Under the Bankruptcy Code, creditors, trustees, and other interested parties may look into a debtor’s assets, liabilities, and activities. The law provides them with many tools to obtain such information and this is how bankruptcy fraud is often detected.

One discovery tool is checking the reporting documents which debtors must file.  Another tool is examining the debtor at a creditor’s meeting. Also, the Federal Bankruptcy Rule 2004 authorizes examination and compelling the production of documents of any party of interest. This is a very powerful method and it is widely used by creditors and trustees because of its broad discovery. In fact, the main reason behind 2004 examinations is to discover fraud, and therefore Congress gave creditors extremely broad rights in requesting and compelling discovery.

Every debtor who files for bankruptcy or any fiduciary who files for a debtor are obligated to file under oath and under penalty of perjury a list of creditors. They also must file schedules of assets and liabilities, income, expenses, and a statement of the debtor’s financial affairs.

Under Chapter 11, U.S. trustees are appointed to administer the case, debtors must file monthly operating reports disclosing their income, balance, monthly cash receipts and disbursements, operations, taxes, insurance, and personnel, and tax receipts. These reports are also filed  under penalty of perjury

If in the course of investigation the trustee detects fraudulent activity, the law authorizes the trustee to take legal actions. For example, a trustee may file an action on behalf of the debtor’s estate to recover fraudulent transfers if it is determined that a fraudulent transfer occurred. Also, they may make a motion in court to bring an avoidance action on behalf of the estate. Other civil remedies may include denying a debtor a discharge of all debt or some of debts or the dismissal or conversion of the debtor’s case.

In some cases, the trustee may determine that the case should be referred for prosecution to the US Attorney’s Office.

If you have been investigated for bankruptcy fraud in New York or New Jersey, call our New York bankruptcy lawyers at (212) 577-6677.

Medicaid and Medicare are federally established programs under 42 U.S.C. § 1395.

Medicare is a program that authorized federal financing of healthcare costs for the elderly. Under the Medicare program, the government reimburses the claims submitted by health care providers who are paid by private insurance companies, which are in turn reimbursed out of the Federal trust funds.

Medicaid, on the other hand, is financing program those with low-income. In New York, Medicaid is administered by the Department of Health through local social services agencies.

Any frauds committed against Medicaid or Medicare may be prosecuted under numerous federal criminal statutes, including conspiracy, insurance fraud, healthcare fraud, mail and wire fraud, etc.

Both beneficiaries and providers can be prosecuted for Medicaid and Medicare fraud in federal courts, although for practical purposes, beneficiaries who commit this type of fraud (generally by lying on their applications about their income and resources) are rarely prosecuted in federal courts in New York. In other states, federal prosecutors are more likely to make it a “federal case” out of this situation, while in New York practically all cases involving recipient fraud are prosecuted in state courts.

Healthcare providers are in a different position and are more likely to be prosecuted in federal courts for Medicaid and Medicare fraud.

There is a variety of reasons that can trigger a federal criminal prosecution of such case, including making material false statements, submitting false claims, or being involved in a kickback scheme.

New York is also one of the state that have established the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit responsible for investigating and prosecuting Medicaid fraud cases under the umbrella of the state Attorney General’s Office.

Successful defense of New York Medicare and Medicaid cases require a defense lawyer who understands how the reimbursement process works. Medicare reimbursement is a complicated system that uses various methods to pay various providers based on many factors.

If you have been accused of Medicaid or Medicare fraud in New York, contact our NYC Medicaid and Medicare defense lawyers today at (212) 577 6677 for an immediate consultaion.

There are numerous federal laws and regulations that criminalize tax fraud. Particularly, 18, U.S.C. §§ 286, 287, 371, and 1341. Although there are many situations where one arguably committed tax fraud, triggering an IRS investigation, it doesn’t mean that every investigation will result in criminal prosecution.

The IRS handles its investigations on two level – administrative and criminal. The administrative branch may conduct audits and make fraud referrals to the IRS Criminal Investigation division. Sometimes, a criminal tax investigation is triggered by referrals from other law enforcement agencies, or even third party reports.

