A white-collar crime lawyer helps you exercise your constitutional rights when you face criminal charges for insider trading, embezzlement, money laundering, identity fraud, or any other financial crime.
White-collar offenses are nonviolent financial crimes, including financial identity fraud, security fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement. Even though these crimes do not involve physical violence, they can be prosecuted as felonies if the amount of financial damage you caused is big enough. For example, you can get a sentence of up to 10 years for a first-offense financial identity fraud conviction. Therefore, if you have been accused of a financial crime, it is important to contact an Atlanta white-collar crimes defense lawyer as early in the process as possible.
A White-Collar Crime Lawyer Will Craft a Strong Defense
Financial records play an important role in many white-collar crimes. For example, money laundering involves making illegally obtained money appear to be legitimate business income; this can involve falsifying transaction records or else making transactions specifically for the purpose of obscuring the origin of the funds. Likewise, embezzlement is when you use money to which your employer gave you access for work purposes and you make personal transactions with it. If you get charged with a financial crime, financial records such as bank statements and spreadsheets of income and expenses may be able to clear your name by establishing reasonable doubt about the accusations.
A White-Collar Crime Lawyer Will Show That You Were Within Your Rights
The crimes of financial identity fraud and embezzlement involve a defendant who has access to someone else’s money or financial information. Embezzlement is when you use company funds, such as your employer’s expense account, to make personal purchases. Your lawyer might be able to show that, even though a transaction on the company debit card statement looks like it was for something non-work-related, your employer instructed you to make the purchase or gave you permission to use the expense account for it. Likewise, financial identity fraud involves using someone else’s identifying information to make a purchase or funds transfer without their consent. Your lawyer can help you argue that the alleged victim actually authorized the transaction.
A White-Collar Crime Lawyer Stands Up for Your Legal Rights
If you get charged with any criminal offense, including a white-collar crime, the law guarantees you certain rights, such as the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, and the right to remain silent when being questioned. Your white-collar crimes defense lawyer will ensure that law enforcement and prosecutors do not violate your rights as a defendant.
Know Your Rights and Work Together with Your Lawyer
Getting charged with a financial crime when you are a working person struggling to make ends meet can be scary, but a white-collar crimes defense lawyer can help you avoid the worst consequences. Contact Ghanayem and Rayasam in Atlanta, Georgia about your financial crime charges.