Fraud is a common white-collar crime done for monetary gain. It can be committed by an individual or a large-scale criminal enterprise perpetrated by numerous culprits throughout a corporation or other institution.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is one of the agencies tasked with uncovering fraud violations and other kinds of white collar criminal activity in North Carolina and throughout the United States. The FBI considers corporate crime to be one of its top targets to fight.
What’s considered corporate fraud?
Most corporate fraud crimes entail some kind of accounting deception. The perpetrators often falsify the corporation’s financial information, the share price or other measurements to make the business’ finances look better than they truly are. The goal is to trick auditors, investors and analysts. It can involve tax evasion, inflated property values and other schemes.
Self-dealing is another type of corporate fraud. It includes cases wherein an individual or multiple company employees try to profit themselves at the cost of investors or others. Many infamous cases involve insider trading, in which perpetrators use or tell others details that haven’t been announced yet but that could affect the price of shares or other valuations of the corporation as soon as the information is made public. Fraud can also include other trading violations and market-timing plots.
The FBI investigates corporate fraud with coordinated help from a host of government agencies. It also pursues other common white collar crimes like embezzlement, money laundering and securities fraud.
If you or your company has been implicated in corporate fraud or a different white-collar offense, it’s a good idea to know your legal rights and seek help from an experienced North Carolina attorney who may be able to assist in your defense.