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Serving Beaumont, Orange, Port Arthur, and Surrounding Areas Of Texas

Federal and White Collar Crime

Many people are affected by criminal law in Texas. Criminal laws and procedure define the term criminal law. Criminal law consists of a number of different types of crimes. Federal and white-collar crimes are all a part of criminal law. An example of these types of crimes is consumer fraud. The following information on criminal law is provided by the criminal defense attorneys at Bush Lewis, located conveniently close to Houston, Texas.

Federal and White Collar Crimes

Federal crimes are serious offenses - they have much higher stakes than state crimes. If you have been accused of breaking any such law, you are going to need excellent legal representation. If the odds are against you, only experienced, highly trained criminal defense attorneys have the skills and tenacity needed to help you avoid serving jail time, paying exorbitant fines, or having a felony on your record.

Federal crimes include a wide range of offenses, although most involve theft of substantial amounts of money, bribery, drug trafficking, and criminal offenders who cross state lines, such as a kidnapper who transports his or her victim out of state. Some of the most common (and most serious) criminal law offenses include fraud, drug manufacturing and/or trafficking, check fraud, telephone or Internet fraud, embezzlement, credit card fraud, identity theft, extortion, perjury, alien smuggling, and money laundering. Most of these fall under the heading of white collar crime, many are also a part of consumer fraud.

For further information on federal crimes, or if you are seeking assistance from criminal defense attorneys in the Houston, Texas area, please do not hesitate to contact our lawyers today!

In criminal law, white-collar crime refers to any offense committed in a professional or business setting. Typically, antitrust violations, bankruptcy, bribery, computer and internet fraud, credit card fraud, telemarketing fraud, counterfeiting, trade secret theft, embezzlement, environmental law violations, financial crime, insider trading, securities fraud, government fraud, healthcare fraud, identity theft, kickbacks, mail fraud, money laundering, public corruption, securities fraud, tax evasion, insider training, and insurance fraud fall into this category.

Of all of these crimes, identity theft is quickly becoming the most common - in fact, the U .S. Federal Trade Commission reports that more than one in 50 consumers will fall prey to identity theft this year alone. Many of these victims won't even be aware that they have been targeted until well after the crime has occurred, making it even harder to find the culprit. In addition, credit card fraud, too, is an all-too-common occurrence. According to many experts, roughly one in every 20 consumers has had his or her credit card or credit card number stolen at some point and used to make illegal purchases.

Further, experts at the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) attest that although 33 percent of Americans are victim to some sort of white-collar crime each year, only 41 percent of them report it. Such crimes costs the United States roughly $100,000,000 each year.

A Few Examples of White Collar Crimes:

• Embezzlement: illegally confiscating someone else's property
• Internet Fraud: using the Internet and/or computer to carry out a crime
• Securities Fraud: committing some sort investment banking or stock fraud, such as risky investments, churning, insider information, unauthorized trading, or malpractice
• Credit Card Fraud: using someone else's credit card to make unauthorized purchases
• Mail Fraud: using the mail system to commit a crime
• Insurance Fraud: making a claim to an insurance company for an accident that never occurred or a condition that doesn't exist

White-collar crime is illegal and punishable with fines and even jail time. It is a very serious offense that will be tried at the federal level. If you have been accused of a white-collar crime, you need the experiences of one of our criminal law defense attorneys to help you win your case. Please contact us today to schedule a consultation.

Consumer Fraud in Texas

Some of the examples above also fall under consumer fraud. Consumer fraud is an action taken by a company or an individual to defraud the consumer. The consumer is lead to believe that they are getting something that they ultimately are not. With Internet fraud, consumers may get involved with email fraud, such as buying into SPAM. Another example of consumer fraud is securities fraud. Stockbrokers, investors, and brokerage firms can lead the consumers to believe that certain stocks are worth more than they really are.

Consumer fraud is a serious offense. If you are in search of criminal defense lawyers in the Beaumont, Port Arthur, or Orange, Texas area, to represent you in your criminal law or consumer fraud lawsuit, please do not hesitate to contact our firm today.

 

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