San Diego Fraud Defense Attorney

The Most Common Forms of Fraud

There are many different kinds of fraud charges in San Diego, California, and they all depend on what the suspect is said to have lied about. It is worth noting that the specific charges you will face in San Diego courts will depend on whether you are charged in a state or federal court and what, exactly, you are accused of doing.

Financial Fraud Crimes

The most well-known type of fraud is simply lying to someone else to swindle them out of money, which commonly involves some form of mail fraud, wire fraud, mortgage fraud or securities fraud. If you are accused of financial fraud in San Diego, you must contact an experienced lawyer to help protect your rights.

Defrauding the Government

The government is one of the most commonly defrauded organizations around, with benefits fraud being one of California’s most common forms of fraud. Welfare fraud occurs when someone attempts to obtain government benefits they would otherwise not be entitled to. The most commonly defrauded programs in California include:

• Unemployment Insurance
• Social Security
• TANF (Usually called “Welfare”)
• SNAP (aka “Food Stamps”)
• SSI and SSD (Government-issued Disability Insurance programs)
• WIC
• Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program)
• Medicare

 Some of the most common ways people commit fraud against welfare programs include: lying on applications, collecting someone else’s benefits, applying for benefits using multiple names, illegally giving benefits to others, or a non-California resident applying for benefits as a Californian.

Other forms of fraud people commit against the government include: falsifying information on an official government form, lying about their state of residency to avoid paying registration fees in California, or illegally using a disabled parking placard. Tax fraud can also result in criminal charges, but this rarely happens except in the most egregious cases.. Tax fraud can also result in criminal charges, but this rarely happens except in the most egregious cases. Instead, these situations are generally civil matters that may result in massive fines but no potential criminal penalties.

Insurance Fraud Cases

There are many types of fraud perpetrated against insurance companies, but some of the methods that most commonly result in criminal charges include:

• Filing false claims
• Obtaining services with someone else’s name
• Falsely inflating losses when filing a legitimate claim
• Making an injury to get medical care or money from workers comp insurance
• Committing property damage (often arson) to get collect compensation for damages

A few real-life examples include: purposefully getting in car accidents for insurance money, falsely claiming property was stolen to collect reimbursement, or lying about the date of an incident that occurred before or after the claimant’s coverage period.

Insurance fraud cases are investigated thoroughly by both the insurance company and the police, so anyone accused of one of these theft crimes should call a criminal defense attorney immediately to help protect themselves.

Healthcare Fraud Charges

Healthcare fraud is another common crime, which can sometimes overlap with insurance fraud. These charges require a healthcare fraud lawyer in Vista with experience defending individuals and organizations. This crime can be performed by doctors, pharmacists and nurses, even entire hospitals, physician’s offices and pharmacies, or, less commonly, by patients.

Before you do something illegal, you may ask your attorney to answer any of your questions about the legality of a particular money-making venture that may seem ethically questionable.