Tampa White Collar Crime Lawyer

With years of experience handling a wide variety of both federal and state level criminal cases, Joffe Law, P.A. is ready to help you defend your legal rights and protect your standard of living now. Our white collar crime defense lawyers have defended clients against a multitude of federal allegations, including:

Embezzlement

Embezzlement can be committed either by an individual or on a wider scale at corporate levels. While embezzlement charges are similar to those associated with direct theft, the surrounding circumstances of such cases usually are vastly more complex than those surrounding cases of simple theft. In many cases, embezzlement involves the acquisition of funds that were initially entrusted to a company, corporation or individual. The consequences and charges accrued will usually depend heavily on the amount of money in question. The circumstances surrounding the misappropriation of funds are usually related to employee cash theft, merchandise theft, or investment fund removal. In some situations, federal and state laws may overlap causing sentences to become even more severe. The penalties associated with embezzlement can vary greatly, including significant fines or lengthy prison sentences.

Forgery

Forgery often refers to either “document forgery” or the “forgery of checks.” Forgery charges at a federal often are paired with other charges, like counterfeiting or theft. Forgery convictions carry steep penalties and often are prosecuted at both state and federal levels, though circumstances vary from case to case. You may be charged with forgery for a few reasons, including:

• altering a document that didn’t belong to you without the express permission of the owner,
• the creation, transfer, or authentication of documents that have been intentionally changed to look as if they belonged to someone else,
• uttering (offering for use) a document that you know is a forged item,
• creating and or transferring writing that resembles a copy of an original when no original exists.

Other common examples of forgery include signing a check with someone else’s signature, falsifying academic records, counterfeiting currency, using a fake ID or using false documents to apply for a loan or credit line. While not all of these examples will be prosecuted as federal forgery, many may result in prosecution of this kind. Forgery convictions can carry serious penalties, which could include victim compensation, restitution, and heavy fines. An experienced Tampa white collar crimes attorney may help reduce the severity of the alleged charges and potential subsequent sentencing,

Tax Evasion

In the United States, tax evasion – otherwise known as tax fraud – involves the intentional avoidance or illegal evasion of the payment of federally mandated taxes by a taxpayer. Evasion and avoidance are separate terms that carry different penalties.

• Tax evasion is the illegal form of tax avoidance.
• Tax avoidance is the process of avoiding certain taxes legally while tax evasion involves illegal withholding of money for the taxpayer’s financial gain.

Title 26, United States Code, Section 7201 states that any singular person who willfully evades taxes will be subject to serious penalties. Corporate tax evasion lends to even more severe penalties. Tax law can be complex and requires in-depth knowledge of multiple tax codes and federal prosecution processes.

RICO / Racketeering

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act was created to help prevent and reduce organized crime in this country. It aims to reduce ongoing criminal activity and other types of organized crime. If you have been accused of RICO, there’s a good chance you’re also facing other charges. Any act that involves murder or the threat of murder, arson or dealing in controlled substances (like drugs) may be counted toward you in a racketeering case. Other activities that can contribute to a RICO charge include extortion, gambling, dealing in any federally controlled chemical matter or bribery. Racketeering is also commonly associated with any kind of gang or criminal group activity. Examples of these types of groups include:

• the mafia
• Operation Rescue
• anti-abortion groups
• organized political protest groups
• biker gangs

Money laundering

The federal crime of money laundering involves the concealment and transfer of funds illegally. Those who launder money have intentionally made efforts to conceal its origins from the IRS or other federal government agencies for financial gain or to avoid receiving criminal charges. Large sums of illegally obtained money, for example, can potentially draw negative unwanted attention when it has been placed in a bank account or invested in some other type of financial institution. Typical related charges involve foreign bank transfers that are illegal or not reported legally. Other types of money laundering use legitimate businesses as a front for some kind of illegal trade. Charges of money laundering are almost always accompanied by charges of tax evasion, and can be harsh.

Insider trading

Insider trading (securities fraud) involves trading practices that are constructed around access to confidential information. Insider trading on the stock exchange is the most common form. The penalties imposed or associated with related charges vary depending on the amount of money that has been exchanged and the legitimacy of the confidential information source. These federal cases can be complex. If you have been accused of securities fraud, immediately retaining a white collar crime lawyer in Tampa can mean the difference between receiving or avoiding criminal charges or prosecution.

Retain a federal defense lawyer near you

If you have been accused of committing a federal white-collar crime in Tampa or elsewhere in Hillsborough County, Florida, time is of the essence. Joffe Law, P.A.’s Tampa white collar crime defense attorneys are here to help you figure out your next move. Joffe Law, P.A. offers the kind of highly skilled and experienced legal representation that fits your complex federal criminal case.