The conviction and sentencing of a Camden County, New Jersey, woman in an elaborate identity stolen identity refund fraud scheme is the perfect example of the complexity of white collar crime.
White collar crime is defined as non-violent, but not without a victim. It has the ability to wipe out life savings, costs companies billions of dollars and destroy public trust. Some examples of these types of crimes are fraud, falsifying records, money laundering, identity theft, Ponzi schemes and intellectual property theft, among others. Generally, these crimes are complex in nature and involve more than one player. Their punishments can range from substantial fines to many years in a federal penitentiary.
Who gets involved with a white-collar crime?
As in this conviction, there are cases where multiple parties from many different agencies have been recruited to take part in return for compensation. Here, mail carriers as well as employees of check-cashing establishments were paid for every U.S. Treasury check that was stolen from the mail and cashed, using fraudulent identifications provided to them by the 36-year-old woman. Therefore, those agencies became involved in the criminal investigation.
Appropriate legal counsel
Any person facing conviction of a white-collar crime of this magnitude would benefit from highly experienced, knowledgeable counsel. Often, there are several government agencies involved, all with experienced and aggressive counsel who will push for the strongest sentence possible. The woman was found guilty and sentenced to 159 months in prison as well as three years of supervised release and restitution of $565,091. Never walk into a courtroom to face a battle like this alone.
