You may be tempted to exaggerate when making an insurance claim.  Maybe you feel that you deserve more than the typical claim for injuries or damages sustained from an accident.  A complicit doctor, mechanic or other professional may even help you in inflating those costs to secure bigger payments from the insurance company?  Does this seem like a victimless crime?

In truth, this form of deception, known as soft fraud, is a crime and one that inflates the cost of insurance premiums for everyone.  Due to the fact that this form of fraud, however innocuous, state authorities will investigate and bring charges against people that have defrauded insurance companies.  This is especially the case with the overbilling government benefits including social security and disability.

The doctors and others that help you exaggerate insurance claims face legal penalties of their own.  The penalties are contingent on your financial gain from the arrangement.  Restitution may be ordered.  Egregious cases of fraud, usually accompanied by instances of hard fraud may lead to additional penalties and jail time.

If you are under investigation for soft fraud, you should contact our Long Island insurance fraud lawyers for a case evaluation at  (516) 204-7611.

At times, federal agencies investigating drug diversions, such as the DEA, can scare doctors, pharmacists and others into cooperating with their investigation.  This is sometimes accomplished by overstating the legal liability a doctor would have in a patient’s actions.

If a patient has been doctor shopping, it is very likely that the doctor will have had no indication of the patients actions, has acted in good faith with belief that patient is in pain and has not committed a crime.  Cooperating with the investigation will then be at the discretion of the physician.  In these situations, legal counsel is invaluable in ensuring your rights are protected.

Entrapment is another potential area where federal scare tactics come into play.  Some investigators will rely heavily one the use of undercover informants and others to induce wrongdoing.  It is important to be firm and through when prescribing painkillers, ensuring that the patient’s story is consistent and plausible.

Never accept an undue benefit from writing a prescription and reevaluate claims of persistent pain with every prescription.  Doing so will avoid entrapment or other threats against you or your practice because of drug diversion.

If you feel that federal investigators are intimidating you, you will need to know your rights.  Call our Long Island criminal lawyers, call us today at (516) 204-7611 for an immediate consultation.

Yes.  Every state, including New York, has laws that punish false insurance claims, which is a form of fraud.  False insurance claims include exaggerating a legitimate claim, falsifying an injury for the purposes of making a claim and staging an accident to obtain a payment greater than the damage caused by the accident.

Since these schemes typically involve multiple participants working in concert to make the false claim seem legitimate, charges will also be brought against these individuals depending on their involvement in the scheme.  This includes acting as an accessory to staging the claim, forging medical or other paperwork or formulating a conspiracy to commit fraud.

Healthcare fraud can also be a federal crime, depending on the insurance program that is defrauded or if the fraud takes place across multiple states.  The anti-health care fraud statue is covered in Title 18, Part I, Chapter 63, § 1347 of the US legal code.  Those that violate this statute will face up to 10 years in prison, 20 years if the scheme involves serious bodily injury.

You may even face life imprisonment if a person is killed due to the scheme.

If you have been the participant in a health care fraud scheme or have had a legitimate claim investigated by the government in New York, you should contact our New York criminal lawyers for an immediate consultation.

Contact us without delay at (212) 577-6677.

According to section 195.00 of the New York Penal code, “official misconduct” is when a public servant (i.e. government officials, police employed by a government agency or state) knowingly engages in an unauthorized act that relates to his or her official responsibilities with the intention of benefiting from it or to “deprive another person of a benefit.”

“Official misconduct” can also be defined as a public servant who knowingly avoids performing an official duty that is expected of him or her by law or a duty is “inherent” in the nature of the job for personal benefit or with the “intent to deprive another person of a benefit.” It is considered a class A misdemeanor.

If you are convicted of a class A misdemeanor, the probation period is three years and you can be punished up to one year in jail. This is a serious charge with detrimental repercussions. The best way to go is to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney to provide you strategic defense.

If you are charged or accused of official misconduct in New York call our Long Island Criminal Defesne Attorney today to set up an immediate consultation at (516) 204-7611.

