Federal law (located at 18 U.S.C. 1956) prohibits the act of money laundering. This law was initially created as a method to prosecute various types of criminal activity, including drug trafficking. If you or a loved one is charged with money laundering, the resulting penalties can be particularly serious. One of the best ways to… Read More
White Collar Crimes
Washington DC Court of Appeals Decides Insufficient Evidence Case
Insufficient Evidence In Appeals Case An appellate case was recently heard by the Washington DC Court of Appeals, which was initiated by two defendants who had been convicted of possession with intent to distribute heroin and a third individual who was convicted of conspiracy to launder money. This case represents an example of cases involving… Read More
Defending Against The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is tasked with investigating all types of white collar crime, that occurs at the federal level. In this context, white collar crime encompasses crimes that are committed by people who are involved with businesses or the government. Fraud is one of the most common types of crimes committed by… Read More
Georgia Woman Sentenced to Federal Prison for Tax Return Fraud
In April of 2017, a Macon woman was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for a $60,000 tax fraud scheme, according to The Telegraph. The woman wept as she told a U.S. district judge that she fell into the wrong crowd and that was the reason for the crime. She opened… Read More
Banking Fraud: Who Must You Defraud?
In Shaw v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a violation of the federal bank fraud statute does not require a finding of intent to defraud the bank. Here, Lawrence Shaw stole over $300,000 by using fraudulent personal information of another person to move money out of a Bank of America account into… Read More
Pool for Insider Trading Cases Gets Larger
On December 6, 2016 the United States Supreme Court unanimously upheld a California insider trading conviction, which will make is easier for prosecutors to bring certain cases against many parties. This was the first insider trading case to be heard by the Court in two decades and resolves a question that has divided federal appeal… Read More
Impact of Johnson v United States on ACCA Constitutionality
There are several ways to challenge the application of the ACCA in court since the decision in Johnson. On direct appellate review. A decision invalidating the ACCA’s residual clause as unconstitutionally vague will apply in any case where the prisoners conviction has not yet become final Prisoners on collateral review per 28 USC 2255. It… Read More
What Defines a White-Collar Criminal?
The term “white-collar criminal” was initially coined in the 1930s, referring to someone who was committing financially related crimes in the workplace (hence the “white collar”). Today, white-collar crime generally refers to non-violent, fraudulent crimes of a financial nature, where money is obtained or stolen through deceptive means (as opposed to other more aggressive forms… Read More
Former UBS Executive Acquitted In Tax Fraud Trial
Raoul Weil, a former global wealth-management chief at Swiss-based bank UBS AG, was acquitted on November 3 of charges that he helped some 17,000 Americans evade income taxes by hiding their assets in overseas accounts. The case against Weil, dating back several years, was part of an attempted crackdown by the I.R.S. and the United… Read More
How Is a Crime Defined as a White-Collar Crime?
There is often some confusion regarding how a crime is defined as a “white-collar crime.” This is understandable since the term began more as an expression than a legal term. According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University, the term was initially coined by a sociologist named Edwin Sutherland during a speech he gave… Read More