The economic downturn over the past several years has led to an explosion of federal criminal prosecutions for fraud and other types of economic crimes. Just because someone loses money in a business, this does not mean that a crime took place. However, we are seeing more and more situations where a person involved in a failing business not only loses his or her money, they also face the prospect of a criminal charge.

There are many different situations that can result in a federal prosecution for fraud or some other type of economic crime. There are many kinds of "fraud cases" including accounting fraud, bank fraud, false statements or fraudulent activities during a bankruptcy proceeding, bribery, fraudulent acts while using a computer, credit card fraud, forgery, defrauding a government agency, health care fraud, mail fraud, Medicare fraud, mortgage fraud, public corruption, securities fraud, tax fraud, and wire fraud. The one thing in common among all these different types of fraud cases is that each involves an allegation that the defendant either made a knowing misrepresentation about the facts, or concealed some fact, and this was done in order to induce another person to give up some thing of value.

In the past several years federal prosecutors have begun to focus heavily on certain types of alleged fraud and supposed economic crimes. For example, the downturn in the banking industry here in Georgia and other states has resulted in many investigations that focus on bankers and those in other financial industries. The collapse of the real estate marked generated a series of mortgage-fraud prosecutions. The high cost of medical care has resulted in a veritable explosion of criminal cases being brought against doctors and other medical professionals who are alleged to have committed fraud in some aspect of their practice.

In addition to fraud cases, we handle matters involving other economic crimes, such as theft, bribery, blackmail, and intellectual property offenses. We also represent employers who are investigated for or are prosecuted with violating immigration laws.

No matter whether a case is called an “economic crime” or a “fraud case,” these prosecutions have one thing in common. These types of cases are almost always extremely complicated. Such cases are often investigated by federal agents who have specialized training or experience, such as accounting or medical training. These cases quite often involve thousands or even millions of documents or electronic records. More and more we are noticing that such cases require specific knowledge of complex computer programs and systems. Attorneys handling such matters need to be a “quick study” in order to understand what happened, how to interpret the Government’s claims, and how to show that the client did not commit the crime under investigation or prosecution.

A person who is accused of an economic crime or an offense involving fraud or economic crimes needs an attorney who can cut through the complex aspects of such prosecutions. At Kish & Lietz, we regularly handle complex prosecutions. We are accustomed to handling the massive number of documents involved in these cases. We hire our own specialists when we defend our clients, including trained professionals such as accountants, auditors, retired FBI agents and the like.

If you or a loved one is investigated for or accused of an economic crime or fraud, you need to make sure your lawyer has experience in handling such matters. Our attorneys have handled hundreds of these types of cases. Should you like to speak with one of our lawyers, feel free to call (404) 588-3991, or contact us online.