San Diego Fraud Defense Attorney

The Most Common Forms of Fraud

There are many kinds of fraud charges in 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. Financial fraud may occur in many ways, including scamming people online or over the telephone, conning someone into giving up their property, or convincing someone they won a sweepstakes in the mail. If you are accused of any type of financial fraud in San Diego, including mail fraud, mortgage fraud, or securities fraud, you must contact an experienced attorney to help protect your rights.

Defrauding the Government

The government is one of the most commonly defrauded organizations, 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 common types of government aid fraud seen by lawyers in California include:

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

While welfare fraud can be performed by persons operating the programs and distributing benefits, in most cases, it is performed by benefit recipients. 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.

In most of these cases, recipients will be forced to pay back all benefits they received, which can quickly amount to thousands of dollars. Additionally, those convicted are disqualified from ever receiving future welfare benefits. 

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:

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

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.

Embezzlement

Many people accused of employee theft don’t even know what “embezzlement” means. While the basic definition of embezzlement involves taking money or property you were entrusted to care for, the law and the prosecution of these cases are incredibly complex, and any small mistake could impact your outcome later on.

Always hire a San Diego criminal defense lawyer immediately if you believe you are being suspected of embezzlement or any type of theft related to taking funds or property from your workplace, even if the police are not yet involved. It is sometimes possible to work out repayment agreements with the victim without having the police involved. If the police have already been called, it may also work to your benefit to repay the victim through the negotiation of counsel. Do not attempt to contact the victim without your San Diego embezzlement defense lawyer present, or what you say could be used against you later.

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, ask your attorney if you have any questions about the legality of a particular money-making venture that may seem ethically questionable.