What types of activity are commonly prosecuted as health care fraud?
Generally, schemes involving false claims to insurance companies, to Medicare, or Medicaid, paying kickbacks to people that come in to pose as patients to get phony prescriptions filled. In isolation, these cases are not always involving significant amounts of money, but I’ve been involved in cases involving literally hundreds of millions of dollars worth… Read More »
Who can be prosecuted for public corruption?
A public official who receives a bribe, for instance, anyone who pays the bribe to a public official for official acts, or quid pro quo type acts, anyone that aides or abets any of those individuals, or anyone that obstructs justice in obstructing the investigation of those types of charges.
What should I do if the IRS, FBI or some other law enforcement agency shows up at my door?
Most law enforcement agencies make it a practice to catch a prospective defendant off guard before they are lawyered up as we say. So the first thing you should do is be very respectful to the people that are there. Tell them, “Well, I would like to talk to you,” even though you might… Read More »
What is wire fraud and how is it different from mail fraud?
Basically fraud as a crime, whether it’s state or federal, involves obtaining money or property from another person through false pretenses or false representations. What makes it a federal crime is the use of some federal-type facility, a federally-related facility. In the case of wire fraud, the scheme has to involve the use of… Read More »
What is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)?
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or the FCPA as it’s commonly known is a law that’s designed to prevent certain persons from paying bribes to foreign officials in exchange for obtaining or retaining business.
What is RICO and what does it have to do with racketeering?
RICO is racketeering. RICO stands for Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations. And basically it was a statute that was designed in the early 1970s to combat the mafia. And specifically, to target criminal organizations that had several aspects to it. And what it does is it gives the prosecutor the tools to go after… Read More »
What is money laundering and why does it matter if an indictment contains a money laundering count?
In order to be convicted of a RICO charge, a defendant has to be shown to have participated in a pattern of racketeering acts, at least two. Those two acts can be acts related to extortion, bribery, money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud, all sorts of acts that are specifically alleged in the statute.
What is considered racketeering activity?
In order to be convicted of a RICO charge, a defendant has to be shown to have participated in a pattern of racketeering acts, at least two. Those two acts can be acts related to extortion, bribery, money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud, all sorts of acts that are specifically alleged in the statute.
What is a target letter?
A target letter is basically a letter that a prosecutor sends out when they’re just about finished with their investigation, giving the potential defendant the opportunity to come into grand jury to answer questions. It’s never in your best interest to go into the grand jury unprotected without any grant of immunity and answer… Read More »
What is a federal grand jury?
Under the United States Constitution every person has a right to have a independent body determine whether or not there’s probable cause to believe that they should have a matter brought to a jury trial. That function is served by a Federal Grand Jury. A Federal Grand Jury is nothing more than 23 citizens… Read More »