The short answer is no, at least not in federal grand jury. Rule 6(d) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure describes who may be present when the grand jury is in session. These are prosecutors, the witness who is being questioned, interpreters, and a court reporter. When the grand jury deliberates and votes, only the jurors may be present in the room.

The reason defense lawyer is not allowed to be present in the grand jury room is because a person’s right to counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment only applies to criminal prosecutions and the grand jury process is not considered “criminal prosecution”. Grand juries are thought to fulfill an investigative function, not prosecutorial one, therefore the right to counsel doesn’t apply to grand jury investigations.

That said, the witness questioned by grand jury is allowed to leave the room to consult with an attorney who waits outside. This is an important right that should be used by all grand jury witnesses who may otherwise inadvertently make self-incriminatory statements.

In New York state courts, defense counsel may be present in the room but may not, for the most part, take place in the proceedings. The defense lawyer’s role is to advise the defendant/witness before giving answers to avoid self-incrimination. In some cases the defense counsel may object to the form or substance of the prosecutor’s questions (if the prosecutor abuses his or her authority to question the defendant). If the prosecutor insists on continuing in the same fashion, the defense lawyer may ask a judge to intervene.

If you have been subpoenaed by federal or state grand jury in Long Island or New York City, call our Long Island criminal lawyers at (516) 204 7611 today for an immediate consultation.

Extended severe pain destroys the quality of life, making prescription of opioids such as OxyContin and Vicoden the main tool of trade in most pain management practices. However, because of the nature of these drugs, abuse is frequent, making pain management a minefield for many New York physicians as well as for pain management doctors nationwide.  Federal law makes it a crime to dispense Schedule II opioids with the exception of health care professionals who are authorized to prescribe them for medical reasons if there is medical necessity.

The question is who decides when the patient needs narcotic pain medication. This is a massively regulated field with the DEA and state authorities setting rules and regulations concerning proper administration of these drugs. Doctors who deviate from these rules (in the government’s eyes, of course) are often treated as drug dealers facing not only disciplinary actions but also federal criminal prosecution that can result in serious prison terms.

OxyContin and Vicoden are the most commonly abused and overprescribed pain medications in New York in general and in Long Island in particular. It is true that some practitioners do engage in illegal activities such as outright sale of OxyContin prescriptions to drug dealers and addicts. However, there is an alarmingly large number of pain management specialists and neurologists who refrain from proscribing the necessary pain medications out of fear of prosecution or simply go into other fields to avoid the problem altogether.

However, such extremes can be avoided with proper education and management. Physicians are advised to effectively plan for pain management and patient’s rights for effective pain management. Planning includes understanding how opioids such as OxyContin and Vicoden are regulated in the state of New York so physicians can use their best clinical judgment in prescribing opioids.

To effectively plan for pain management and avoid legal complications, physicians in the state of New York should perform a thorough examination on new patients. They should investigate the patients’ prior controlled substance prescription history to eliminate doctor shopping. Physicians should also communicate with their patients as frequently as possible by asking them which drugs they’re taking and why they are taking them.

Proper record keeping and following the rules can be an effective means of protecting oneself against charges of illegal diversion of narcotics. A physician can only be found guilty if he prescribed the medication without medical necessity.

If you are a physician facing Oxycodone or Vicodin diversion investigation in Long Island or NYC call our Long Island criminal attorneys at (516) 204-7611 to set up an immediate consultation.

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 was the first piece of federal legislation to prescribe criminal penalties for hacking, tampering and accessing protected computers belonging to financial institutions or the US government.  Additionally, it made most forms of computer fraud a federal matter due to the interstate nature of these schemes.  The CFAA was amended several times, most recently in 2008 to combat identity theft.

Criminal offenses prosecuted by the federal government under the CFAA include:

-        Stealing or accessing financial records from a protected computer

-        Disabling or otherwise hindering a protected computer

-        Accessing a protected computer with intent to defraud

-        Using code, virus or a program that causes injury or losses of at least $5,000.

