Under New York Penal Code Laws (Sections 190.25,190.65 and 190.78 -190.86) you could be charged and convicted of criminal personal identity theft for knowingly impersonating or presenting yourself as one or more persons and/or using personal identifying information, including a credit card, with the intent of benefit and/or to injure, defraud or cause such person or persons financial loss. Depending on the amount of goods involved and the number of identify fraud victims, you could either be charged with identify theft of the third degree Class A misdemeanor or higher (Penal Code Section 190.78,190.81-one or more persons defrauded), second degree Class E felony (Penal Code Section 190.79, 190.82-one or more persons defrauded in property in excess of $500) or first degree class D felony (Penal Code Section 190.80,190.83-one or more persons defrauded of property in excess of $2,000). It is also a crime to be in possession of a skimmer device, and you could be charged with a second degree class A misdemeanor (Penal Code Section 190.85) or a first degree Class E felony (Penal Code Section 190.86) if you have been convicted within the last five years of identity theft.
You could also be charged with grand larceny of the fourth degree (Penal Code 155.30-Class E felony), grand larceny in the third degree (Penal Code Section 155.35-Class D felony), grand larceny in the second degree (Penal Code Section 155.40-Class C felony) or grand larceny in the first degree (Penal Code Section 155.42-Class B felony property value exceeds over $1,000,000).
Fines and Sentences:
In New York, you could face a minimum jail sentence of up one year for an identity theft conviction or up 7 years, and fines from $1,000 up to $5,000, and you may also be subject to restitution to the victim under Penal Code Section 60.27. A first degree Class B felony grand larceny conviction carries a sentence up to 25 years imprisonment and a fine up to $25,000.
Credit card fraud and identity theft are also considered federal offenses under 18 U.S.C. Sections 1028 and 1029 when someone knowingly transfers or uses another person’s identification, including a credit card number, with the intent to commit an illegal act or defraud someone to obtain goods or services in excess of $1,000. You could face a fine and/or imprisonment up to 10 years.
Case Example:
New York police have indicted 111 people in the nation’s biggest and the most sophisticated identity theft credit card fraud ring case. “Operation Swiper” began almost two years ago with undercover police and wiretaps of a five group I.D. theft ring based in Ozone Park, Queens. Police reported that the groups sometimes worked together. As of Friday October 7, 2011, police had arrested 85 people and seized handguns, computer electronics and $650,000 in cash during the arrests after searching several homes. Accordingly to New York Police Commissioner, Raymond Kelly, the I.D. theft ring purchased expensive items such as Apple electronics, luxury handbags, shoes and other products with stolen credit card information and then sold it overseas.
The way the I.D. theft ring worked was they hired skimmers who were retail store or other service industry employees who swiped credit card information on a skimming machine in order to steal the information from unsuspecting restaurant patrons and other business customers, as well as bank employees who had information about high end customers. The information was then given to a team of manufacturers in Russia, Libya, Lebanon and China who put it on blank credit cards. These new cards were then used by these five main teams and their criminal shoppers to purchase electronics and luxury items totaling approximately $13 million.
Among those arrested were bank tellers, restaurant workers and other service employees who used the cards also to pay for their luxury shopping sprees and stays at 5 start hotels as well as travel in rented luxury cards and private jets. Communications seized by New York police were in Russian, Arabic, Farsi and other languages, which had to be translated into English. According to New York police, the investigation was primarily centered on an Apple case because thieves can easily sell Apples products overseas.
Hire a Criminal Defense Attorney
Identity theft, credit card fraud and related crimes are serious crimes in New York, and you should hire a New York criminal defense attorney to represent you. The attorney will aggressively defend you by reviewing eyewitness identification statements made against you and raising evidentiary issues at hearings in order to get your charges reduced, attempt to obtain community service, probation or get your case dismissed.
Medicare fraud is a serious federal crime. Medicare fraud crimes occurring in California are investigated by the Medicare Fraud Strike Task Force, part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), which is a joint Department of Justice-HHS effort consisting of federal, state and local investigators.You can stiff face fines, jail time, restitution to victims and insurance companies and loss of your professional healthcare license for committing Medicare fraud.
