Fraud

If you’re facing an accusation of any type of fraud, the first interview at the police station is a crucial point. Whether you’re with the police voluntarily, or under arrest, this is your opportunity to present your best case. You need experienced lawyers on your side, to try to keep you out of court. If your case does end up in court, we can help to put you in the strongest possible position.

We can also help you to protect your assets. If you are convicted of this type of offence, you’re likely to be facing proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), which means that your assets may be frozen or confiscated. We can help to explain the process and recover your assets.

Employee fraud and embezzlement

Employee fraud is any type of internal fraud committed against the employer company or organisation. That could be stealing money or assets from the business, or regularly submitting false expenses. This type of fraud is also known as embezzlement.

Identity fraud

People accused of identity fraud have used the identify of somebody else for their own gain. They have pretended to be another person to benefit financially, and in doing so, have caused loss to another person.

Money laundering

Money laundering is often connected with criminal fraud, and it is a separate offence. It relates to the way that a person will attempt to conceal the proceeds of a crime through various complex schemes and financial arrangements.

Tax evasion

Tax evasion is illegally avoiding the payment of taxes which are due to HMRC. This happens when a person misrepresents their finances in some way to HMRC.

Extradition

If you are not a UK national, you might face extradition proceedings. This means that you will be transferred to the country in which you are a citizen, if you are suspected or convicted of committing a crime. You will be asked to stand trial, or serve your sentence in that country instead of the UK.

Mortgage Fraud

Mortgage fraud is essentially giving untrue information to a mortgage lender. It might be overstating your income, hiding a bad credit rating, misrepresenting the estimated value of the property, or lying about your employment situation.

People tend to do this to borrow more money than they’d normally be able to, and any of these misrepresentations could be mortgage fraud. Even if you considered it a ‘white lie’ at the time, it’s still a serious offence and you’ll need legal representation.

Pension Fraud

Pension fraud can arise when an individual uses a complex financial scheme to release equity from his pension, before the age limitation criteria permits. This is deemed to be ‘equity release fraud’.

Pension fraud happens when a person claims benefits under a pension scheme that they are not entitled to. You may have failed to disclose all the relevant facts in order to misrepresent what you can claim. Any type of untruth or misleading statement could result in an accusation of pension fraud.

Banking Fraud

Banking fraud covers all ranges of theft from bank accounts, whether that’s cybercrime, fraudulent activity on the account, or tricks to transfer money away from a person’s account into someone else’s hands. If you’ve been accused of committing bank fraud, it’s important that you get a lawyer as soon as possible.

False accounting

 You can be accused of false accounting if you’ve submitted inaccurate records of your company’s accounts, usually for the purpose of minimising the tax burden you face, or applying for a business loan or grant. It’s a serious offence and can carry a prison sentence if you’re found guilty.