Fraud Crimes

Fraud crimes are all crimes committed to deceive a person to receive an undeserved benefit, gain an unfair advantage over the person, or cause them to suffer loss or harm. They are severe crimes mainly because of the damage they cause to individuals, businesses, or society, including loss of valuable property. While some fraud crimes have specific penalties under the law, others are treated as theft, perjury, or forgery, depending on the details of your case.

Most fraud crimes are also wobbler offenses, meaning that the DA can file misdemeanor or felony charges depending on the case details and criminal history. Partnering with a competent criminal attorney is advisable if you face a fraud-related charge in Los Angeles. Our experienced attorneys at CCLG: Los Angeles Criminal Attorney can help you through the complicated legal process, defend your rights, and fight alongside you for a favorable outcome.

Types of Fraud Crimes under California Law

Fraud crimes are a general term referring to all deceptive conduct you commit with the intent to gain from a person or cause them harm. California law has a long list of fraud crimes, including insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, healthcare fraud, and other identity-related and financial-related fraud crimes. Some are misdemeanors, while others are felonies. District attorneys consider the details of your case and your criminal history to decide how to file charges against you. The judge also reviews your case details to determine the most suitable penalty after sentencing. Here are common fraud-related crimes under California law:

Insurance Fraud

This refers to fraud committed to defraud or harm an insurance company. There are various insurance fraud crimes for which you can face charges:

1. Auto Insurance Fraud

This is a fraudulent act you commit against an auto insurance provider to gain an unfair advantage over your insurance provider, to receive an undeserved benefit from it, or to cause it financial loss. There are many ways people commit auto insurance fraud, including the following:

• Staging an auto accident to collect an undeserved payment from your insurance provider
• Increasing the cost of an insurance claim after an accident to receive more payment than you deserve
• Setting your vehicle on fire and then reporting it as stolen to your insurance provider to receive compensation

Auto insurance is covered under various statutes.

Abandoning or damaging a vehicle to defraud an insurance provider is a felony offense under PC 548. It is punishable by two, three, or five years in prison and up to $50,000 in court fines. You are also subject to a two-year sentencing enhancement for every prior conviction for a felony for the same or similar offense on your criminal record.

Making fraudulent and multiple insurance claims is a felony offense under PC 550(a)(4) and PC 550(a)(2), respectively. They are punishable by two, three, or five years in prison and $50,000 in court fines, or twice the amount you intended to defraud (the greater one).

Deliberately causing an accident to defraud an insurance company is also a felony, punishable by two, three, or five years in prison and $50,000 in court fines, or double the amount you intended to defraud (whichever is greater). Additionally, you could be subjected to sentencing enhancement if there are one or more prior convictions for the same or similar offense, or if you cause someone else to sustain a severe injury.

Making a false statement to defraud an insurance provider is a wobbler offense under PC 550(b)(1)(-4), meaning that the district attorney can file misdemeanor or felony charges against you. The DA’s decision will be based on your crime and criminal history. A felony charge for making false statements is the same as filing a fraudulent insurance claim. A misdemeanor conviction is punishable by one year in jail and $10,000 in court fines.

Soliciting, accepting, or referring a fraudulent auto insurance business is a wobbler offense under PC 549. A felony conviction is punishable by 16 months, two or three years in prison, and $50,000 in court fines or double the fraud amount (whichever is more). A misdemeanor conviction is punishable by a year in jail and $1000 in court fines. A second or more convictions under this statute are a felony.

Receiving kickbacks from auto repair shops as an insurance adjuster, broker, or agent is penalized according to the amount of money you intend to obtain. If the amount is up to $950, you will face misdemeanor charges under PC 551. The penalties include six months in jail and $1000 in fines. The crime becomes a wobbler if the fraud amount exceeds $950. A misdemeanor conviction is punishable by one year in jail, while a felony conviction is punishable by 16 months, two or three years in prison, and $10,000 in court fines.

2. Health Care Fraud

This fraud is mainly committed by medical facilities, healthcare practitioners, and patients to defraud health insurance companies and government agencies offering healthcare. You can face health care fraud for submitting or causing a person to submit a fraudulent or false claim to an insurance company or government agency. Health care fraud takes many forms, including Medicare fraud, HMO fraud, health insurance fraud, and billing fraud.

When prosecuting healthcare fraud cases against healthcare systems and insurance plans, the DAs must demonstrate the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

• That you intentionally and knowingly planned, or attempted to plan, a scheme
• The scheme involved defrauding a healthcare benefit program or receiving benefits through pretenses, promises, or representations involving money under the ownership or control of a healthcare benefit program

Here are examples of healthcare fraud-related acts that are prosecuted in California:

• Submitting a claim for a benefit that was not delivered
• Submitting a fraudulent or false claim
• Making multiple claims for the same underlying medical issue
• Submitting undercharges and not overcharges
• Preparing a report to support a fraudulent claim

3. Unemployment Benefits Fraud

As defined under Unemployment Insurance Code 2101, unemployment benefits fraud occurs when you intentionally increase, deny, or reduce an unemployment benefit, or attempt to do so. Here are ways through which you can violate this statute:

• When you lie that you are unemployed to receive unemployment benefits
• When you inflate your expenses and income to raise your insurance benefits
• You lie about your efforts to look for work to continue receiving benefits
• You collect unemployment insurance benefits in more than one state
• You intentionally provide falsified information about a terminated employee or their earnings to avoid paying your contribution to the unemployment benefits program.

