White Collar Crime Defense Attorneys in Omaha
White collar offenses are serious. Convictions come with massive fines, long prison sentences, and numerous collateral consequences of the conviction that can create significant obstacles for the rest of your life.
Defending against an allegation of a white collar crime in Omaha, Nebraska, is essential if you want to preserve your future and protect your interests.
The white collar defense attorneys at The Criminal Defense Firm legally represent defendants who have been accused of a white collar crime throughout Nebraska, including in Omaha. With our savvy defense strategies and vigorous advocacy both in the courtroom and outside of it, we have secured numerous favorable outcomes for our clients in Omaha. Many of them have been acquitted after a trial, have had their charges dropped, or persuaded the law enforcement agency investigating them to not file charges at all.
Put our highly experienced team on your side
Brian J. Kuester
Former U.S. Attorney
Former DA
Amanda Marshall
Former U.S. Attorney
Local Counsel
Joe Brown
Former U.S. Attorney
& Former District Attorney
Local Counsel
John W. Sellers
Former Senior Trial Attorney
U.S. Department of Justice
Local Counsel
Linda Julin McNamara
Former Chief, DOJ Appeals
Local Counsel
Joanne Fine DeLena
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney
Local Counsel
Aaron L. Wiley
Former Federal Prosecutor
Local Counsel
Roger Bach
Former Special Agent (OIG)
Timothy E. Allen
Former Senior Special Agent
Chris Quick
Former Special Agent (FBI & IRS-CI)
Kevin M. Sheridan
Former Special Agent (FBI)
Ray Yuen
Former Supervisory Special Agent (FBI)
The Definition of a White Collar Crime in Omaha
In Omaha and elsewhere, the definition of a white collar crime is simple: It is a financially motivated offense that does not involve violence.
This is an extremely broad category of crimes, covering everything from simple theft to extensive criminal enterprises that fall under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Law. However, the vast majority of them have one thing in common: Deceptive or fraudulent conduct that leads to the acquisition of someone else’s property or money.
One example is embezzlement. Embezzlement is the crime of pocketing funds for personal use when they were voluntarily given for safekeeping or some other purpose. The classic example of embezzlement is a financial planner soliciting business and then, when a client hires them to plan for their retirement and hands over several thousands of dollars for the planner to invest on the client’s behalf, the planner pockets the money for personal use, instead.
A Wide Variety of White Collar Offenses
In nearly every imaginable circumstance there exists the possibility for fraudulent behavior. The extremely broad range of white collar offenses that are prohibited by Nebraska state law or by federal law reflects this reality. Just a few of the specific white collar offenses that you can be charged with in Nebraska include:
- Antitrust and anticompetitive business practices
- Bank fraud
- Bankruptcy fraud
- Bribery
- Car insurance fraud
- Compound pharmacy fraud
- Computer fraud
- Conspiracy
- Counterfeiting
- Credit card fraud
- Criminal copyright infringement
- Defense contractor fraud
- Embezzlement
- Environmental crimes, like violating the Clean Air Act
- Forgery
- Fraud involving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Fraud involving the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
- Government contractor fraud
- Healthcare fraud, from taking illegal kickbacks to fraudulent billing
- Home health and hospice fraud
- Identity theft
- Insider trading
- Insurance fraud
- Investigations by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Investor fraud
- Mail and wire fraud
- Manipulation of securities markets
- Medicaid fraud
- Medicare fraud
- Money laundering
- Mortgage fraud
- Omissions or misrepresentations in securities trading
- Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud
- Prescription drug fraud
- Public corruption
- Securities fraud
- Tax fraud or evasion
- Tricare fraud
- Unemployment benefits fraud
- Workers’ compensation fraud
Penalties of a Conviction for a White Collar Crime
Each of these offenses comes with its own set of penalties for a conviction. Those penalties generally depend on the extent of the fraud and how much was obtained through it. However, the sanctions will come in several different forms:
- Prison time
- Monetary penalties, including: Criminal fines, Civil forfeiture, Disgorgement, and Restitution payments
- Probation
- Professional ramifications, generally the revocation or suspension of any licenses or certifications that were used to commit the offense
- Other collateral consequences that come with having a criminal history
The financial penalties alone can be crippling. State and federal white collar crime statutes provide for penalties that are meant to deter white collar and financial offenses. They do this primarily by imposing such large monetary sanctions that there is no way for the crime to pay for itself.
