Money laundering cleans billions of dollars of illegal income every year. Money laundering is considered a white-collar offense. It is a multifaceted charge and often brings along a host of other serious charges, such as conspiracy, racketeering, healthcare fraud, mortgage fraud, wire fraud, and drug trafficking. This is especially the case when prosecutors exaggerate the allegations on underlying charges.
Get a defense lawyer’s assistance early on if you are under investigation or charged with money laundering in Miami, FL. At The Kirlew Law Firm, we have years of experience defending individuals against white-collar crimes such as money laundering.
We take pride in our work and dedication to representing clients passionately and aggressively. Schedule a free no-obligation and confidential consultation with us today – call (305) 521-0484.
Brian Kirlew, Esq. and the Kirlew Law Firm are prepared to win. Schedule your free initial phone consultation with us to understand how we can help you.
Money laundering is a generic term that describes the process of individuals or entities trying to remove, disguise, transfer, convert, or conceal the gains made via illegal activities and make those appear legal. The process involves earning cash through the proceeds of selling drugs, illegal gambling, theft, or kickbacks.
Once the funds are acquired through those means, the individual or organization uses otherwise legitimate businesses or enterprises to clean the money. In South Florida, barbershops, restaurants, small pharmacies, food trucks, and cellphone repair stores are common fronts for money laundering.
Kickbacks are under-the-table bribes where businesses or governmental officials accept money or something valuable to steer a potentially profitable project in favor of another party. It can take various forms, including illegal payments—to contractors, employees, or subcontractors—unearned fee governmental contracts, or public corruption.
There can be numerous methods to launder money, such as gifts, investments, title transfers, or depositing funds into the business. The process may involve three significant steps:
So, moving illegal funds from illicit sources to appear a legitimate source can be referred to as money laundering, which essentially is a white-collar crime. However, the underlying offenses that led to the money laundering charges can be violent or drug crimes, depending on the alleged criminal enterprise.
In Florida State Court, money laundering is a felony with varying levels. Proceeds laundered between $300, and $20,000 are a third-degree felony punishable up to 5 years of imprisonment; in transactions between $20,000 and $100,000, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Transactions over $100,000 are a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.The amount of the transactions is determined by how much was laundered during the length of the conspiracy, not just an individual transaction.
In Federal Court, a conviction for money laundering can include a prison sentence of up to 20 years and fines of up to $500,000 or twice the proper value involved in the transaction. It is important to remember that money laundering, especially when charged by the federal government, is often one of the money charges.
Whether in federal or state court, money laundering charges are often accompanied by asset forfeiture proceedings.
Having years of experience in federal and state court, Brian Kirlew and the Kirlew Law Firm team understands what it takes to defend our clients aggressively and effectively. We delve into the specifics of every case and look for favorable evidence.
Regardless of the severity of your money laundering charges, you can count on our experienced attorney Brian Kirlew, Esq., to put you in the best possible legal position. Your constitutional rights apply to a money laundering case just as they do in other charges.
You have the right to have a competent attorney by your side who can cross-examine and confront the witnesses as well as the prosecutors. Whether through trial or a negotiated resolution, it is possible to have your charges reduced or dismissed. We create effective solutions for our clients in trouble—it is what we do every day at The Kirlew Law Firm.
Get in touch with our accomplished Miami defense attorneys to request a free, confidential initial consultation.
We offer solid and valuable legal advice that will make a vital difference to your case.
Call us at 305-521-0484 for a confidential consultation to discuss your rights.
Antitrust laws were established to protect trade and commerce from abusive practices. Violations can include price-fixing, price discrimination, restraints, and monopolization.
This form of white-collar crime is increasingly common as more people use computers, phones, and other internet-enabled devices to commit acts of fraud, hacking, extortion, and theft.
Thieves take personal information to access banking and financial accounts, make purchases, open utility accounts, or steal tax refunds. In some cases, an identity thief may even use a false identity during an arrest.
This white-collar crime occurs when a thrift utilizes a stolen credit card or other information from that account to make unauthorized purchases. In some cases, they may use the stolen information to take out cash advances against the account.
The illicit selling of fake goods or services over the phone. Many phone scams are framed as a giveaway, or free offer in exchange for sensitive information, like access to banking or credit card accounts.
Often paired with another form of fraud, bankruptcy fraud can be the concealment of assets to prevent forfeiting them, filing incomplete or false forms, filing multiple times in different locations using fake or forged documents, and bribing of court-appointed trustees.
Largely committed by organized crime groups, this form of fraud includes performing unnecessary procedures to bill an insurance company, billing for services that were never rendered, and billing every step of one procedure as if they were individual procedures.
Environmental law makes actions like the illegal disposal of waste, improper storage of hazardous materials, or failure to comply with EPA and state regulations illegal.
