Bank fraud is a federal offense and those suspected of such crimes will be tried in federal court.  Bank fraud refers to a wide number of fraudulent techniques, including counterfeiting checks, credit card fraud and forging financial information to steal money.

The many of the federal statutes, found in Title 18 of the United States Code, against bank fraud is fairly recent, with most of the provisions coming into existence in 1982.  The bank fraud statute, found at Part I, Chapter 63 Section 1344 explicitly makes defrauding a financial institution or using false pretenses to obtain assets or property controlled by a financial institution.  The maximum penalty for this offense is a $1,000,000 fine, 30 years in prison, or a combination of the two.

Title 18, Part I, Chapter 47 section 1014 covers false statements made to financial institutions, generally on loan applications and carries the same penalties as Section 1344.

The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) created fraud departments within the US Department of Justice to investigate fraud in addition to providing insurance for financial institutions.

The federal penalties for bank fraud are very severe which makes good legal representation necessary.  If you are facing a bank fraud investigation in Long Island,  you should consult with a Long Island federal criminal lawyer.  Call us at (516) 204-7611 today to set up an immediate consultation.

According to Section 1344 of the United States Code (USC), bank fraud occurs when someone knowingly and intentionally executes or attempts to execute a scheme to defraud a financial institution or to obtain any funds or assets by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representation, or promises.

But this doesn’t mean that those who defrauded banks are the only perpetrators of bank fraud, for offenders who were defraud individuals of their monetary gains through check forgeries, credit card fraud and/or fraudulent accounting, may also be criminally liable for bank fraud. Bank fraud cases usually involve other charges such as wire fraud, securities fraud, corporate fraud and identity theft.

Although most federal investigative agencies are required to look into every bank fraud complaint made against an institution or an individual, they usually do not go into depth on investigating every claim, unless something strikes them as suspicious activity. Bank fraud investigation involve the following activities:

• False accounting entries
• Counterfeit currency rotations
• Shell companies operations

Federal investigations on alleged bank fraud cases usually take years before the offender is even aware of an ongoing investigation. When investigators are almost done gathering enough information, they will reach out to the offender for questioning. In such cases, prevention is usually the best way to go; the offender should remain clam and call an experienced federal criminal defense attorney for advice before speaking to federal investigators.

At Joseph Potashnik & Associates, we have a panel of some of the most skilled federal criminal defense attorneys specializing in such areas of white-collar crime.

If you are being investigated or arrested for bank fraud in Long Island, then call our Long Island bank fraud criminal lawyers at 516.204.7611 to get professional legal advice.

While making false statements is a widely prosecuted federal crime in a variety of circumstances, making false statements in connection with a financial transaction with a bank or another financial organization has a separate set of required elements.

In cases where defendants are charged with making false statements in a bank transaction, the government must prove the following:  (1) the defendant made a false statement or willfully overvalued property or security knowing that it was false, (2) that the defendant did it in order to influence a decision (3) of the enumerated agencies and organizations.

It doesn’t really matter whether the plan to defraud succeeded and it doesn’t matter whether the bank suffered any damages. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York held that it was no defense that the false statements inflating the amount of the mortgage claim didn’t help in securing mortgage. The only thing that mattered was that the false statements were made for the purpose of influencing the lending institution’s decision.

If you are investigated for bank fraud or mortgage fraud in Long Island, call our Long Island mortgage fraud federal defense attorneys at (516) 2047611 today to discuss your case.