facing Insider Trading Charges?
You know you are good at your job when portrayals of it in the entertainment media annoy you. Real doctors, lawyers, real estate agents, and teachers are nothing like how Hollywood screenwriters portray them. You know what your Hollywood-created on screen avatar should do in the situation portrayed on screen. And you can think… Read More »
Types of Real Estate Fraud
South Florida is the land of impossibly beautiful edifices that seem to spring up overnight. How many times have you driven past a row of McMansions that was an empty field of dirt the last time you drove down that road, and it was a swamp a year ago? There are no basements in… Read More »
Apartment Rental Fraud and Other Internet Real Estate Crimes
Lack of transparency is the name of the game in most real estate transactions. Case in point, the National Association of Realtors, an organization which lists more than 90 percent of the real estate properties that get sold in the United States, just agreed to pay a multimillion-dollar settlement in a lawsuit. As part… Read More »
Financial Crimes in Florida Businesses
People who want to be seen as perfect angels tend to gravitate toward certain professions, and business is not one of them. A certain Machiavellian streak can be useful in entrepreneurship. Likewise, being able to sound like you are 100 percent sure of things that you cannot possibly predict is a talent of many… Read More »
When Is Breach of Fiduciary Duty a Crime?
In many criminal cases, the person who accuses the defendant and claims to have suffered physical injury or financial losses because of the defendant’s actions is someone that the defendant knows. Consider that, in many cases involving sexual assault and illegal sexual contact, defendants have known the victims and their families for a long… Read More »
Forgery Crimes And Florida Law
The pastor of New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Pompano, is currently facing charges for financial crimes, as well as theft, drug possession, and possession of a stolen firearm. His case is still pending, but the investigation began when parishioners complained that he had an unfair amount of control over the church’s funds and claimed… Read More »
A Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Perspective On Romance Scams
If you are single and looking for love, it is easy to feel like you do not know who to trust, especially if you are meeting prospective partners on dating sites. People talk a big game on the phone and while exchanging messages, but when you meet them, they are much less charming. As… Read More »
Employees Of Florida Research Firm Plead Guilty To Falsifying Data In Clinical Trials
Sometimes it feels like there is nothing interesting on the Internet anymore, it is a case of “57 channels and nothing on” syndrome writ large. Everywhere you look, there are generic articles that sound like they were written by chatbots for an audience of search engines, and mindlessly sensationalist clickbait. If you need a… Read More »
Broward Sheriff’s Office Arrests Three Men On Suspicion Of Real Estate Fraud Conspiracy
Anyone who has ever bought or sold a house in South Florida knows that the process can be fraught with ambiguities. You have to sign huge volumes of documents to complete the transaction, and if you make a simple typo or other mistake on any of the paperwork, it can take weeks of work… Read More »
Four South Florida Men Receive Prison Sentences For Paycheck Protection Program Fraud
The financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to linger. We are slow to break the financial habits we picked up during the pandemic, whether good, such as buying ingredients in bulk and cooking them at home, or bad, such as racking up buy now pay later (BNPL) purchases with little thought as to… Read More »
Palm Beach County Physician Gets Prison Time For Healthcare Fraud
Native Floridians are a rare breed. Most of the adults you meet in South Florida will tell you that they moved here either from another state or from another country; the families who have been in Florida for more than two generations are even rarer. Likewise, an enormous variety of plant and animal species… Read More »
Meet The Inchoate Offenses: Attempt, Conspiracy, And Solicitation
Sometimes a criminal court can find you guilty even if you didn’t do it. One instance where this happens is with crimes of omission, such as failure to report child abuse; failing to file an income tax return can also count against you in tax evasion cases. Another time when you can get a… Read More »
South Florida Caretaker Gets 51 Months In Prison For Stealing $300,000 From Elderly Couple
If you steal money from your employer, including but not limited to by diverting funds from the company account to your personal bank accounts, you can get criminal charges for embezzlement. If your job is to manage the finances of elderly people who are not well enough to make their own financial transactions, and… Read More »
Miami Doctor Gets Five Years In Prison For Healthcare Fraud
More than 100 people have a student loan balance of more than $1 million, and a substantial portion of these unfortunate borrowers are graduates of medical schools. Being a physician is a noble calling, and despite that it is one of the most in-demand professions, it is not always an automatic road to riches. … Read More »
Worth Avenue Art Dealer Faces Criminal Charges For Fraudulently Selling Replicas Of Paintings By Famous Artists
Prints of famous Andy Warhol paintings, such as the Campbell’s soup cans or the multi-colored portrait of Marilyn Monroe, can be found on the walls of every living room or diner in South Florida. You might not know the name of Roy Lichtenstein, but you would recognize his paintings, which look like enormous comic… Read More »
Professional Poker Player Faces Criminal Charges For Operating Fraudulent Investment Scheme
Being naïve about financial decisions ranks highly among a lot of people’s regrets. The good news is that Florida students must now take one semester of financial literacy education before they can earn a high school diploma; lawmakers hope that these classes will help the new generation think through financial decisions more effectively, including… Read More »
