What If You Are A Corporate Manager And You Discover That The Corporation Or Some Of Its Employees May Have Been Involved In A Potentially Legally Sensitive Situation?

May 14, 2012

While some issues can be easily resolved on a managerial level without much effort, other, more serious matters may require an internal investigation to determine the source and the scope of the problem. Ignoring corporate irregularities may result not only in disruption of business activities, but also in civil and criminal liabilities. Corporate officers and  managers [...]

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What Is Concealment Of Property Under The Bankruptcy Fraud Statute?

May 14, 2012

Section 152 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code is the one of the main criminal statutes used in bankruptcy fraud prosecutions. The statute essentially provides a “catch all” list of acts that constitute bankruptcy fraud, the first one being concealment of property.  That means not listing property or affirmatively conceal property of the bankruptcy [...]

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What Are Some Common Abuses Of Social Security Benefits In Long Island?

April 23, 2012

The most common form of social security benefits abuse is the wrongful collection of benefits intended for the actual beneficiary, alive or deceased.  Payments made to the deceased must be returned under all circumstances, while strict laws dictate who may collect benefits on behalf of the beneficiary. The most common way that social security fraud [...]

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What Is Fraudulent False Advertising?

April 4, 2012

Fraudulent false advertising involves the creation of print or electronic ads that are used to further a criminal scheme by soliciting potential victims into buying fictitious or defective products or join in schemes to defraud or other attempts at inducing illegal behavior.  False advertisement can occur either through the strategic placement of ads or solicitation [...]

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What Is Fencing Of Stolen Goods?

April 4, 2012

Fencing is the act of reselling stolen goods for cash.  The cash that is received is virtually untraceable, which makes it a valuable part of money laundering. At the highest level, this will involve the movement of stolen art and other valuable artifacts, which is sold through legitimate dealers.  The FBI will be involved in [...]

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Should I Cooperate With The SEC?

April 3, 2012

In the post-financial crisis era, the SEC has stepped up efforts to recruit insiders in financial entities under investigation.  Similar to criminal investigations, informants report on fraudulent activity.  Usually the informant cooperates to reduce potential legal ramifications for their own illegal activity. All evidence provided to the SEC must be truthful and factual and the [...]

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What Is A Coercion Defense?

March 8, 2012

An unfortunate aspect of many criminal prosecutions is that many times the defendants have been coerced to commit crimes on behalf of others, under duress.  Duress may include violence or the threat of violence, but often can involve any other unreasonable pressure. Coercion is a useful criminal defense in that it eliminates an individual’s consent [...]

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What Is The Abandonment Withdrawal Defense?

March 8, 2012

In any conspiracy or wrongdoing involving multiple participants, any of the members of the scheme can mount an abandonment defense if they pull out of the scheme before the illegal activity is completed.  This is an affirmative defense that admits wrongdoing with the condition that the crime was renounced upon the nature of the scheme [...]

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What Is Mass Marketing Fraud?

February 15, 2012

Mass marketing fraud involves the solicitation of a number of individuals with promises of a limited time offers, employment opportunities or opportunities to donate to charity.  These are typically the start of advance fee fraud or other pyramid schemes.  Mass marketing fraud is popular among scammers as they will be able to reach multiple audiences [...]

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What Is The Legal Penalty For Intentionally Poor Auditing?

February 15, 2012

Any information that misleads investors is potentially grounds for investigation and prosecution.  There are a number of frauds that can be perpetrated against investors with the help of poor auditing.  The intent of poor auditing is to conceal the financial reality about a company from the typical investor.  This is similar to “cooking the books.”  [...]

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