Doral White Collar Crime Lawyer

Lawyer for fraud cases in Doral FL

Fraud cases can be adjudicated in federal court, state court, or both. As a legal term, fraud is defined as an intentional misrepresentation that is made with the objective of illegally receiving something of value. There are many different types of fraud. Some examples include:

• bank fraud
• mail fraud and Wire fraud
• mortgage fraud
• healthcare fraud

BANK FRAUD CASES

Defrauding bank fraud has always been of interest to white collar criminals. Methods of bank fraud have evolved with technology and continue to become more sophisticated. Nevertheless, some fraudsters continue to use more traditional methods of running bank schemes. The term bank fraud refers to any deceptive scheme that involves a financial institution. Some examples of bank fraud are:

• credit card fraud
• check fraud
• account takeover
• ATM skimming

When credit card use became more common, fraudsters used physical means of stealing card information. Before today’s credit card processing machines existed, merchants created a carbon copy imprint of the customer’s card at the time of the transaction. Employees who worked at the place of business or burglars or people who would burglarize or rob the location would take the carbon copies. Once the thieves have the carbon copies, they use the customers’ credit card information to conduct transactions, access the customers’ accounts, and order new cards in the customers’ names. Similarly, physical theft of the card is a traditional method of credit card fraud. Thieves would steal customers’ credit cards from mailboxes or by taking people’s wallets and purses through traditional methods of theft.

Check fraud occurs in many different forms. One of the most straightforward varieties of check fraud is check forgery. Fraudsters forge checks by altering any information on the check including the date, amount, recipient, or the signature. Other forms of check fraud involve taking advantage of the time it takes for funds to cover a check to be removed from the issuer’s bank account. Check floating refers to the act of writing a series of checks from multiple bank accounts to cover each other without sufficient funds to cover any of the checks. By the time the bank removes the funds to cover the last check in the series, the fraudster has fraudulently withdrawn funds from several accounts with insufficient balances.

Fraudsters use ATM skimming to obtain bank and debit card customers’ information when they use their cards at an ATM or at a payment terminal. Unsupervised ATMs that are located outside and gas pumps are the most likely targets for ATM skimming. The fraudsters outfit the machine’s card reader with their own device that allows the customer to swipe a credit or debit card. When a customer swipes his or her card, the fraudsters’ card reader collects the information from the card. The customer usually assumes the ATM or payment terminal is malfunctioning. Later, the fraudsters obtain the stored card information from the device to use the information for an illegal purpose.

Account takeover is more common now that most bank accounts are accessed and serviced digitally. Fraudsters use cybercrime tactics like hacking and phishing to obtain bank customers’ log-in credentials. Once the fraudsters have the credentials, they can access the account to make transactions, change the account information, and open new accounts in the victim’s name.

MAIL & WIRE FRAUD CHARGES

Mail and wire fraud are separate offenses, but they are often mentioned together. An individual may be charged for mail fraud if he or she uses a postal service in the process of operating a fraudulent scheme. As telephonic technology developed, Congress passed the wire fraud statute that allows federal prosecutors to charge individuals who use telephonic and now internet technology to charge fraudsters who use those communication methods. Mail and wire fraud may each be charged as standalone offenses, or they may be charged in addition to other white collar offenses. Florida prosecutes mail and wire fraud cases under the state’s communications fraud statute.

MORTGAGE FRAUD

Any intentionally deceptive act that occurs during the process of applying for a mortgage loan is categorized as mortgage fraud. There are two main categories of mortgage fraud: fraud for profit and fraud for housing. The perpetrators in fraud for profit cases are usually people who work in the real estate and mortgage industries: real estate brokers, agents, appraisers, and mortgage loan officers. Fraud occurs when industry professionals use their insider knowledge and access to inflate the valuation of a property and sell the property for more than what the listing price should be. After a buyer pays the inflated asking price, the professionals who colluded to defraud the buyer divide the extra profit.

Fraud for housing most often involves an applicant who provides deceptive information on a mortgage application. The objective is generally to receive a better interest rate, qualify for higher loan amount, or to receive loan approval despite not meeting the qualifications. Investors will sometimes use a straw buyer, a person who applies for the mortgage loan and fraudulently claims the property will be his or her residence. When the bank approves the mortgage and the applicant purchases a property, the applicant transfers the property to the investor. Investors who use straw buyers illegally benefit from the more favorable financing terms banks are more willing to extend to residential buyers who plan to occupy the property.

HEALTHCARE FRAUD

Healthcare fraud is a broad term that refers to the act of making a misrepresentation to a healthcare insurance provider or program with the intent to receive a financial benefit. Some examples of healthcare fraud include:

• double billing
• unbundling
• upcoding
• phantom billing

Double billing refers to the illegal practice of attempting to bill an insurance company, patient, or a government program more than once for the same treatment or medical service. Medical providers may include duplicate charges on an invoice, submit multiple invoices to the same payer, or submit multiple invoices to different payers.

Unbundling occurs when a healthcare provider tries to receive payment more than once for a procedure that should be included in a service bundle. For example, if a patient receives a surgical procedure, closing the incision is usually included in the price of the procedure. A medical provider engages in unbundling if it charges the patient for the surgery and also charges separately for closing the surgical incision.

Upcoding occurs when a healthcare service provider uses a billing code on an invoice that corresponds to a service that costs more than the service the service provider performed. Examples include billing a patient for a panel of lab tests when the patient only received a urinalysis or coding for a name brand prescription drug when the patient received a generic brand.

Phantom billing refers to the practice of charging for procedures and services a patient never received. In phantom billing cases, the patient may be fictitious, the patient visit may not have ever happened, or the service provider may fraudulently add an additional service to an invoice that a legitimate patient never received during a legitimate appointment.

Reach out to a Doral white collar crime attorney

There is nothing glamorous about being accused of a white collar offense. If you are under investigation, or if you have been formally charged with one or more white collar crimes in Doral, contact the team at Joffe Law. We will review your case and determine the most appropriate strategies for defending you and potentially protecting your personal and business reputation. We are Doral’s federal criminal defense law firm when it comes to state and federal white collar cases. Call Joffe Law today at (786) 862-6553 for a case evaluation in and around Doral, Florida.

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