White Collar Crimes

Recent Overview of the False Claims Act

Published on: April 16, 2024 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

Settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act have reached a unprecedented high in the United States. According to the Department of Justice in a press release, there were 543 settlements and judgments in the 2023 fiscal year, which exceeded over $2.68 billion. In the release, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Boynton states “As the record-breaking number of recoveries reflects, those who seek to defraud the government will pay a high price.”

The False Claims Act (FCA), also known as the “Lincoln Law,” is a federal law that imposes liability on individuals and companies who defraud governmental programs. This includes submitting false invoices, making false statements to get paid by the government, or avoiding payment of money owed to the government. The law was originally enacted during the Civil War to combat fraud by government contractors supplying the Union Army with substandard goods; however, the FCA was strengthened in 1986, when Congress increased incentives for whistleblowers to file lawsuits alleging false claims on behalf of the government.

Under the FCA, individuals or entities can be held liable for knowingly submitting false or fraudulent claims for payment to the government. The FCA allows private individuals, known as “whistleblowers” or “relators,” to file lawsuits on behalf of the government and share in any monetary recovery. These lawsuits are known as qui tam actions. If the government intervenes in the lawsuit and recovers funds, the whistleblower is typically entitled to receive a portion of the recovered amount, often ranging from 15% to 30%. In fiscal year 2023, whistleblowers filed 712 qui tam suits, and this past year the Justice Department reported settlements and judgments exceeding $2.3 billion in these and earlier-filed suits.

Arrested at the Airport: What’s Next?

Published on: March 18, 2024 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

IMG_1293-768x1024 Airports are high security environments with strict rules enforced through law enforcement, federal agents, TSA checkpoints, drug-sniffing dogs, US Marshals aboard flights, and more. Being arrested at an airport is overwhelming, scary, and often times, completely unexpected. However, the consequences of these arrest can be serious and long-lasting. An arrest at an airport could lead to detention by law enforcement, criminal charges, and the need to retain legal representation.

If you are arrested at an airport, you may be taken into custody and transported to a detention center or police station where you will be held and processed until further legal proceedings. However, this does not always happen at the airport – you may leave the airport and later have a warrant issued for your arrest. In that case, you would still need to turn yourself in for processing with law enforcement. In either circumstance, it is essential to remember your rights, including the right to remain silent and the right to legal counsel. Contacting an experienced criminal defense attorney will help you navigate that distressing process with an advocate by your side.

Airport arrests can lead to severe criminal charges depending on the circumstances of your case. Common criminal charges in this context cover a broad range including drug offenses, sexual offenses, firearm offenses, DUIs, disorderly conduct, battery, theft, trafficking, and fraud. You could also be arrested at the airport for entirely unrelated criminal charges if you are simply identified and apprehended pursuant to an active arrest warrant, such as this recent arrest in Atlanta. Committing crimes while aboard an aircraft (like interfering with the performance of the duties of a flight crew) can lead to federal criminal charges and even more severe penalties. Many of these charges carry significant terms of imprisonment and hefty fines.

The Intersection of Crime and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

Published on: November 14, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

An NFT, or Non-Fungible Token, is a digital asset representing ownership or proof of authenticity of a unique item or piece of content using blockchain technology. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are fungible and can be exchanged on a one-to-one basis, NFTs are non-interchangeable and one-of-a-kind. As long as you’re following copyright laws and selling legitimate assets, creating, selling, and reselling NFTs is legal. However, due to the decentralized and anonymous nature of the crypto world, NFTs come with a host of legal issues. Like with most digital innovations, regulatory legislation has been slow to catch up and establish clear guidelines; still, wrongful use of NFTs can implicate an array of criminal charges.

Money Laundering refers to the illegal process of concealing the origins of money obtained through criminal activities, making it appear as if it comes from a legitimate source. This is criminalized under 18 U.S.C. § 1956. Money laundering using NFTs involves the illicit use of these digital assets to disguise the origins of illegally obtained funds. In this context, individuals create a fake record of sales on the blockchain by selling NFTs to themselves using different accounts. Once finished, they sell the NFT to an unsuspecting buyer and repeat the process.

