Cape Cod White Collar Crimes
Being charged with a white collar criminal offense puts your career, your rights, and your future at risk. It’s vital that you understand what you’re dealing with and how you can protect yourself from life-changing penalties. Here’s everything you need to know.
What Is a White Collar Crime?
A white collar criminal offense is a type of non-violent crime that generally takes place at a place of business or within a company. Depending on the circumstances of the case and the reputation of the company charged with illegal activity, it may be considered a “high profile” case. For example, a white collar crime could be:
- Forging someone’s signature
- Stealing someone’s identity
- Committing fraud
- Not paying your taxes
- Extorting someone else
- Laundering money
- Stealing mail
- Insider trading
What to Do After an Arrest for White Collar Crime
If you’ve been accused of perpetrating white collar crime, you may already be aware that law enforcement is investigating you before you are ever formally charged. However, the police may be limited in their search at first unless and until sufficient evidence is uncovered to make a case for your arrest. Once this happens, police can ask a court to approve a search warrant for private information like your computer files, email and text messages, phone call records, and other potentially incriminating information.
Although some individuals wait until after they’ve been arrested for criminal activity to retain legal counsel, you can actually do so as soon as you learn you’re being investigated. Getting legal advice as soon as possible in your case can help you build a solid defense.
Potential Defenses Against White Collar Crimes
There are a range of plausible defenses to white collar criminal accusations, depending the unique circumstances of the crime and what evidence is available to prove or disprove your guilt. Some of the most common defenses are as follows:
- You had no knowledge that what you were doing was unlawful
- Your actions weren’t actually illegal at all
- It wasn’t you who committed the crime and law enforcement have mistaken your identity
- You had no intent to break the law
- You were deceived by police and a victim of entrapment
Call a Cape Cod Criminal Defense Lawyer Now
After being charged with a white collar crime, you need to act fast. Call Cape Cod criminal defense lawyer Thomas Kokonowski at 774-561-2689.