San Diego White Collar & Financial Crimes Attorney

Historically, white collar criminals engage in financial deception such as tax evasion, tax fraud, bribery, forgery, Ponzi schemes, embezzlement, insider trading and other crimes that utilize government resources for personal gain. They are usually tried in federal court because they are considered federal crimes. More and more, white collar defense has grown to encompass large scale drug crimes and the associated forfeiture and money laundering offenses where the government is keen to seize valuable assets.

White collar defendants tend to be smarter and more sophisticated, because in general the crimes require elaborate alleged are economic crimes allegedly committed while making money. And this includes drug crimes where the defendant may never be near the controlled substance or any type of physical transaction.” Mr. Smith maintains that the prosecution has trouble, in many cases, connecting the client to the white-collar crime charged due to their intelligent choices in how to interact with the defendants who are arrested with the illegal contraband and or the illegal proceeds of the sale.

White Collar Law

Civil Forfeiture 18 U.S. Code § 981 and Money Laundering 18 U.S. Code § 1956 are statutes are often used by the Government when it is difficult to tie the criminal activity to a particular defendant. Clients often receive a Notice of Seizure and Information to Claimants CAFRA form from Customs and Border Protection before receiving a notice that a federal indictment has been filed requesting their appearance before the United States District Court. San Diego Defenders often advises potential clients that forfeiture of property, conveyances and or currency, even if they are not arrested or detained, is a red flag to hire competent criminal defense counsel prior to a special agent from any government agency.

At San Diego Defenders, we are quick to point out that nearly any alleged criminal activity described as scheme to defraud in which the mail, telephone, television or the internet is used to communicate an offer can easily be charged as wire fraud or mail fraud. Federal statute 18 U.S. Code § 1343 and 18 U.S. Code § 1341 respectively, generally define fraud as any communication or advertisement that misrepresents a scheme, intended or in reckless disregard to deprive the victim of property or something of value is fraudulent. Fraud is a broad reaching crime in which the United States Government law enforcement, whether the FBI, DEA, IRS, HSI, and OIG can scare the living daylights out of anyone with the threat prosecution.

San Diego Criminal Defense Attorneys

The criminal lawyers at San Diego Defenders are experienced attorneys in white collar crimes in San Diego County beginning with founding partner Daniel Smith’s grandfather, Ralph G. Smith defending bootleggers during the Prohibition in 1916 and Daniel’s father, Judge Ralph G. Smith, Jr. who was named as a “Rackets Fighter” in 1959. Daniel Smith began his career with the highly recognized office of Federal Defenders of San Diego and under appointment of the Criminal Justice Act for the Southern District of California, United States District Court.

White collar criminal defense is the very heart and soul of what we have committed our professional lives to in Southern California. As Judge Ralph Smith, Jr. maintained, “It is always a smart man’s move to retain a highly regarded local law firm to get real results.” The initial phone consultation is on the house. However, please call the office directly to schedule an office consultation that generally takes about two hours to fully evaluate a white-collar case confidentially in our spacious conference room.