Corporate fraud is the name given to a set of white-collar crimes that are responsible for considerable financial losses, which can damage the economy of the country. Because of this, the Federal Bureau of Investigation takes these acts very seriously. The agency considers tracking down these crimes one of its highest priorities.
There are several activities that are of special interest to the FBI, the agency may work with others for a more comprehensive investigation. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Financial Industry Regulatory Authorities are some that the agency works with to investigate these.
- Corporate insiders self-dealing: Tax violations, corporate property misuse for personal gain, kickbacks and insider trading
- Financial record falsification: Regulatory oversight evasion, alterations of profit and losses, misrepresentation of financial conditions and falsifying entries in accounting
- Mutual hedge fund fraud that involves a legitimately operated fund: Improper reporting of net asset values, late trading and schemes involving market timing
These are crimes that are more likely to result in federal criminal charges. It is imperative that anyone who has a fiduciary responsibility and those who deal with investing ensure that they are handling all decisions and actions in a lawful manner so they don’t have to worry about being accused of any of these.
Anyone who’s facing accusations of these crimes is almost certainly going to be facing a case that involves a comprehensive paper trail. It’s best to start on a defense strategy as soon as you know you’re under investigation or right after the charges are levied. This gives you time to work with your attorney to determine how each of the accusations against you will be addressed in the strategy.