Acts of Medicare fraud include submitting bills for services that were never performed or submitting other fraudulent cost reports, billing more than once for the same services, falsely certifying or giving false information, ordering unnecessary tests (42 U.S.C. §1347, Social Security Act: 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(a), 42. U.S.C. § 1320a-7a(a)(1)(A) and (B)), kickbacks or self referrals (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b), 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7a(a)(7), 42 U.S.C. § 1395nn or the physician self-referral/”Stark” law under 42 U.S.C. § 1395nn(g)(3)). Medicare fraud can be committed by healthcare professionals such as doctors, dentists, chiropractors, physical and occupational therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, HMO’s, medical equipment companies and home health care providers.
Penalties:
Under the Health Insurance Portability Act Health, 42 U.S.C. §1347, anyone who knowingly or willingly defrauds any healthcare benefit program faces a fine or imprisonment for not more than 10 years or both. If bodily injury results because of the fraud, imprisonment may be up to 20 years. If death results because of the fraud, the imprisonment may be any term of years or for life. For making false statements under the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §1320a-7b(a) through (h), you face a fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment of not more than 5 years or both per offense.
Sample Case
Carolyn Ann Vasquez, age 46, of Los Angeles plead guilty on March 28, 2011, before U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. in the Central District of California to using fraudulent medical clinics and stolen physician identities to defraud Medicare of approximately $6,268,899 from 2007 to 2008. Ms. Vasquez instructed her co-conspirators to submit false claims to Medicare for reimbursement for services that were never performed by physicians and for power wheelchairs, medical equipment and diagnostic tests that the physicians did not order or prescribe. Vasquez admitted that she had instructed a physician assistant working at one of the fraudulent medical clinics to use clinic/physician prescription pads to write fraudulent prescriptions and order medical services for diagnostic tests, power wheelchairs and other medical equipment in a physician’s name who Vasquez knew did not work at the clinic. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 11, 2011. Vasquez could face a maximum 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case was brought by the Medicare Fraud Strike Task Force, part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), which is a joint effort between the Department of Justice and HHS. The case is also being investigated by the FBI.
If you are arrested or accused of Medicare fraud, you should hire a California Medicare fraud attorney to defend you. The attorney may be able to raise the defenses of mistake, misunderstanding, that you are a victim and you may be able to testify against those who committed the fraud, or argue illegal evidence or violation of civil rights to get your case dismissed or charges reduced to a lesser offense and/or penalties.
Under California Penal Code Sections 518 to 527, the crime of extortion involves “obtaining of property from another, with his consent, or the obtaining of an official act of a public officer, induced by a wrongful use of force or fear, or under color of official right”. Threats do not need to be physical. Extortion is both a California criminal offense and a federal offense of blackmail under 18 U.S.C. Section 873 when it involves interstate commerce, the use of a computer, telephone or if threats occur on federal property. Extortion is generally charged as a felony. You may face fines not exceeding $10,000 and imprisonment up to four years for an extortion conviction.
Case Example
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department detectives have been investigating whether actor Mel Gibson was a victim of extortion and have presented their results to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office on February 16, 2011. Officials have been investigating Gibson’s claims that his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, allegedly extorted $10 million from Gibson in exchange for not releasing some embarrassing voicemails of Gibson terrorizing her. There was also a report that Ms. Grigorieva may have texted Gibson about her intentions. Gibson and Grigorieva had been in a bitter child custody battle over their two-year-old daughter, which was settled in May 2010. Gibson and Grigorieva signed a child custody settlement agreement whereby Gibson gave her child support, a house and joint custody of their daughter Lucia in exchange for her not releasing the tapes. He claims she reneged on the deal when the tapes appeared on the Internet. After the tapes were released, he claimed she was involved in extortion against him. She has consistently denied any wrongdoing. The case is separate from the allegations she has claimed against Gibson for domestic violence. The District Attorney’s office has been reviewing the extortion case since August 2010, and no formal charges have been filed against Grigorieva.
