Suffolk County Mail Fraud

Any type of white collar crime, including mail fraud, can lead to serious consequences. In many cases wire fraud and mail fraud charges are also used as add-ons to other criminal allegations in order to increase the potential sentences for defendants. By assuming that this is not a serious case, you could do major damage to your case. In many of these cases, prosecutors in New York will seek mail fraud and wire fraud indictments against someone when the prosecutors believe that they do not have enough evidence to prove other crimes.

Increasing the potential sentence for the defendants or increasing the opportunity to convict a person on at least one charge should always prompt you to schedule a consultation with an experienced New York criminal defense attorney. Mail fraud is a crime that is handled at the federal level but a Suffolk County mail fraud defense lawyer with an understanding of federal criminal defense can assist you.

Defining Mail Fraud

Mail fraud involves use of the U.S. postal service or any private carriers in the commission of schemes that are designed to defraud someone of property or money. This is different from wire fraud which refers to the using the Internet, telephone, email or faxes to carry out a fraudulent scheme. These can run the gambit from pyramid schemes, check hiding systems or Ponzi schemes and can also be elevated to other issues such as money laundering, theft, embezzlement and internet fraud.

The prosecution is responsible for showing a burden of proof at some level of deception or trickery on the part of the defendant as well as the defendant's specific desire to defraud the victim in order to achieve a conviction. This is a crucial element in your case and one that should be handled by the right lawyer at the outset of your case so that you’re fully informed about what to expect. You should always know where you stand with criminal charges of fraud.

With any allegation of this type, a mail fraud defense lawyer in Suffolk County is important for your future.

Facts About Mail Fraud You Should Know

• The mail in question does not necessarily need to be essential to the fraud to be used as evidence in your case.
• You do not have to directly mail anything fraudulent. If you convince someone to mail you money, you can still be charged with mail fraud.
• If your employer is involved in a fraudulent scheme and asks that you mail envelopes related to it, you could still be charged with multiple counts of assisting him or her in the crime even if you do not know exactly what was inside those envelopes. If there were multiple envelopes or pieces of mail delivered to the post office or a private carrier by you, this could a lead to separate and multiple charges.

Mail fraud counts are often added to indictments such as bank fraud, health care fraud, tax fraud, securities fraud, honest services fraud and bank and mortgage fraud.

What You Need to Know About How the Government Pursues Fraud

Honest services mail fraud, much like conspiracy charges, are some of the favorite tools that a federal prosecutor will use to pursue criminal charges. This is because the idea behind honest services fraud is relatively broad and can cover for all kinds of conduct that the government wishes to discourage. If you are at risk of mail fraud charges, one of the most essential things you need to know is that it is in your best interests to retain an attorney immediately to represent you. This is true even if you have not yet been formally charged with a crime. If you are already under investigation for mail fraud or suspect that you may have been involved in an employer scheme to de-fraud other people even if you did not know about the consequences or what was inside that mail, you need to do what you can to protect yourself by retaining a mail fraud defense attorney in Suffolk County who knows how to evaluate these allegations and to prepare a comprehensive defense that keeps your future in mind.

---