If found guilty of unemployment benefits fraud, the sentence you will likely receive depends on the specific facts of the offense you committed. Most of the above violations are wobblers, meaning that you can face a misdemeanor or felony charge depending on your criminal history and the facts of your case. If you are found guilty of a misdemeanor, you will likely be sentenced to one year and $20,000 in court fines. A felony conviction for unemployment benefits fraud is punishable by 16 months, two or three years in prison, and $20,000 in fines.

Real Estate Fraud

This occurs when you deliberately make a false representation in a real estate agreement to gain an unfair advantage or cause an individual or business to lose. There are many ways you can violate this law, including the following:

1. Foreclosure Fraud

This crime occurs when you misrepresent yourself as a foreclosure consultant, promising to prevent or postpone a pending foreclosure. You can do this with a home that is already foreclosed or in foreclosure. This is a wobbler, meaning that you can be charged with a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the facts of your case.

District attorneys treat foreclosure fraud as grand theft, whose penalties depend on the amount of fraud money involved. A misdemeanor conviction is punishable by a year in jail and a $1000 fine, while a felony conviction is punishable by up to three years and $10,000 in fines.

2. Forging Deeds

You can also commit real estate fraud by forging or presenting a false deed to fraudulently receive a property or for monetary gain. Forgery occurs when you create, alter, or use a false deed to commit fraud. PC 115 states this is a felony offense, punishable by 16 months to three years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

3. Running a Predatory Lending Scheme

It is a crime for a lending institution or bank to engage in unlawful practices that exploit unsuspecting borrowers. This can happen in several ways, including managing a loan agreement to keep the maximum value regardless of the borrower’s capacity to pay the loan.

4. Unlawful Property Flipping

Generally, property flipping is legal. It involves purchasing real estate properties, upgrading them, and selling them for a profit. However, you can do this illegally by creating false appraisals or loan documents to inflate the asking price.

Financial Fraud

This includes the following types of violations:

1. Check Fraud

You can face charges for check fraud under PC 476 if you use, possess, or attempt to use a check to defraud a payee or intend to present a false check as genuine. Charges for check fraud occur mainly for such activities as the following:

• Knowingly issuing a check from an account that does not have enough funds to cover the check amount
• Knowingly cashing or attempting to cash a counterfeit check
• Using someone else’s checking account without authorization to make fund transfers or withdrawals.
• Changing the amount on a check without the payee’s permission or knowledge
• Falsifying the information on a genuine check

Check fraud is a wobbler, meaning that you can face misdemeanor or felony charges for it. A misdemeanor conviction is punishable by a year in jail and $1000 in fines, while a felony conviction is punishable by 16 months, two or three years in prison, and $10,000 in fines.

Additionally, the court could order payment of victim restitution if it applies in your case. A felony conviction will also affect your gun rights and could have severe immigration consequences, leading to deportation.

2. Credit Card Fraud

Credit and debit card fraud are covered under various laws, including PC 484(e), PC 484(f), PC 484(g), PC 484(h), PC 484(i), and PC 484(j). These statutes make it illegal for anyone to use or access a debit or credit card to receive goods or services for which they are not legally entitled.

PC 484(e) makes it unlawful to possess or sell another person’s credit card or card information without the owner’s permission.

PC 484(f) prohibits forging or falsifying debit or credit card information. It is a crime to alter an existing debit or credit card with fraudulent intent, including signing another person’s name without the card owner’s consent.

PC 484(g) prohibits fraudulent use of credit and debit cards or accounts. You violate this statute if you knowingly use a fake, stolen, or expired card to obtain goods or services.

PC 484(h) prohibits retailers from knowingly accepting payments from revoked, stolen, or fake credit cards. It also prohibits using false evidence of transactions to receive payments for goods or services not rendered.

PC 484(i) makes it unlawful to counterfeit a credit card. This law specifically prohibits the possession or manufacture of counterfeit credit cards. Under this law, you can also face charges for possessing equipment or tools used to manufacture or traffic fake credit cards.

PC 484(j) makes it unlawful to knowingly publish credit card data with the intent to defraud a business or individual. Credit card data includes PINs, names, passwords, and other personal account information.

