DiLorenzo & Rush | Counselors of Law
Stepping Up & Standing Out

Almost anyone can face financial fraud allegations

On Behalf of | Sep 12, 2022 | Criminal Defense

For those who found this blog because they are facing financial fraud allegations, know that just because there are allegations (or charges), those do not mean that you actually did anything wrong. In fact, for those in the financial sector or that deal with customer information, facing financial fraud allegations is disturbingly easy.

If you handle customer data, be careful

If you open up an account (credit, bank, brokerage, etc.) at your job you could face identity theft allegations, if the customer claims they did not authorize you to open up a new transaction. You could have opened up that account based on your supervisor’s verbal request, and if they deny they made such a request, you could end up facing identity theft charges.

Sales can also be problematic

If you sell anything, you could face fraud allegations easily. If you mislead a client, use fraudulent information, make false statements, hide or omit important information or even just make overly grandiose promises, you may face accusations. However, you may not have intentionally done any of this. You may have genuinely believed everything you said, and even been trained to say exactly what you said.

Ponzi schemes

Ponzi schemes occur when someone sells an investment that does not exist, and then pays investors returns from the funds they receive from new investors. They can last years until they eventually run out of new investors, or the number of new investors is not enough to sustain the number of current investors. Though, not everyone involved in a Ponzi scheme may even know it. You could be a licensed broker selling securities, and then, find out your boss faked everything. How could you have known? New Jersey prosecutors may not care, and you could still face charges.

The takeaway

Bad things can happen to good people, and no matter what you do, you may still find yourself caught up by an overzealous prosecutor. This is when you need to fight back. You need to build your defense strategy, which includes picking the right Hackensack, New Jersey, attorney.