White Collar Crimes
Belleville attorney Lyndon P. Evanko, P.C. represents people charged with white collar offenses throughout southwestern Illinois in St. Clair, Monroe, and Madison counties.
White collar crimes are nonviolent crimes usually involving some element of fraud or deceit in order to obtain money unlawfully, usually but not always from an employer or in violation of some relationship of trust. Depending usually on what type of property is involved, white collar crimes may be prosecuted by state or federal governments. White collar crime can encompass:
- Insurance Fraud involves any type of insurance policy, and entails making false statements in order to collect payments one is not actually entitled to.
- Securities Fraud is governed by Federal laws, and includes the unlawful buying and selling stocks and commodities through insider trading, late-day trading, or giving or acting on tips, as well as all types of pyramid and Ponzi schemes.
- Business Fraud usually involves falsifying documents and using questionable accounting techniques to mislead investors and auditors about the financial state of a company. Business fraud also includes such practices as self-dealing and backdating stock options.
- Tax Evasion and Tax Fraud can be pursued civilly or criminally. To be pursued criminally, there must be a willful and intentional violation of tax law.
- Embezzlement occurs when a person fraudulently appropriates money to which he or she has been entrusted. This usually is committed by an employee against the employer.
- Forgery involves altering the existing writing of another, such as with a check, while obtaining money by false pretenses involves the creation of a fraudulent writing.
- Computer crime involves many illegal uses of computers and the Internet, including computer tampering, computer fraud, and unlawful use of computer encryption.
Besides the usual criminal penalties of fines and prison sentences, punishments for white collar crimes often require restitution of money stolen or forfeiture of money or property that can be linked to the criminal conduct.
Many white collar offenses are the subject of lengthy investigations before charges are ever filed. During this time, the state may be collecting evidence and building a case. If you believe that you are the target of a criminal investigation, you should not wait until charges are filed before contacting an attorney. An attorney can help formulate a defense even at this early stage, and in some cases may even be able to prevent charges from ever being filed.
If you have been arrested or indicted on a white collar crime, or believe that you are the target of a criminal investigation, contact criminal defense lawyer Lyndon P. Evanko today to protect your rights, or call (618) 397-1997.
