What are the Most Common White Collar Crimes Committed?
The most common financial crimes in Georgia are business fraud, embezzlement, extortion, and money laundering.
Being accused of a financial crime has serious consequences. If you are facing criminal charges for a white collar crime, it is essential to have an experienced attorney by your side. Fraud, embezzlement, extortion, and money laundering are some of the most common types of white collar offenses prosecuted in the state of Georgia. The white collar crimes defense attorneys at Zimmerman & Associates have over 40 years of experience helping people who have been accused of financial crimes in Georgia.
Corporate Fraud
Corporate fraud, also known as business fraud, is when a person acting on behalf of a company, intentionally misleads clients or other parties with which the company does business, for the financial gain of the individual or the company that the person represents. These are some examples of business fraud:
- Intentionally failing to pay for products or services the company has received.
- Intentionally failing to provide goods or services for which customers have paid.
- Advertising non-existent products on Internet auctions and receiving payment for them.
Embezzlement
Embezzlement also known in Georgia as Theft by Conversion, when an employee steals money from their employer. It can take many forms, including, but not limited to, pocketing cash from the cash register before depositing the day’s revenues at the bank and using corporate bank accounts to pay for personal expenses. Embezzlers sometimes falsify the company’s financial records to conceal their activities.
Extortion
Extortion is when one person coerces another into paying them money or giving them access to their financial accounts; the coercion usually takes the form of physical violence or threats of physical violence. Blackmail is extortion where, instead of using threats of physical violence to pressure the victim into paying the defendant threatens to reveal incriminating or socially damaging information about the victim.
Money Laundering
Money laundering is a financial crime that involves concealing the origins of illegally obtained money. For example, the money might have come from drug trafficking, sex work, or the sale of stolen property. You did not have to participate in the drug sales, prostitution, or theft to be guilty of money laundering. All you must do to break the law is to deposit the proceeds from an illicit source into a bank account of a legitimate business (such as a car wash, restaurant, or dry-cleaning business). Money launderers sometimes falsify their business records to make it look like the money came from legal business activities. In the aforementioned scenarios, conspiracy charges may also apply.
Financial Crimes are Serious Business
Just because white collar crimes do not involve physical violence or illegal drugs, do not assume that you will not go to prison for financial crimes. If you get convicted of a financial crime, you could face a long sentence in state or federal prison. Therefore, it is important to have a criminal defense lawyer represent you if you get accused of a financial crime.
Contact Zimmerman & Associates About Financial Crimes Defense
An Atlanta financial crimes defense lawyer can help you avoid a long prison sentence if you are facing criminal charges for corporate fraud, embezzlement, or any other financial crime. Contact Zimmerman & Associates in Norcross, Georgia to set up a free consultation.