Our firm is defending more PPP SBA loan fraud and fraud by wire cases recently. Many more of these prosecutions are appearing plus conspiracy and money laundering are additional charges usually filed in these cases.
Fraud by wire cases involve the solicitation of monies or other valuables and subsequent conversion by the defendant of such money or investment funds belonging to the victim which can be an an individual or a company. The accused must have the specific intent of stealing the funds in order for a case by the prosecution to be successful. This type of fraud is usually charged when an individual or group of people reach out to victims by telephone in another state or by using the Internet and request money or other valuables and convert the money or property for their own use. These cases are investigated almost exclusively by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The federal indictment or other charging document normally relates to wire fraud committed in conjunction with advance fee scams where loans are promised to unsuspecting individuals looking to borrow money and are required to provide an advance pre-loan amount which is usually several thousand dollars. They are promised a much larger amount of money in the form of a loan if they provide the soliciting party with the advance fee. In general, individuals or groups of persons will operate on a large-scale basis seeking advance fees from numerous potential borrowers promising subsequent loans to them for personal use or business ventures. These loans are not forthcoming and the advance fees are kept by the accused person or persons.
Miami Fraud by Wire Lawyers
Another form of fraud by wire includes soliciting deposits for real estate ventures which are never completed or sometimes never even initiated. The fraud by wire charges also are often filed in cases where the defendant is accused of soliciting payment for products which are never delivered or interests in stocks, options or commodity purchases where the collector of the solicited funds never purchases the stocks, options or commodities such as precious metals.
Almost always, the U.S. Attorney’s Office adds additional charges which are included in an indictment which often include tax evasion, conspiracy and often money laundering. In order for these charges to be viable, the prosecutor must show beyond a reasonable doubt that it was the intent of the accused to deceive the victim of the fraud rather than simply soliciting funds for a business venture which failed. Also, the prosecutor must also obviously show that the victims suffered financial loss as a consequence of the fraudulent activity of the defendant.
Fort Lauderdale Fraud by Wire Attorneys
Fraud by wire cases are often difficult prosecutions for the U.S. Attorney because they must show specific intent to defraud on the part of the accused and that the case was not a matter of poor judgment or simply a business venture which turned out to be unsuccessful. This is especially true in cases where the accused actually invests monies given to him/her by the alleged victim for a real estate venture or other business which simply ends up in bankruptcy with no intent on the part of the defendant to use the investment provided by the complainant for his/her own personal benefit.