A recent report by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, shows that identity theft, also referred to as financial theft, crimes increased as of 2007 when the most recent statistics were compiled. According to the report, 7.9 million households, or 6.6%, report that at least one member…
In a recent asset forfeiture case involving a client of the criminal defense and litigation law firm of Lasnetski Gihon Law, the state attorney’s office in South Florida agreed to return approximately $2.5 million of forfeited funds to the client, which constitute approximately 90% of the funds originally seized by…
The federal government recently announced the results of a concentrated effort to arrest, prosecute and seek financial penalties from people across the country for financial crimes, including a specific emphasis on mortgage fraud cases. As we have stated several times on our criminal defense lawyer blog, the federal government (and…
Several Employees of United Directories, a company located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, were indicted in federal court for allegedly defrauding businesses out of more than $400 million by allegedly sending fraudulent bills for Yellow Pages advertisements. Federal law enforcement officials said United Directories and its employees sent the false Yellow…
Recent statistics show that arrests and prosecutions for white collar crimes have markedly increased in the U.S. as of 2009. For instance, on a month to month basis, white collar crime prosecutions increased by an average of 8.8% in 2009 from the prior year and almost 20% from five years…
Law enforcement authorities in Jacksonville and throughout Florida made several arrests of convenience store owners for alleged food stamp fraud according to an article on Jacksonville.com. The article indicates that at least four Jacksonville convenience store owners were arrested for food stamp fraud relating to the Ethio Shell station and…
Based on the tone and substance of a recent speech and press release from Eric Holder, the federal government plans to step up investigations and prosecutions of medical professionals for health care fraud. Mr. Holder made it clear that the government considers health care fraud one of the country’s “most…
A Jacksonville, Florida man was arrested for bank fraud, according to an article on News4Jax.com. The article indicates that the suspect was getting assistance from bank employees who provided the suspect with ATM and PIN information. The suspect then allegedly would deposit fraudulent checks through the bank ATM’s and withdraw…
Federal law enforcement officials arrested 26 doctors, nurses and other health care providers in Miami, New York and Detroit for Medicare fraud according to a recent article. We are also aware of similar arrests made recently in the Jacksonville, Florida area. According to the article, the alleged Medicare fraud was…
Several times, we have discussed the trend we have seen towards more federal investigations and arrests in mortgage fraud cases in Florida and Jacksonville. Federal authorities are responding to the tremendous meltdown in the housing markets and numerous mortgages that have gone unpaid. In many local U.S. Attorney offices in…