Unfortunately, the staggering amounts that you can be forced to pay if convicted often also serve as pressure for innocent defendants to accept a plea deal that reduces the fine. In these cases, it is essential to have the experienced legal guidance of a defense lawyer who is familiar with these situations and knows how to overcome them.
Overlapping State and Federal Jurisdiction
A unique aspect of white collar crimes in Omaha is how frequently they can be pursued by federal law enforcement agencies like the:
- U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Office of Inspector General: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG)
These federal agencies are massive, with access to resources and investigatory techniques that smaller state and county prosecutors could only dream of.
Because of this, a big early step in the defense of a white collar case is to ensure that it is a local district attorney’s office or the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office that prosecutes your case, not the federal government. If the federal government has jurisdiction over your case and decides to exercise it, the investigation that you are about to experience will be far more intrusive and intense, and the threat of legal exposure to you and your company will go through the roof.
A skilled white collar defense lawyer knows this and, if you hire one soon enough before the charges are filed, can challenge the determination that there is federal jurisdiction and argue against the federal agency’s decision to use it. This line of defense, which comes in the very preliminary stages of a white collar case, can pay substantial dividends down the road.
Other Legal Defenses Available in White Collar Cases
Challenging federal jurisdiction is just one of the potential lines of defense that you can raise against a white collar allegation in Omaha. The defense lawyers at The Criminal Defense Firm have also had success with defense strategies based on:
- Entrapment
- Illegal searches or seizures
- Duress
- Coercion
- Lack of intent
- Lack of knowledge
Which of these defense strategies will be best for your particular case will depend on the context and the specific factual scenario at play. The experienced white collar defense lawyers at The Criminal Defense Firm have used these and other strategies to score jury acquittals, dropped charges, or to persuade investigators that there is nothing to investigate and quash the case before charges were even filed. Even in the worst case scenarios, our defense lawyers have been able to drastically reduce the penalties of a conviction, sometimes reducing the sanctions down to a fraction of what had been on the table before we got started.
Frequently Asked Questions About White Collar Crime in Omaha, Nebraska, and The Criminal Defense Firm
Why Should I Consider Hiring The Criminal Defense Firm?
The Criminal Defense Firm is unique in Omaha in that we only hire senior attorneys. This means three things for you:
- All of the lawyers on our staff has at least a decade of experience handling cases similar to your own, with many of those attorneys also having experience prosecuting them from within the federal agencies that may be pursuing your case
- All of the legal work that you receive comes from a senior lawyer with that extensive experience, not from a paralegal or a junior associate with only the slightest amount of oversight from the senior-level attorney that you wanted when you hired the firm
- All of your communication goes straight to a lawyer who knows what to do with it, not to a legal secretary who passes it up to an associate who relays it to your lead attorney
Together, these three benefits allow us to provide exceptional legal services that other law firms struggle to match.
When Should I Hire a Lawyer?
As soon as you can, preferably as soon as you suspect that you are under investigation for a white collar offense.
There are defensive maneuvers that you can take to minimize your legal exposure well before the formal criminal charge is filed against you. If you delay in hiring a lawyer, those opportunities to protect your rights and interests may pass by.
Additionally, a white collar defense lawyer may be able to mitigate the legal exposure that already exists and prepare your case in advance so that you are in a good position when the charges are eventually filed.
Not hiring a lawyer immediately also puts the attorneys that you do hire in a more difficult position than they would be in, otherwise. Mistakes are frequently made by unrepresented suspects during the investigation. These can deliver incriminating evidence to law enforcement personnel. By hiring a white collar defense lawyer early on, their legal guidance can help you avoid making those mistakes that can needlessly imperil your future.
Why Don't You Call Yourself the Best White Collar Defense Firm in Omaha, Nebraska?
Because that is something that we prefer to let our clients say about us. Many of them have left testimonials to the same effect.
The Criminal Defense Firm: White Collar Defense in Omaha, Nebraska
If you have been accused of committing a financial or white collar crime or have learned that you may be the target of an investigation, you need legal help. Reach out to the white collar defense team at The Criminal Defense Firm. Call them at (866) 603-4540 or contact them online.