A white collar crime is any crime that involves things that are not necessarily changeable—things like identity theft, money laundering, or perjury. Generally speaking, white collar crimes are crimes that do not involve only one specific victim. Maybe a company is the victim or maybe it is a situation where the government is the victim, but it is usually more than one victim, and involves either an organization or an entity. If charged with a white collar crime in Alexandria, regardless of the specific nature of the crime, it is helpful to consult with an experienced Alexandria criminal lawyer. A white-collar lawyer in Alexandria can help prepare you for trial and build a defense. To learn more call and schedule a consultation today.
Some examples of white collar crimes are perjury, embezzlement, false identification, or any kind of fraudulent assertion that somebody is making on the part of somebody else. Other crimes that could be included and considered white collar, are things like bribery and any pornography-based offenses. There is a whole range of information or charges that can fall under a white-collar crime and therefore warrant attention from an Alexandria white collar criminal attorney.
White collar federal crimes are crimes that are generally referred to as fraud under federal law, but they are very specific – each white collar crime is linked to the alleged violation of a specific federal code. State white collar crimes are organized similarly – a lot of fraud crimes are considered white collar when they don’t have a specific individual victim. The main difference between state and federal white collar crimes is the wording of the law and the elements that make up the state crime versus the similar federal crime.
Usually, the federal offenses for white collar crimes will be things that have been extensively investigated by specialized federal agencies. Situations that require much more sophisticated observation, investigation and prosecution are charged federally.
Generally, if somebody commits a crime that breaks federal law, it can be charged federally. If somebody commits a crime that is only illegal under state law, then it is only charged in the state.
The consequences of white-collar crime will depend on what specific crime a person is charged with. Different offenses will carry different consequences with them, but generally, white collar crimes are felony offenses in Virginia. Felony offenses can carry years in prison and extremely high fines, so the consequences are serious, although the possibilities will range, depending on what the offense is and what the facts of the offense are. Due to the potentially significant consequences, it can be wise to seek the aid of an Alexandria white collar criminal lawyer if charged with a white collar crime in the Alexandria area.
If somebody is charged with a white collar crime, there are a lot of moving pieces that need to be addressed that might not be there in a simple criminal offense. An Alexandria white collar attorney should be able to understand things like the criminal law and how to defend against that. An effective defense may also take a specialized knowledge of other civil matters—for example, business contracts. A lot of business law issues that come into play when somebody is dealing with a company frequently come up in white-collar cases as well. A white collar criminal attorney would be able to bring all of these pieces to the table to give an individual a comprehensive idea of what actually happened. An Alexandria based white collar criminal lawyer would also to be able to take that information and explain it to a judge or a jury who does not have that specialized knowledge.
A person should contact an attorney and hire an attorney even before that person is officially charged with a white-collar crime. If somebody even thinks that they are being investigated for a potential white collar crime, the earlier they retain a white-collar criminal defense attorney, the better it will be for the case. A white collar attorney in Alexandria will be able to do things like prepare for requests from the government or information that they are going to come looking for and the attorney will be able to tell an individual whether his or her assets are going to be seized or frozen, whether certain documents are going to be subpoenaed, and what it means when they are.
Somebody who is facing white collar criminal charges needs to hire an attorney as soon as possible to minimize the damage and help prepare a robust defense in the best possible way.
When somebody is hiring an Alexandria white collar attorney, the information they should have available is anything that they think could relate to the case. The more information, records, documents and such, the better. White collar cases are so complex and so complicated that it is important to tell an attorney about the business structure, if the case is related to that. It can be important to tell the attorney about any of the nuances that are part of an individual’s job or what someone is legally required to do and not legally required to do as part of the job. One might also discuss what kind of paper trail an individual should have been making, has the individual e-mailed people about this, and if is there some kind of record written down. Those are things that an individual should bring, along with anything else that an individual thinks relates to the case—any messages that people have been sending the individual, for example.