Under New York law, racketeering is the crime of operating an illegal business scheme for profit.  New York calls any such scheme a “racket.”

One of the most common examples of racketeering is known as a protection racket.  If you and your friends or family tell people that you’ll hurt them unless they regularly give you money, New York State might call that a protection racket. You’re telling people that they need to hand over “protection money” to protect themselves from you.

Threatening violence as a way to get money from someone once or twice is more likely to be classified as an average robbery, but an organized and ongoing venture is a racket.

Racketeering is a broad term: the protection racket is the classic example, but any illegal business can qualify.  Organized crimes of violence, fraud, drug trafficking, counterfeiting, sex crimes, and gambling can all lead to racketeering charges.

Rackets in New York are criminal under the federal RICO Act.  RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations.  Under this law, racketeering activity is punishable by fines, property forfeiture, and up to life imprisonment.

RICO also provides for treble civil damages – in other words, victims can sue you and recover three times the amount that they lost.

Racketeering charges are serious, and so a strong legal defense is essential.  If you or someone you know may have a problem with a racketeering investigation in New York, call our New York criminal lawyers of Joseph Potashnik & Associates at 212-577-6677 for a confidential consultation.

Sources: USAM 9-110; 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968.

Non-profit organizations, despite being creations of federal tax law, law under state enforcement for the purposes of fraud and other financial issues.  This means that nonprofits based solely in one state will be investigated by that state’s Attorney General and will be subject to its fraud and embezzlement statutes.  If the nonprofit exists in or operates in multiple states, then federal enforcement will become a factor.

Non-profit fraud in New York can happen in a number of ways.  For instance, a false charity, without an actual 501c3 certification, can collect donations for a false cause and never report that income to the IRS.  This is subject to mail and wire fraud statutes, depending on the method of solicitation used.  If agents or other employees solicit on behalf of the entity, their involvement and benefits from the scheme will be assessed and weighed against the involvement of executive offices and others that have a leading role in the organization.

Those that create false charities not only undermine the public perception of legitimate charities but also commit a litany of felonies related to tax, mail and other fraud statutes.  The federal government will investigate most case of interstate charity fraud, so to help you with your legal defense, call our New York white collar crime lawyers today at (212) 577-6677 for an immediate consultation.

In many fraudulent schemes, unintentional participants may discover their role either in illegal activity that has happened or about to happen.  One can avoid most legal liability if they immediately abandon the criminal scheme and report to the authorities.  Even if criminal charges are brought against you for possible involvement, you will be able to mount an abandonment defense, demonstrating that you left the criminal scheme, your arrest was not imminent and you cooperated with the investigation as necessary.

In the event you are used to commit a crime, through either manipulation or coercion, you may not be entirely free of legal liability.  Laws now ensure that the facilitator and planners of conspiracies will also face legal repercussions, but in order for those that do not plan the criminal act to escape criminal liability, they must show there was an impeding belief in sever bodily harm, an inability to escape and no perceived personal benefit from the criminal action.  You will also show good faith attempts to cooperate with the investigation as necessary.  A grant of immunity can be applied in order to implicate others that facilitated the fraud,

If you believe, you were unintentionally an accessory to commit a crime, contact our New York white-collar criminal defense lawyers at (212) 577-6677 for an immediate consultation.

Every state has a bar association that licenses and provides certification to those that have passed the state bar exam.  Most states require membership in the state bar in order to be able to practice law and states that do not generally have another standard that lawyers must meet in order to keep their certification.

Lawyer may be certified in multiple states and certification in some states may be transferable in other states, as per the laws set by the State Supreme Court of that state.

What constitutes the unauthorized practice of law varies by state.  This will range from representing a client in court to even filing out simple paperwork.  There are distinctions between lawyer advice and services such as petition preparation, and legal issues have risen from the apparent misleading of those that need legal advice into paying for services that do not constitute legal representation.

Being caught for the unauthorized practice of law is not difficult, particularly when fraud is involved.  Any individual that collects legal fees while unlicensed is committing fraud and will be prosecuted according to the jurisdiction where it took place.

As such, if a scammer has posed as a lawyer across multiple states, federal charges are likely.  If you are under investigation for this form of fraud, contact our New York City criminal lawyers today at 212-577 6677 for an immediate consultation.

The answer is maybe, as it depends on the nature of the spam and if it causes measureable harm to the recipient.  The CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act) of 2003 was an attempt by the federal government to regulate spam emails and assert federal control over marketing emails.  The enforcement of this law however, has been spotty, but the CAN-SPAM Act allows for private litigation to be taken by Internet Service Providers against spammers.

Since this legislation passed, the US government has been keen on prosecuting spammers that send unsolicited pornographic images, as well as those that send spam emails as part of a larger criminal enterprise.  The financial penalties have been severe, generally with unprecedented orders to forfeit property and a slew of criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.

Compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act is almost unheard of for those that send spam emails, but when spammers are prosecuted, the provisions of this act will be applied to their trial.

If you are under investigation by the government for sending spam emails in New York, a New York computer crimes lawyer is your best option at mounting a criminal defense.  To speak with our lawyers, contact us without delay, at 212 577 6677.

