When facing accusations of criminal activity, it can be a threat to your future. You may be facing charges that could result in time behind bars, expensive fines and other penalties that will impact the course of your entire life. It is critical that you take your situation seriously, seeking to defend yourself against all accusations, regardless of the nature of the allegations against you. One of the most important steps that you can take in this effort is to understand the charges you are facing.
White-collar criminal charges may not seem as serious as other types of offenses as these crimes do not involve an element of violence. Despite a lack of physical harm or other types of violence, the government considers financial crimes to be federal offenses. This means if accused of a white-collar crime, you could be facing elevated charges and particularly severe penalties.
Examples of these crimes
White-collar crime is a term used for many different types of financial crimes because they are often associated with executives and others who work in high-status positions. In reality, anyone can commit a white-collar crime, and this term can be associated with a range of different activities, including:
- Corporate fraud — This type of fraud takes place on a large scale, often associated with large corporations or even government institutions.
- Intellectual property theft — This is the crime of taking protected, proprietary information from its rightful owner and using it for financial gain. This is often committed in an effort to gain a competitive advantage over another business.
- Money laundering — Money laundering is taking illicitly gained cash and moving it through different types of legitimate transactions so that the origins of the cash are indistinguishable.
Other examples of white-collar crime include credit card fraud, mortgage fraud and identity theft. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal agencies often investigate these types of cases.
Defending against these charges
You have the right to defend yourself and to a presumption of innocence. You will benefit from seeking professional guidance regarding the ideal way to prepare a defense strategy and fight for your future interests. It is helpful to seek this help at the earliest possible stage of your case, even if you are simply under investigation and not yet formally charged.