April 2011 - Federal Criminal Law Center

Florida attorney acquitted of bank fraud after 10-month trial

Posted by Marcia Shein
On April 29, 2011
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An attorney closing agent from Plantation, Florida, has been acquitted of 13 federal counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud after a 10-month trial before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. She was accused of taking part in a $7.9 million mortgage loan scam headed […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On April 27, 2011
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A 62-year-old woman who has served for 17 years as the Clerk of the Superior Court in Dawson County was charged by federal authorities yesterday with theft, tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud for allegedly taking approximately $134,000 from her job. She also faces state charges of theft by taking, Georgia’s term for embezzlement. Prosecutors allege […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On April 22, 2011
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A 29-year-old Nashville man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta for insurance fraud, Medicare and Medicaid fraud, and other crimes for impersonating a doctor and for persuading doctors in both Georgia in Tennessee to help him falsely bill Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies for medical services. He is said to […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On April 20, 2011
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When a 31-year-old California woman was convicted on federal charges of attempted smuggling of immigrants and drug possession, the federal sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence of between 36 and 51 months. Although there were mitigating factors, the judge sentenced her to the maximum term — because that would give her enough time in prison to […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On April 15, 2011
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An account manager for United Health Care in Tampa, Florida, was the target of a year-long criminal investigation after she was suspected of staging a car accident and pretending to be injured in order to obtain insurance money. The 36-year-old woman has been charged with insurance fraud and is being held in a Hillsborough County […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On April 13, 2011
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On the night of April 3, a mother and two children were found stabbed to death in their home near Lithonia. DeKalb County detectives found a knife at the crime scene, and they thought they had the murder weapon. Twelve hours later, a reporter from the Atlanta Journal Constitution spotted a large, bloody knife in […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On April 7, 2011
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When the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 was signed into law on August 3, it reduced the mandatory minimum penalties for federal crack cocaine trafficking and eliminated the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack. This week, the U.S. Sentencing Commission announced that it has promulgated the final amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On April 4, 2011
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In what the press described as “the latest case in which video appeared to undermine police testimony,” a San Francisco judge has dismissed drug trafficking charges against a 23-year-old California man after discovering numerous inconsistencies between videotape evidence and police testimony. The drug charges were filed after police allegedly found the man in possession of […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On April 1, 2011
0 Comments

According to a report by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a division of the U.S. Treasury Department, allegations of mortgage fraud reported by banks has grown exponentially over the past ten years. Unsurprisingly, the increase in reports year by year closely reflects the mortgage and foreclosure crisis and the downturn in the economy. It […]

Florida attorney acquitted of bank fraud after 10-month trial

Dawson County court clerk accused of embezzlement, tax evasion

Alleged fake doctor accused of health insurance fraud in Atlanta

Supreme Court: Can a federal sentence be raised for drug therapy?

Tampa woman accused of insurance fraud for faking car accident

Criminal defense lawyers, prosecutors both shocked by missed knife

Crack amendment to federal sentencing guidelines now official

Judge dismisses drug trafficking case; Video contradicts police

Mortgage fraud reports grow, particularly in Georgia and Florida