The Department of Justice investigates and prosecutes cases where large amounts of money is alleged to have been taken. Examples of white collar crimes are money laundering, bank, wire and mail fraud, tax evasion, insider trading, insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, bribery and embezzlement. Of course Homeland Security, the FBI, the…
On April 5, 2023, the United States Sentencing Commission announced amendments to the United States Sentencing Guidelines that will come in to effect on November 1, 2023. Below is a summary of those changes as it relates to just fraud cases. Under proposed USSG 4C1.1, a client will receive a 2-level decrease…
This news article explains most of the details of Mariam’s law, a law that was passed just last week. It expands the restrictions on sex offenders. The biggest wrinkle that this bill has caused so far is the requirement to be fitted by the Department of Community Supervision with a device capable…
Meg Strickler recently signed up for some new adverting with Avvo So, after filling out all of these various things for the Avvo profile, we decided to ask some direct questions of managing partner, Meg Strickler Where did you go to law school? Emory law Have you tried jury trials at…
What is Bitcoin money laundering? Bitcoin money laundering is the process of using Bitcoin to conceal the origins of illegally obtained money. This can be done by transferring the Bitcoin to multiple accounts, mixing it with other Bitcoin, or using it to purchase goods or services. Some believe that Bitcoin transactions…
We posed some questions about cryptocurrency using Bard (Google’s version of Chat GPT), First we asked, WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY? Its response: Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security. A cryptocurrency is difficult to counterfeit because of this security feature. A defining feature of a cryptocurrency, and…
By Brandon Fitz Wire Fraud is a serious white-collar crime and is defined under 18 USC §1343 and states: Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises,…
By Maya Fouad Tax evasion is the most common federal tax crime and involves the failure to report taxes, reporting taxes inaccurately, or failing to pay taxes. Federal law defines the crime broadly; 26 U.S.C. 7201 states, “[a]ny person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade or defeat…
On May 17, 2021, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the establishment of the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force. On March 10, 2022, Garland announced Associate Deputy Attorney General Kevin Chambers as the Director For Covid-19 Fraud Enforcement. In August, 2022, President Biden signed laws that give the Department of Justice and…
The federal criminal appellate process begins when a person is convicted at the district court. A conviction can occur after a jury trial or after a plea of guilty. If a person has entered in to a plea agreement, the person may have agreed to waive many of their rights…