Bank fraud charges are extremely serious allegations, and the penalties associated with a guilty verdict of these crimes come with serious consequences. If you are being charged with a violation of the United States Code regarding bank fraud, then it is absolutely essential that you partner with an experienced federal defense attorney who is ready to take your case and build an aggressive defense in order to seek a favorable or reasonable outcome.
Charges of violating U.S. 18 U.S.C. § 1344, either by attempting to defraud a financial institution or attempting to obtain any of the moneys, funds, credits, assets, securities, or other property owned by, or under the custody or control of, a financial institution, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises comes with charges of upwards to $1 million in fines, up to 30 years in prison, or both. These possible penalties are just one example of why it is so important that you hire the right legal team for your case.
The team at the Law Office of Vikas Bajaj, APC are available today to speak with you during an initial consultation, where you will be able to speak directly with an experienced member of our staff about your legal situation and get an idea of how we could work together in order to represent your case. Our history of successes while defending federal charges for a variety of clients and a variety of allegations is a great indication of the support and experience that you will get when you hire us as your defense team, and we will be happy to discuss cases similar to your own that we helped clients navigate in the past.
Read more below to get a general idea about some examples of bank fraud, and contact us as soon as possible to speak with our team about your situation. It is important to act quickly after you have been charged so that you can take every necessary step to build your defense and take all of the necessary actions to work towards the outcome you deserve.
What Is Bank Fraud?
Simply put, bank fraud is any attempt (successful or not) to defraud a financial institution such as a bank, or an attempt to obtain assets from a financial institution through false pretenses. This could be something like one of many check scams, but it could also be an act by an internal employee or member of the financial institution using their access and knowledge to steal from the institution or the institution’s clients for their own personal gain.
However, it is important to note that charges of “bank fraud” are very different from charges of “bank robbery,” because bank fraud is an attempt to steal from the bank through a scheme, and not by threat or force, which is why bank fraud is often treated as a white-collar crime.
Common Examples of Bank Fraud
Accounting Fraud
Accounting fraud takes place when a company attempts to falsify their accounting, or “cook the books,” in order to indicate that their business is operating better than it actually is. This can be done in order to encourage further investment or to gain access to loans that would not otherwise be approved. One famous example of accounting fraud is the company Enron, an American energy company that engaged in falsifying their accounting for years in order to maintain a flow of investing even while they were extremely in debt.
Check Kiting
Check kiting is just one way that someone can steal from a bank by taking advantage of the speed with which a bank handles checks. In this particular act, a person will deposit a check and the funds will be made immediately available, knowing that the funds are not available in the debiting account to cover the withdrawal. While sometimes a check may be written and the funds may not be available by accident, causing the check to bounce, doing this intentionally is bank fraud, and highly illegal.
Forgery (of Checks or Documents)
Forging signatures, checks, or financial documents are all extremely illegal actions that can be done for a variety of reasons, although they all are with the ultimate goal of seeking funds from a financial institution that the fraudster is not entitled to. Forging a check can be a method to withdraw money from someone else’s account without authorization, or altering the amount that a check is written for in order to take more money than is authorized. Forging financial documents may be done in order to falsify a financial situation in order to secure a loan or a mortgage.
Contact Us Today
The sooner you contact our team, the more time we will have to investigate the specifics of your case, identify all possible avenues towards success, and begin building your defense aggressively. It is our top priority to ensure that your rights are upheld each step of the way, and we will be with you throughout your entire case to ensure that this remains true as we fight for a positive outcome.