-        Trafficking information stolen from protected computers or the password to those computers

One does not have to be a sophisticated computer expert or hacker to commit an offense under the CFAA.  There are a number on instances where the CFAA can be and has been applied.  This includes taking electronic data from competitors and even overloading an essential computer system, as the Laborer’s International Union of North America found out in 2011 when their emails crashed the messaging system of a company during a labor dispute.

A New York computer crimes defense lawyer will be useful when dealing with charges under the CFAA.  The lawyer will able to explain the potential case against you and help you formulate a defense strategy.

To set up an immediate consultation, contact us at (516) 204-7611 so that you may learn about your potential legal options on computer crimes.

A Ponzi scheme is any fraudulent organization that pays some investors with the payment of other investors.  This gives some investors the illusion that their investment is profitable.

Ponzi schemes are marked by high returns for the early investors and perpetrator, but will rely on an ever-increasing base of new investors to maintain those profits.  In that respect, a Ponzi scheme similar to a pyramid scheme, which is specifically disallowed and investigated by the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission.  It is different from a pyramid scheme, however, as Ponzi schemes may last a long time if the victims continuously reinvest their money.

There are a number of legal penalties for individual involved and actively running a Ponzi scheme. For those that acted in bad faith and recruited more investors to the scheme, they may face criminal penalties as severe as those faced by the originator of the scheme.

Early investors that reaped high returns from the Ponzi scheme, even if they did so unknowingly, will be ordered by the court to pay restitution to those that incurred losses as a result of the Ponzi scheme.  In addition to these penalties, those that operate a Ponzi scheme will be charged with operating an unregistered security, which will carry additional penalties.

Those that might be found acting in bad faith in regards to their involvement with a Ponzi scheme in Long Island should contact a Long Island criminal defense lawyer without delay.

The attorney will be able to help you determine your criminal liability in the matter as well as defend you in court, if necessary.

To set up an immediate consultation, contact our Long Island criminal lawyers at (516) 204-7611 so that you may learn about your potential legal options.

As with any large entity, there will inevitably be breaches of conduct, discipline and sometimes even the law.  To prevent this, most corporations will have a compliance unit or program that will train employees on ethics and compliance with the law.  The effectiveness of this compliance program will be an important factor in a federal investigation as the efforts of the compliance program represent due diligence and an effort, in good faith, to comply with the law.

The effective compliance program will be regularly assessed for performance and will also contain an enforcement mechanism to deal with breaches of the law.  Although the aim of the program is to prevent law-breaking, there is no expectation that the violation of the law will reflect on the program.  Rather, it is the response of the program to the violation of the law that will serve as a measure of effectiveness when coming under federal scrutiny.

The federal government sets a standard by which compliance programs must function and the provisions include spreading responsibility throughout the organization to mitigate the impact of wrongdoing, removing authority from those likely to engage in wrongdoing and ensure that no one faces retribution for reporting wrongdoing.

When coming under a federal investigation, you will want to prove due diligence to avoid serious criminal penalties.  A New York business crimes lawyer can help you organize this defense, using your compliance program as an example of this diligence.

To set up an immediate consultation, contact us at our Long Island office at (212) 577-6677 so that you may learn about your potential legal options.

Drug diversion, particularly oxycodone, is a serious issue, which is actively enforced by the DEA and other law enforcement agencies in the New York City area. There has been an huge increase in criminal prosecutions of pain management clinics and physicians who became oxycodone mills, prescribing the drug without medical need to addict patients and sometimes to drug dealers.

This doesn’t mean that every time a doctor prescribes controlled substance there is criminal liability. The practitioners must be very careful when they deal with patients who are abuse risk. If done properly, it is even legal to issue multiple prescriptions for some controlled substances. For example, if the doctor decides that it will not create any risk of diversion or abuse and it is permitted by state law, federal law  (21 C.F.R. § 1306.12(b)(1)(iii), allows to issue multiple prescriptions for a Schedule II drug at one time. The doctor must, however, write on each prescription the earliest date on which a pharmacy may fill it. In these cases, pharmacists may not fill those prescriptions before the date indicated.

If you are a healthcare practitioner investigated for drug diversion by the DEA in Long Island, contact our Long Island federal lawyers today at 516-204-7611 for a confidential consultation.