FRAUD

When you have been charged with a federal crime, the government will do everything it can to convict you. Being convicted of fraud can land you in prison and destroy your chances to have a normal life even after you are released. Attorney James W. Burdick focuses primarily on federal criminal defense matters with special attention to fraud cases involving white collar crime, money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud and health care fraud. He has represented clients in high-profile fraud cases and has received national acclaim for his successes and the tenacity with which he fights for his clients.

As science and investigative tools have changed, criminal cases have become increasingly technical when forensic evidence is reviewed. Additionally, State and Federal laws have changed in important ways that give investigators and prosecutors vastly more leeway in monitoring and surveillance of just about anyone. As a highly experienced criminal defense attorney, Jim Burdick is prepared to meet these challenges, working with experienced private investigators who are retired federal agents; computer experts; and forensic accountants whenever necessary.

Don’t hesitate to call us today at 248-335-5000, if you are facing an investigation or criminal indictment related to any of the following fraud charges:

• Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud: These statutes, which used to carry a five-year maximum penalty, have been amended to carry 20-year prison sentences. Any kind of fraud that involves the use of a telephone, e-mail, cell phone or a computer or U.S. Mail is employed constitutes either mail for wire fraud, or both. (There is almost no such thing as a fraud that doesn’t involve mail or electronic communications.)
• Credit Card or Bank Fraud: Bank fraud carries the highest maximum sentence of any of these fraud charges: a 30-year maximum sentence. (The influential banks, of course, wrote this legislation and pressed congress to impose this draconian penalty.)
• Embezzlement: Embezzlement carries a 10-year maximum sentence and includes stealing from an employer or client.
• Tax Fraud: Tax fraud includes filing false returns, understating actual income, and the like, and carries a five-year maximum sentence.
• Money Laundering: There are two money laundering statutes used by the government. The first one is a maximum 20-year sentence and it covers anyone convicted of hiding or concealing the source or ownership of funds obtained through “specified unlawful activities.” That includes pretty much all crimes. The other money laundering statute carries “only” a 10-year penalty, but it’s a far easier charge to prove since the government only has to show that the defendant engaged in any kind of financial transaction – which includes buying a car, buying a house, even paying child support knowing that some of the money came from some specified unlawful activity.
• Conspiracy: Working together with one or more other people to commit pretty much any federal crime carries a five-year maximum sentence of its own. It is typically charged along with “substantive” charges, each of which carries its own maximum prison sentences.
• Internet Crimes: Internet crimes include spam operations; counterfeiting; interception of someone else’s electronic communications which includes telephones, e-mail, texts and other such things; hacking into someone’s computer; creating or using malware to infect other computers; and all manner of other illicit uses of the computer.