If you are under suspicion for extortion or have been arrested for extortion in California, you should hire a California criminal defense attorney immediately to defend you. You cannot be convicted of extortion if property or money was given to you, and there were no threats or force or fear. The attorney can argue lack of sufficient evidence or misunderstanding to get the charges dismissed. The prosecutor would not be able to prove that you committed the crime beyond reasonable doubt without proof of fear and threats.
California Penal Code Sections 548-551 make it a crime for anyone to willfully injure, destroy, secrete, abandon, or dispose of property insured against loss, damage from theft, embezzlement or casualty (excluding fire, which is not included under the definition of casualty in this regard) with the sole intent to defraud the insurer, whether the property belongs to you or another person. You can be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances of the insurance fraud crime and the amount of money involved.
It is illegal to aid, abet, solicit or conspire with anyone to commit the following acts which constitute insurance fraud under California Penal Code Sections 548-551:
· Knowingly presenting a false or fraudulent insurance claim for payment for
loss of injury.
· Knowingly presenting multiple claims for the same loss or injury to more
than one insurance company with the intent to defraud them.
· Knowingly participate in a vehicular accident with the intent to present a false claim.
· Knowingly present a false or fraudulent claim for payments for loss
for theft, destruction, damage or conversion of any vehicle or vehicle part or the contents of a motor vehicle.
· Knowingly make a false or fraudulent claim for a health care benefit or
payment including worker’s compensation health benefits.
· Knowingly presenting any false or misleading statements to an insurance
company or to fail to disclose an occurrence or event
· Intentionally burning property (act of arson) to collect an insurance payment
or assist the owner of the property to collect a payment from their insurance company.
If found guilty of any of these offenses and the claim amount is more than $950.00, you face imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year and a fine not extending $10,000, or imprisonment in the state prison for two to five years and a fine not to exceed $50,000 fine, or double the amount of the fraud, whichever is greater. For a claim amount under $950.00, you face imprison in the county jail not to exceed six months and a fine of $1,000. You may also have to pay restitution in an amount determined by the court for medical evaluations or treatment services. If you have been previously convicted under the California insurance statute of insurance fraud, you will not be eligible for probation or a suspended sentence. You may receive an enhanced sentence ranging from two years to five years sentence for each prior conviction. A subsequent conviction is punishable by imprisonment in a California state prison and a fine of $50,000. Fines are doubled if the fraud involves an automobile claim.
Case Example:
Jeweler Lior Bitton, 36 of Los Angeles, owner of Pacific Diamonds and Gems jewelry store located in Westminster, CA was arrested for fraudulently collecting over $99,000 from his insurance company after filing a false claim to his insurance company reporting that a 4.21 carat diamond had been stolen when one of his employees had been robbed of 20 diamonds. Meanwhile, in September of 2009, Bitton had registered the same diamond with the GIA (Gemological Institute of America). The unique properties of the diamond act as a fingerprint in which to identify the stone. In March 2010, Bitton went to Israel and met with a diamond wholesaler. The wholesaler presented the diamond to the GIA. The GIA identified the diamond as the same diamond that Bitton had registered with them previously. He was arrested by Westminster Police and charged with one felony count of insurance fraud. He faces a maximum five year prison sentence in state prison if convicted. The Westminster police recovered the diamond and have it in their custody.
If you are charged with insurance fraud in California and you are convicted, you would not be able to obtain insurance in the future or you may not be able to find employment. It is recommended you hire an experienced California criminal defense attorney to defend you. The attorney will review all the evidence to make sure that the prosecutors have a case against you. The attorney may be able to get you a reduced sentence and penalties or get the charges dismissed based on lack of evidence or other defenses such as you were unaware of the fraudulent activity of another person.
California Penal Code Section 503 defines the crime of embezzlement as the “fraudulent appropriation of property by a person to whom it has been entrusted”. Basically this means you have taken property that someone has entrusted you with and used it for your own personal benefit. Embezzlement crimes are also referred to as employee theft or employee fraud. Depending on the value of the money or goods taken, you can be charged with either a petty theft crime or a grand theft crime.
