Most people even marginally familiar with criminal law and evidentiary issues understand that there is a special relationship and privilege between a lawyer and his/her client and that a defendant’s lawyer would never be able to testify against the client in a criminal trial. However, that seemingly obvious conclusion may…
As we have discussed several times on this blog, the federal government, and to a lesser extent the state government, focuses on different types of crimes depending on the prevailing attitudes and issues of the moment. We have seen the government shift its focus from terrorism to mortgage fraud to…
A federal grand jury recently indicted a group of people based on prosecutors’ allegations that they participated in a scheme to defraud mortgage brokers out of $1.8 million in thirteen different real estate transactions. The charges allegedly involve Access E-Mortgage, Inc., a company out of St. Augustine, Florida. Based on…
Federal authorities arrested a Gainesville, Florida man for allegedly creating a Ponzi scheme and stealing approximately $30 million from people who thought they were investing their money with the suspect in foreign exchange markets, according to an article on News4Jax.com. According to the article, the suspect solicited funds from people…
Harry Shorstein, recently the five term State Attorney for the Jacksonville, Florida area (encompassing Duval County, Clay County and Nassau County) and General Counsel for the City of Jacksonville, has been in private practice now for almost two years with Lasnetski Gihon Law. He has handled a wide variety of…
Federal prosecutors recently charged 73 people, from Georgia to California, for allegedly defrauding Medicare out of $163 million, according to an article on Foxnews.com. The people arrested were apparently setting up fake doctor-patient relationships and billing Medicare for medical services that were never performed. More traditional Medicare fraud involves doctors…
As criminal defense lawyers in Jacksonville, Florida, we handle all varieties of criminal cases. Every now and then, the police will set up a sting or establish a particular focus on a particular crime. This often results in the arrest of people who actually commit that crime as well as…
In a Florida mortgage fraud case, the police obtained an arrest warrant for a person they claimed had obtained fraudulent mortgage loans by using straw buyers and falsifying salary and employment information on loan documents. The police located the suspect driving near her home, stopped her vehicle and arrested her.…
In federal criminal cases charging a defendant with fraud relating to the operation of a business, a common defense is asserted that the defendant relied upon the advice of a professional or other advisor, such as an accountant, and had the right to assume his/her conduct was legal. In a…
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced criminal charges against 94 people relating to Medicare and Medicaid fraud which is reportedly the largest health care fraud sting in U.S. history, according to an article on SFgate.com. The officials said the investigation and charges span seven states and involve more than…