The short answer is yes. One of the principles of federal conspiracy is that you can be held accountable for conduct of others even if you personally did not do what they did. The Supreme Court ruled  decades ago, followed by a practically all circuit courts that if a coconspirator makes a incriminating statement and then you join the conspiracy, that statement can be used against you.

Federal court in New York explained that this is so because a new recruit can be assumed to have adopted what has occurred before his or her jointing of the conspiracy.

Still the government must prove that the conspiracy actually existed when the statement was made or else it will be inadmissible  against you.

If you have been charged with conspiracy in federal court in New York, please call our New York criminal federal lawyers at (212) 577 6677 for an immediate consultation.

Not at all! Federal conspiracy only requires an agreement to commit the crime. It doesn’t matter whether the crime has been actually committed. This has been the position of American federal jurisprudence for nearly a century. Unlike many other countries where the law does not punish conspirators for “plain talk” and requires the commission of the crime to hold defendants responsible, in the United States federal justice system will convict a person of federal conspiracy even if the substantive offense was never committed. Moreover, one can be convicted even where it was simply impossible for the conspiracy to succeed, or even if one of the “co-conspirators” was a government agent. In the words of the Second Circuit, which includes all New York federal courts,  the only thing that matters in a conspiracy prosecution is whether the defendants agree to commit the underlying offense, not whether their conduct would actually have constituted that offense.

One of the only few efficient defenses against the charges of federal conspiracy is the lack of agreement to commit the crime. Conspiracy accounts for the vast majority of all federal charges brought in New York. If you have been charged with a crime in federal court in New York, call our New York City federal criminal lawyer today at (212) 577-6677 for an immediate consultation.

Can I keep my house? My car? My assets? You can keep these properties, unless they are considered to be proceeds or substituted proceeds of the felony offense or are considered to be an instrument of the felony offense.

For example, if you have been convicted of money laundering in the first degree, which specifically ties to criminal sale of controlled substances, a class D felony, then your property is going to face criminal forfeiture proceedings.

However, according to the New York State Penal Law § 480.10, if the property being forfeited would be disproportionate to the defendant’s gain from the crime, then the judge may set aside, modify, or limit what the prosecutor wants to be forfeited. Of course, it is up to the defense to make such as point.

Within New York City, forfeiture happens after the defendant has pled guilty or been convicted after trial to a felony controlled substance offense. The New York State government cannot go into your bank accounts and retrieve your assets for forfeiture when you are charged with a crime; but they can still freeze it.

If you have been investigated or arrested for criminal sale of a controlled substance or money laundering in New York City, call our New York City money laundering defense attorneys at (212) 577-6677 for professional legal advice.

According to the New York State Penal Law §190.05, a person commits larceny by committing the crime of issuing a bad check when the drawer writes and hands over a check while knowing that he or his principal does not have sufficient funds to cover it.

Like most criminal charges, the police need to have reasonable suspicion that the drawer has had an intention to write a check that would be refused by a bank upon deposit.  Of course there are certain instances where a bad check was issued but criminal charges were not filed.

What if I claim that I had intended to deposit the necessary funds to cover the check?

Statutory law allows the drawer a 10-day grace period to the drawer or a person acting on his behalf to satisfy the amount of the check. If the defendant passed the 10-day grace period, he might be presumed to have an intention to defraud.

Although the issuance of a bad check is a class B misdemeanor it is often connected to a grander fraud of check kiting, which takes advantage of the bank’s float period to falsely inflate the balance of a checking account in order to allow written checks that would otherwise bounce to clear. In such cases, many defendants who are charged with the issuance of a bad check are subpoenaed to have their bank records reviewed by Federal or New York State forensic accountants, and other legal officials.

If that is the case, you may be suspected of committing a more serious crime than a class B misdemeanor. We advise that you pick up your phone and call a criminal defense attorney immediately before responding to subpoena.

At Joseph Potashnik & Associates, we have a panel of some of the most skilled New York City criminal defense attorneys specializing in various areas of white-collar crime defenses.

If you have been charged or arrested for issuing a bad check, or bank fraud in New York City, then call our office at (212) 577-6677 to get professional legal advice.

Yes and no, it depends on the situation and where the obscene material is located. Under New York law, police are generally required to obtain a valid search warrant before they seize any obscene materials, although there are some exceptions to this rule.

According to the Supreme Court case of Roaden v. Kentucky, (413 U.S. 496), it is not always up to the police to decide whether something is an obscene material. Unlike the usual forms of contraband in New York, such as narcotics and weapons, courts view obscene materials in a more flexible manner in favor of the defendant, and therefore such evidence may not be seized without a warrant.

However, if the obscene material has been upheld in a location that is open to the public, such as a bookshop, film shop and website, then warrantless search and seizure may be authorized. But prior to the seizure, an investigator must already have some evidence in hand for the court to determine if the material is obscene.

In many cases, the procedures legal officials follow to recover evidence can influence the way a case can turns out, especially if the seized evidence plays a crucial part incriminating the defendant.

When face with a warrant authorizing the search and seizure of either your home or your business, it is important to exercise your constitutional rights and seek legal advice from a criminal defense attorney before speaking with a legal official.

If a search and seizure warrant has been issued against you in New York City, then call (212) 577-6677 to get professional legal advice.