Penalties
· Penalties for theft crimes in California are set forth under California Penal Code Sections 487 and 503-515 as follows:
· Theft crimes involving values less than $950 are considered petty theft crimes and carry up to six months jail time and a $1,000 fine.
· Theft crimes involving values over $950 are considered grand theft crimes and penalties range from up to one year jail time and a maximum $1,000 fine to 16 months, or two or three years jail time and a maximum $10,000. When property taken belongs to a state, county or city government, the theft is a felony crime.
Case Example
On October 7, 2010, Susan Elaine Nash, 43, of Redding, CA was arrested at her home on the 2700 block of Alfreda Way at 10:35 a.m. on suspicion of embezzling approximately $27,000 from her former employer, OES Sheet Metal between December 2009 and June 2010. The owner reported Ms. Nash’s possible embezzlement to police in June 2010. Ms. Nash worked as the bookkeeper at OES Sheet Metal. Redding Police Department Financial Crimes Unit alleges that Nash wrote 37 separate checks made out to her and then cashed them at the local market without the business owner’s knowledge. Police reported that she has confessed to stealing the funds. She has been booked into the Shasta County jail instead of posting a $10,000 bail.
Defenses
If you are charged with embezzlement, you should hire a California criminal defense attorney to defend you. The attorney may be able to fight the crime by questioning evidence leading to conclusions that you may have committed the crime and claiming you are a victim and that someone is trying to blame you for the crime. You may also be able to work out a plea agreement for restitution or agreeing to return the funds to the party you took them from in exchange for them agreeing to drop the charges against you or getting the charges reduced to a lesser crime. For crimes involving $50 or less, the charges may be reduced to an infraction and a $250 fine.
White collar crime continues to make headlines. Jamil Murni, 60 lives in Houston Texas and has been a Commodity Manager for the Royal Caribbean Cruises since 2000. His everyday job was to negotiate fair fuel prices and monitor delivery for Royal Caribbean.
This month an indictment was entered against Murni, charging him with one count of money laundering and nine counts of wire fraud in Miami, Florida. According to records from 2003 until later 2006 he orchestrated a scheme and defrauded his employer of more than $625,000.
Florida’s indictment stated he opened via the internet a registered fictitious name called “Sea Fuels Trading”. Florida Department of State’s Division of Corporations confirms such a filing. Then he used his position at Royal Caribbean to gain a contract with them and his new company, Sea Fuels Trading. He never released his ownership or connection with his employer before or during the term of the contract. Therefore, he continued to be employed at Royal Caribbean and sought monumental benefits from the fuel sales at the same time. It was also concluded that the amounts paid to Murni’s company where at a much higher rate than if they used any other legitimate fuel company.
Today more and more white collar and internet crimes are becoming public. In 2002, Senate adopted a 97-0 vote, doubling the original five-year maximum prison sentence for wire fraud to ten years. In hope of deterring such actions as Murni is being accused of. However, the issue remains of the difficult and expensive nature such crimes are to prosecute. The evidence needed in such cases is complex and lengthy to obtain. Complicated rules of law can be interpreted in various different ways.
Defendants in white collar crime cases usually are able to afford top tier Attorneys and aren’t fast to make a plea bargain. For one thing, the limits set by Congress for sentencing in federal cases are not what determine actual sentences in real-world cases. Those are controlled by sentencing guidelines, and the guidelines almost always specify penalties below the maximum. Judges no longer are free to set sentences on their own, and have lost their discretion to opt for maximum penalties if those would go beyond rule ranges.
Last week Bernard Madoff, former NASDAQ chairman, was arrested and charged with carrying out what may be the largest case of financial fraud in history.
For decades, Madoff maintained a reputation of reliability on Wall Street. In 1960 he founded Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and had since earned the trust of the global financial community.
His good reputation made it all the more shocking when it was discovered that Madoff had been arrested and charged with allegedly running a “Ponzi scheme” disguised as a legitimate hedge fund.
Investors from around the globe who were caught up in the scam suddenly had to cope with the realization that they had lost millions and in some cases billions of dollars. The combined losses to investors are approximated to be about $50 billion.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that involves paying disproportionately high returns to investors out of money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from the profit made from real business dealings.