An act committed to defraud an insurance company is considered a white-collar crime. This could include attempting to obtain benefits or advantages that an individual is not entitled to or when an insurer denies benefits that someone is due.
One of the most common forms of fraud, mail fraud is when the USPS or private carrier is used to commit a crime of deceit. This could be to obtain money or to sell and distribute illicit goods.
These forms of fraud start with a scheme to steal or obtain financial information by using false representation or promises of goods and services in return.
Crimes committed through extortion and coercion are considered racketeering. Generally, a racketeer obtains money or goods from someone using intimidation tactics or force.
Largely connected to federal government contracting or federally-funded programs, government fraud might involve public housing, agricultural programs, corporate subsidies, and bribery.
This form of white-collar crime is the deliberate failure to pay your taxes or the underpayment of the taxes you owe. It can be underreporting of income, overreporting of deductions, or improperly claiming tax credits and exemptions.
Also called investment fraud, securities fraud involves misrepresenting the information that investors use to make financial decisions.
This is the trading of the stock or securities of a public company that is based on non-public information about the company. This is the profiteering of information based on a company’s assets.
A bribe is the giving or receiving of something of value in order to influence the actions of another person or group.
The major focus of the FBI, public corruption covers a variety of crimes, including the violation of federal law by public officials, fraud related to the procurement, contracts, and funding of federal programs, and other crimes that are related to local, state, and federal governments.
By withholding assets, funds, or goods from an employer or business partner, you are committing an act of embezzlement.
Generally sponsored by foreign entities or outside corporations, economic espionage can target the U.S. government, U.S. companies, or other establishments and institutions. Economic espionage is the unlawful obtaining of financial information
Trade secrets are the information or assets that give a company an advantage over others in the market. The theft of these assets is when someone uses this information without consent of the business.
In almost every federal white-collar criminal investigation, the federal agents and local police officers involved in the case shadow their suspects for months and even years. They utilize wiretaps, subpoenaed bank records, videotape conversations and meetings, property and assets, business records, and cooperating witnesses. The agents often seek to make pre-indictment deals with codefendants or coworkers who they threaten to charge if they don’t talk.
The feds have unlimited resources and they are extremely patient in their investigations. Many times, an agent will get so committed to an investigation that they bend the rules, alleged they witnessed activity that they didn’t and innocent people get wrapped up in the conspiracy that they knew nothing about. This is why it is critical to contact a Miami white-collar attorney the moment you suspect you are the target of a white-collar criminal investigation. With the help of our investigators and forensic accountants, we can often mitigate the exposure a client may face in a white collar criminal prosecution.
Generally, white-collar crime is investigated and prosecuted by federal authorities. This means that white-collar crime cases have higher conviction rates than other crimes. Federal prosecutors are able to leverage more resources to pursue a white-collar crime case and are encouraged to close the case quickly.
The punishment for a white-collar crime varies based on what level the crime is being prosecuted at, whether state or federal, and the amount of money involved in the crime. There are no set guidelines that dictate the severity of penalty based on the amount of money stolen; however, generally, larger amounts are punished more severely.
Since the 2002 and 2008 financial crises, there have been more penalties and convictions for white-collar crimes, and as such, penalties have become more severe. On average, a sentence for money laundering is about 48 months in prison. Those convicted of bribery could face 16 months, and those for fraud, 12 months. Tax offenses generally result in 16 months of jail time. And if there are more than five victims, the loss amount is in the millions as opposed to the thousands or the accused qualifies for a host of other enhancements, these penalties can be significantly higher.
Given the harsh nature of the penalties for white-collar crimes and that federal authorities often lead these investigations, you must hire an attorney in Miami as soon as you’re convicted. In some cases, defendants are only aware of the investigation just a few weeks or months before an arrest is made. It’s important to use any lead time you may have to build a case with an attorney.
While your attorney can’t stop an investigation, they can work with you to defend your rights before, during, and after the trial. If nothing else, you must have a legal representative with you whenever you deal with a federal investigator or while you’re being questioned.
When you work with a skilled criminal defense attorney like those at the Kirlew Law Firm, they’ll maintain clear lines of communication with the prosecution throughout your investigation. This could lead to a favorable negotiation before any arrests are made, or the formal prosecution starts.
More than just negotiations, a competent white-collar crime attorney can help draft legal defenses that can help your case. Our attorneys can cross-examine witnesses, manage information about the case, and challenge physical exhibits and financial records that may be used to seal your case. Ultimately, a talented attorney like Brian Kirlew can find small inconsistencies or faults in the prosecution to bolster your defense.
If you are being investigated for a White Collar crime at the state or federal level (or both), the sooner you get a qualified attorney on your side to protect your rights, the better. Brian Kirlew, Esq. is experienced and skilled at handling these complex and sensitive matters, and is here to represent you in court. Our criminal defense attorneys in Miami are proud to offer you a free phone consultation to ensure that we can best serve you. Contact us immediately to get started.
