Charleston Fraud Lawyer

Criminal fraud is a catch-all term that applies to misrepresentations that precede thefts of money or property. To prove fraud, a prosecutor must show some deliberate act or a defendant’s failure to take steps to prevent wire or bank fraud, money laundering, identity theft, or other schemes that improperly deprive people of their assets.

A prosecutor might consider a broad range of activities to be criminal fraud. However, a Charleston fraud lawyer could advise you on the best response to an allegation. Our team of criminal defense attorneys could analyze the indictment, review the critical facts of your case, and develop the strongest defense to minimize the adverse consequences of the allegations.

What Are Some Common Examples of Criminal Fraud?

An experienced Charleston criminal fraud defense attorney could defend charges relating to:

• Investment fraud, such as Ponzi schemes, pump-and-dump stock and securities sales, promises of substantial returns for an upfront deposit of cash into shaky ventures, and false cryptocurrency or prediction market strategies
• Email and technology fraud, including phishing schemes that enable financial theft, false electronic invoicing, malware warnings that compromise login credentials, and ransomware or distributed denial of service attacks that lock users out of electronic systems while demanding ransom payments
• Insurance fraud through staged accidents, billing for health care services that were not performed, lies or misrepresentations on insurance applications, or deliberate destruction of property for the collection of insurance benefits
• Government services fraud, most recently seen in Paycheck Protection Program loans, Medicare overbilling, and nonpayment or underpayment of tax collections.

Fraud charges can be misdemeanors or felonies. If you are facing a fraud indictment, you need assistance from a knowledgeable lawyer who understands how South Carolina courts and prosecutors handle fraud prosecutions and could give you the best defense available based on the facts of your case.

What Defenses Are Available to Criminal Fraud Charges?

The applicable defenses in every criminal matter will always depend on the facts of the case. Fraud-specific defenses might include:

• The overall insufficiency of evidence proving charges beyond a reasonable doubt
• A good faith defense, to the extent that the individual charged genuinely believed that their representations were true or made an honest mistake about the truth of those representations, thus negating the intent element of the fraud crime
• The representations alleged to be false did not have a material effect on a defrauded individual’s decision to transfer funds to the defendant
• The defendant made a mistake in interpreting laws, for example, by believing they were not required to collect and remit sales taxes for certain types of transactions.

A Charleston defense lawyer always utilizes basic defenses against fraud charges, such as challenging the admission of evidence potentially collected in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Call a Charleston Fraud Attorney Today

Depending on the dollar value of the underlying alleged fraudulent activity, a South Carolina resident convicted of fraud can face prison terms of up to 10 years, significant fines, and restitution orders to make fraud victims whole. An attorney with experience in criminal fraud cases could minimize the worst of these adverse consequences through a strong defense and aggressive challenges to overzealous prosecutors seeking to make an example of a prominent fraud defendant.

A Charleston fraud lawyer is ready to fight on your behalf. Call South Carolina Criminal Law today to schedule a free case evaluation with him and his team.