With the promise of large returns as bait:
When FBI agents arrived at Madoff’s $7 million Manhattan apartment to arrest him for fraud, he admitted to agents that, “There is no innocent explanation,” and that he, “paid investors with money that wasn’t there.”
U.S. prosecutors have charged Madoff with a single count of securities fraud. He faces up to:
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed separate civil charges against Madoff.
The list of those affected by Madoff’s $50 billion con-job is rapidly growing. Every day since his arrest a new investment firm, bank, charity, or celebrity add themselves to the list of those who’ve been deceived. Some of the more notable fraud victims include:
(Source: Yahoo News, Reuters)
Have you been charged with a crime? If so, contact us today to talk to an experienced criminal law attorney who will provide you with the legal support you need to get your charges reduced, if not dropped altogether.
Owners of the Saigon Grill restaurants in Manhattan, New York have just been charged with over 400 counts of criminal acts, including fraud, minimum wage violations and witness tampering. Simon and Michelle Nget, the owners of the two trendy Asian eateries, have pled not guilty to all charges.
According to authorities, the Ngets have committed a series of felonies over the past few years. Among their most prevalent crimes were violating minimum wage laws and creating false business documents.
In the upcoming trial, prosecutors plan on proving that:
While this can be a legitimate practice in particular circumstances, according to prosecutors, the Ngets’ so-called “policies” were absurd, and the associated fees were illegal and obscenely high. Between $20 and $200 would be deducted from workers’ paychecks upon policy violations.
In one notable example, the Ngets allegedly charged a worker for letting a door slam as he left the restaurant.
Along with these minimum wage violations, each defendant has also been indicted on the following Class E felonies:
Defense lawyers for the Ngets have stated that none of the alleged charges is valid and that restaurant employees are lying about such criminal acts. Currently, Simon Nget is free on a $50,000 bail bond. Michelle Nget is free on a $20,000 bail bond.
(Source: New York Times)
Have you been charged with a crime? If so, contact us today to talk to an experienced professional who will provide you with the legal support you need to get your charges reduced, if not dropped altogether.
On Nov. 24, President George W. Bush issued pardons for 14 convicted felons and sentenced commutations for two other individuals. None of the more famous applicants were among this group, but there are two remaining months of the presidential administration in which their requests may be granted.
The individuals who received clemency had committed the following crimes:
The two sentence commutations (shortening) were for drug crimes.
A question that has not been answered by these latest grants is whether President Bush will issue “blanket” pardons for all of the many administration officials and intelligence officers who participated in torture-related activities and counterterrorism programs such as the al Qaeda interrogations.
The only well-known recipient of President Bush’s clemency powers is I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury in 2007. His sentence was commuted last year.
Other “celebrity” felons awaiting an answer to their pardon/commutation requests are:
Relatively Few Pardons and Commutations So Far
To date, President Bush has granted eight sentence commutations and 171 pardons, which is less than half as many as those issued separately by two-term Presidents Clinton and Reagan. According to White House spokesman Carlton Carroll, President Bush “will continue to carefully review clemency requests and make determinations on a case-by-case basis.”
(Source: New York Times)
Do You Need Legal Help? If you’re interested in obtaining a presidential pardon or sentence commutation for yourself or a family member, contact us to speak with an experienced criminal defense attorney in your area.
Federal prosecutors have begun presenting their side of a computer crime case against Lori Drew, a 49-year old woman accused of setting up a fake MySpace account to taunt one of her daughter’s former friends, Megan Meier.
Megan committed suicide in October 2006 after receiving a series of cruel messages from Drew’s alleged fake MySpace account.
Drew is facing charges, including:
Such federal charges have come into play because, although Drew and Megan lived and interacted in Missouri, the MySpace servers are located in California. Consequently, the trial proceedings are being conducted in the state of California.
According to prosecutors, Drew:
The final online exchange included Evans telling Megan that the world would be better without her. To this, Megan responded that Evans was “the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over.” Following this last message, Megan hanged herself.
If convicted on all counts, Drew faces upwards of 15 years in prison.
(Source: New York Times)
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