Allegations of fraud leading to white-collar criminal charges may occur due to activities people engage in on their own time. For example, people may face fraud charges when they intentionally write bad checks to local businesses. Other times, allegations of fraud may stem from the actions people take at work. A variety of different behaviors can potentially constitute fraud and might lead to criminal charges against employees. Certain types of fraud can possibly also generate consequences for the companies that employ the person/people accused.
Certain professions are subject to more scrutiny because they have a strong association with fraudulent financial activity. For example, the following types of professionals are more vulnerable than the average worker to fraud allegations.
Healthcare professionals
Both licensed medical professionals and their support staff could face accusations of healthcare fraud. Healthcare fraud costs the private sector and the government billions of dollars annually. Frequently, the fraud originates with businesses and professionals who engage in inappropriate billing practices rather than with individual patients. Practices including billing for missed appointments, billing for higher-cost procedures and separating discounted services to bill for them independently at a higher cost could all lead to allegations of healthcare fraud.
Real estate professionals
There are many different types of real estate fraud. Appraisers might sometimes accept kickbacks from real estate agents or individual clients for establishing an inappropriately high or low market value for a property. Those who work in the mortgage sector of the real estate industry might alter the details on a client’s application or coach them into lying so that they qualify for more funding. Some real estate professionals even help facilitate entirely fraudulent transactions that may involve non-existent properties as a way of defrauding businesses when they fund the loan to purchase the property. The high price tag associated with real estate and mortgage fraud means that there is often more scrutiny on professionals in the real estate sector.
Investment professionals
Those who manage financial resources for others could very easily abuse their positions of trust for personal gain. Some professionals managing investment portfolios conduct Ponzi schemes where they use deposits made by new clients to fabricate artificially high investment returns for existing clients. Misrepresenting the risk inherent in an investment and manipulating public opinion are both also actions that could lead to allegations of investment fraud and criminal charges. Investment fraud often comes with an elevated risk of restitution obligations in addition to criminal penalties.
Professionals facing white-collar criminal charges related to fraud accusations often need help reviewing complicated evidence gathered by the state, which is one reason why seeking legal guidance proactively is generally wise. Fraud charges demand a careful and thorough response from the people accused if they want to protect their freedom and reputations.
