White-collar crimes are as real and serious as they sound, although they do not usually involve the use of physical force. These are financial and business-related crimes committed with the intention to gain financially but with the wrong intention. The common white-collar crimes include fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, tax evasion, and internet crimes.
The penalties can be serious, ranging from heavy fines to jail or prison sentences, home arrest, or probation. You can also expect the court to order forfeiture of assets or restitution, depending on the circumstances of the case. So it becomes vital to steer clear of these crimes in the first place. Also, you will need a strong defense strategy if you happen to face allegations. Here are the common ones your defense lawyer may rely on.
Lack Of Intent
For a majority of white-collar criminal charges, the prosecutors have to prove the criminal intent of the defendant. Unless you have malicious intent behind a crime, you cannot be liable for it. For example, you may have made an unintentional mistake on tax filing, which clearly indicates a lack of intent. Your attorney can bring it up as a defense to the allegation of tax fraud.
Entrapment
A common form of white-collar defense is entrapment, where your lawyer attempts to prove that you were entrapped by the law enforcement officers or informants. Agencies often use sting operations for catching the suspects red-handed, even though you may not be on the wrong side of the law. The legal professional can show that criminal activity was induced through the behavior of law enforcement. Although this is a complex defense strategy, it often works well enough.
Non-Fraudulent Statements
If someone accuses your business or employees of providing fraudulent information to them, the lawyer may prove that the other party acted unreasonably only based on an opinion expressed by the business. According to experts at Dattan Law Criminal Defense, this is the best defense for a majority of business fraud cases. All they will need to do is to show that their client made a non-fraudulent statement, which was mistaken by the accuser and led to a lawsuit.
Incapacity
As the name implies, incapacity is a criminal defense based on the inability of the defendant to understand the nature of the alleged act. The lawyer will base the strategy on the fact that their client had physical or mental incapacity, which means that they were not capable of an act. It may also show that they did not even know that they were indulging in a criminal act.
Intoxication
If your attorney is unable to find a legal recourse for defense, they may end up proving intoxication when the crime occurred. Intoxication makes a solid ground for showing that the defendant was not in full control of their actions when they committed the crime. Using this strategy is often helpful for bargaining for a lesser offense or sentence rather than a complete defense.
Apart from these common defenses, a lawyer may recommend negotiating a plea agreement when the evidence against their client is overwhelming. The arrangement requires the client, often to lesser charges, to avoid a trial.