If the subject of an IRS investigation is aware of it, every possibility should be used to prevent this investigation from turning into a criminal matter.

Once a matter is sent to the criminal investigations, it is assigned to an IRS special agent who will investigate the case further. Once the investigation is over, the agent will prepare a report recommending prosecution. The agent’s supervisors then review the report and if it is approved, the case is sent over either to the US Attorneys or the Department of Justice Tax Division for prosecution.

Sometimes, criminal tax cases may be investigated by the local US Attorney’s Office and put into grand jury without the IRS involvement, although such an action must be approved by the Department of Justice Tax Department first.

In short, tax matters, with some exceptions, rarely end up in criminal prosecutions and often a capable defense attorney may be able to prevent that if many cases, working out an administrative resolution, before charges are brought.

Because New York is a major business center a large number of tax investigations and prosecutions take place here. If you have been the target of tax investigation by the IRS or another government agency in New York, call our New York defense lawyers today at (212) 577 6677 to schedule an immediate consultation.

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.

In the aftermath of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, the SEC instituted a number of reforms, restructuring and procedure to better facilitate reporting, investigations and enforcement.  The most important change to the structure is the creation of several national enforcement divisions.

The purpose of these divisions is twofold; to restore public confidence in the investigating powers of the SEC and to unify efforts at tracking suspicious patterns of fraudulent activity and violations of US securities law.  These divisions include Market Abuse, Assets Management, Municipal Securities and Public Pensions, as well as a division that investigates violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

This restructuring makes SEC investigations more efficient by targeting hiring of expert analysis and a centralization of enforcement efforts.  Better surveillance and whistleblowing policy allow ensures that leads are adequately vetted, with proper consideration for the merits of a possible investigation.  The failure to follow up on tips was a point of criticism against the SEC in the last decade after several financial scandals come to light.

The reorganization of the SEC has led to increased scrutiny for many financial entities.  If you are under investigation by the SEC in New York, contact our New York white-collar criminal lawyers today at (212) 577-6677 for an immediate consultation.

When discussing what consequences a criminal conviction can have on an alien’s immigration status, it is important to understand the meaning of the terms.

The word “alien” refers to all individuals in a country that are not a citizen of the country they are currently residing in. Therefore, aliens include all legal aliens, resident aliens, nonresident aliens, and illegal aliens. Thus, the consequences of a criminal conviction apply to all individuals that fall under any of the four alien categories.

Now, a criminal conviction of certain crimes (either resulting from a guilty plea or conviction after trial) can result in the alien being expelled from the United States. There are two ways the United States government can expel an alien. First, the government can deport or remove you out of the country. Also, it may exclude or not allow you from reentering the country once you leave the country.

Title 8 U.S.C. section 1227 (a)(2) discusses what crimes can get an alien deported but generally, aggravated felonies such as fraud, forgery, theft etc. can get an alien deported.

If you or your family member are accused of a crime and have an alien status, you must have a defense attorney who understands the consequences of a criminal conviction before you plead guilty or go to trial. To speak with our New York City Criminal lawyers today, call us 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.

Insider trading typically involves the willful use of non-public information for personal profit.  Those that are privy such information have an unfair advantage on investors and in using that advantage cripple the confidence of individual, private investors that almost certainly lose, to the benefit of the insider trader.

Having a lawyer evaluate information and advise you on the legality of an investing action is critical to preventing insider information.  Forcing the public disclosure of investment actions by employees, executive and major shareholders is necessary to ensuring the fairness of investing markets.

It is here that most of the fraud related to insider trading takes place, as those that are intentionally breaking SEC rules will neglect to disclose these trades.  This of course will lead to a number of enforcement actions related to fraud and tax evasion.

There are a few tests you can perform if you are unsure if the advice you receive is illegal.  One needs to evaluate their position within the company and determine objectively that the information in your possession is not available to the public.

You must also not disclose this information as an investing tip, even if you do not profits.  By virtue of your position in the entity, you have a fiduciary duty to shareholders and violating this duty will lead to investigation and eventual criminal penalties.

If you are alleged to have committed insider trading or are under investigation in New York, call our NYC white collar crime attorneys today at 212 577 6677 for an immediate consultation.