Fraud has grown increasingly common in the crypto landscape due to its anonymous and decentralized nature. Fraud involving NFTs can manifest in various ways due to the unique characteristics of these digital assets. This is mostly being prosecuted as wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Some common forms of fraud associated with NFTs include:

Georgia RICO Defined

Published on: September 1, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

Trump has been indicted in Fulton County Superior Court.

So, what is RICO and why is it important in this case?

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, was original designed to fight organized crime. It was enacted in 1970 after being signed into law by President Richard Nixon. And, within a few years, Georgia enacted their own version, and of course, as years went by, both state and federal prosecutors saw opportunities to expand the use to other types of cases.

How is White Collar Crime Generally Prosecuted?

Published on: July 10, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

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 IRS, Customs and Border Patrol and SEC can also investigate and prosecute cases of fraud as well.

The government has a special United States Guideline Chapter dedicated to “basic” economic offenses. For purposes of this blog, this chapter will be discussed in more detail below. As with anything involving federal criminal litigation, nothing is crystal clear in the law. Therefore, there is also a chapter in the United States Guidelines dedicated to tax offenses, election fraud, gambling, and money laundering in the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

This USSG chapter DOES cover extortion, bribery, kickbacks, counterfeiting, embezzlement, health care fraud, computer fraud, insurance fraud, securities fraud, mortgage fraud, identity fraud, bankruptcy fraud, etc. What is most important in this chapter is the loss amount. All charges start off with a base offense level of 6 or 7 depending on the statutory max of the offense charged. Then, you look at what the “loss amount” is using the below table.

Loss (apply the greatest)	Increase in Level
(A) $6,500 or less	no increase
(B) More than $6,500	add 2
(C) More than $15,000	add 4
(D) More than $40,000	add 6
(E) More than $95,000	add 8
(F) More than $150,000	add 10
(G) More than $250,000	add 12
(H) More than $550,000	add 14
(I) More than $1,500,000	add 16
(J) More than $3,500,000	add 18
(K) More than $9,500,000	add 20
(L) More than $25,000,000	add 22
(M) More than $65,000,000	add 24
(N) More than $150,000,000	add 26
(O) More than $250,000,000	add 28
(P) More than $550,000,000	add 30.

The loss amount is a pandora box of confusion and the government is able to add all kinds of relevant conduct and intended loss conduct to inflate these numbers.

To further make things complicated, there are enhancements in this section that permit the government to add levels for things such as the use of sophisticated means, role in the offense, number of victims, a defrauding a charity, mass marketing, among others.

Navigating the federal criminal system is a task that should not be endured alone. Contact our team today for more information about we can protect your rights and your freedom.

United States Sentencing Commission proposed USSG amendments for fraud cases

Published on: May 18, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

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 to their offense level if

a)no criminal history points,

Cryptocurrency Fraud

Published on: March 30, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

We posed some questions about cryptocurrency using Bard (Google’s version of Chat GPT),

First we asked, WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY?

Its response:

Federal Criminal Law – Wire Fraud and Possible Alternatives

Published on: March 26, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

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, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation occurs in relation to, or involving any benefit authorized, transported, transmitted, transferred, disbursed, or paid in connection with, a presidentially declared major disaster or emergency (as those terms are defined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)), or affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both. 18 U.S.C.A. § 1343.

Basics of Tax Evasion

Published on: March 3, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

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 any tax imposed by this title or the payment thereof shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a felony. . .” The penalties for tax evasion can include significant monetary fines, imprisonment, or both.

To establish a case of tax evasion, the Government must prove three elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

DOJ NDGA add a New Pretrial Diversion Court

Published on: May 9, 2022 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

On April 11, 2022, the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta announced the creation of a new pretrial diversion court, the Accountability, Treatment, and Leadership Court “ATL Court“. It is formed with the Northern District of Georgia, the U.S. Probation Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Defender Program, and will be run by folks from each of these agencies who will be known as the ATL Court Team. Please note: The ATL Court is in addition to, and not a replacement of, the Northern District of Georgia’s existing Pretrial Diversion Program.

“THE ATL COURT MISSION: Our mission is to provide the opportunity to avoid some of the consequences of aberrant criminal conduct to certain individuals charged with non-violent crimes in the Northern District of Georgia who would most greatly benefit from intense supervision, education, or treatment.”

HOW ATL COURT WORKS