Forgery and Identity Theft

These fraud crimes involve forging official documents to defraud a person or business. Forged documents mainly include identifying information, meaning you can also commit forgery and identity theft through forgery. The district attorney will file charges against you depending on the specifics of your case. Here are examples of forgery crimes that meet the legal definition of fraud:

1. Possessing, Forging, or Counterfeiting a Fraudulent Public Seal, PC 472

This law prohibits using, possessing, or manufacturing a false or fraudulent public seal. However, the law is not limited only to public seals in California because you can face charges for doing any prohibited acts with a seal from any government, corporation, or government agency. If you falsify a public seal on an official document to pass yourself off as another person, you can also face identity theft charges.

PC 472 is a wobbler, meaning that you can face misdemeanor or felony charges upon conviction. A misdemeanor conviction is punishable by one year in jail, and a felony conviction is punishable by a maximum of three years.

2. Counterfeiting or Forging ID Cards or Driver’s Licenses

This crime falls under the California forgery laws. If you counterfeit or forge an ID to pass yourself off as someone else, you can also be accused of identity theft. For a forgery conviction, the district attorney will demonstrate that you altered a government-issued ID card or driver’s license or made a fake one for criminal or fraudulent purposes.

This violation is a wobbler. A misdemeanor conviction is punishable by one year in jail, while a felony conviction is punishable by three years.

3. False Impersonation, PC 529

This occurs when you present yourself as a different person to gain an advantage, receive a benefit you do not deserve, or harm the other person. This can also meet the legal definition of identity theft. You can commit this crime in many ways, including signing another person’s name on a check and then trying to cash it to defraud them. Also, using another person’s name to receive unemployment or welfare benefits can result in false impersonation charges.

False impersonation is a wobbler offense. The district attorney will determine how to charge you depending on the context of your case, whether your actions caused someone else to suffer damages, the value of those damages, and your criminal history.

A misdemeanor conviction is punishable by one year in jail and $10,000 in fines, while a felony conviction is punishable by three years and $10,000 in fines.

4. Internet Fraud

This fraud occurs over the internet, through a computer or any other smart gadget. You can use an email, chat room, or online store to defraud unsuspecting internet users. For example, you can violate this law by making fraudulent purchases from online stores, creating or spreading computer viruses or malware, or committing crimes like cyberstalking.

Fighting Fraud-Related Charges

Fraud crimes are highly penalized in California because they affect individuals, businesses, and society. A single charge can result in a lengthy prison sentence and a hefty fine. Additionally, it can affect some of your rights, including gun rights and your immigration status, and leave you with a damaging criminal record. Luckily, you can use the best defense and strategies to change the result of your case. With the right attorney, you can develop a solid defense that could cause the court to drop or reduce your charges. Here are examples of strategies that can help your case:

You Did Not Have a Fraudulent Intent

Fraud crimes require a specific intent. The DA must prove that your actions had a fraudulent intent to receive a conviction. A fraudulent intent is a deliberate and dishonest desire to deceive another person to receive an undeserved benefit or cause them to suffer a loss.

A person’s intent is challenging for district attorneys to prove because they need to be sure of the person’s thoughts and intentions. They rely on circumstantial evidence to deduce this intent. Your skilled attorney can counter the DA’s allegation by citing and proving that you did not act with fraudulent intent. It could all have been a joke to you, or you were playing a trick on a friend or colleague.

You Made an Honest Mistake

An honest mistake can be misinterpreted as misrepresenting facts, resulting in fraud-related charges. For example, you are not guilty of fraud if you mistakenly sign another person’s name on a check or write the wrong identifying details on an official document. You need a competent attorney to convince the court that the mistake was genuine and that you did not intend to gain anything from it. If they are successful, the court will drop your charges.

Your Arrest Was Through an Unlawful Search and Seizure

The police have clear guidelines by which they must abide when conducting arrests or investigating crimes. This ensures they do not violate the civil rights of the public. For example, when conducting searches and seizing evidence, the police need a valid search warrant. They must cover the specific area covered by the warrant. If evidence against you was found on your person or property without a valid search warrant, you can apply this defense strategy to cause the court to dismiss it. You can also use this strategy if the police searched beyond the provisions of the search warrant.

If the court dismisses crucial evidence against you, the DA can have insufficient evidence to make their case. This will lead to a case dismissal.

You Are Falsely Accused

This defense strategy can work very well if you face accusations for a crime you did not commit. You can use a witness or provide an alibi to convince the court of your innocence.

Find Reliable Criminal Defense Services Near Me

Do you or someone you love face fraud-related charges in Los Angeles?

A skilled criminal attorney can help you understand the legal implications of your charges, your options, and how best to fight for a positive outcome. You also need an attorney to understand your legal rights and successfully navigate the complex legal processes.

At CCLG: Los Angeles Criminal Attorney, we understand how life-changing a criminal conviction for fraud can be. In addition to criminal penalties, you are left with a criminal record that will affect various aspects of your life for years. We can help you fight your charges to change the verdict in your case. We can also protect your rights and support you throughout all legal processes until you are pleased with the result. Contact us at 323-922-3418 for more information about fraud crimes and our services.