Mail fraud in New York is a scheme to deceive or misrepresent. Evidence of an organized scheme or active participant must be provided. You must have access to real estate or bank accounts in order to be charged with mail fraud. You may also be ordered to forfeit luxury goods or bank accounts. The items confiscated are typically auctioned off at a portion of the value. An experienced mail fraud attorney can minimize the penalties.
A motive for fraud in the mail must be definite and not only "willful" to allow a defendant to commit. The defendant must intentionally plan to defraud a person, have a specific plan to accomplish this goal and then use the mail service to accomplish their fraudulent plan. The majority of cases involving mail fraud are those where someone deliberately defrauds a company or a person of something valuable. However, even if the intention is "willful", the person must be able deceive the person or organization with an adequate amount of common and common sense.
Federal prosecutors typically charge people with wire or mail fraud if there are no proof to back a claim of theft, or other criminal offenses. Federal laws also protect fraud in the mail and could result in imprisonment or fines up to as high as $1,000,000. Federal laws regarding mail fraud apply to all who uses the United States postal and telephone system to send money or purchase items. Mail fraud could refer to anything that crosses state lines.
Although criminal intent is required to prove fraud by mail, you can avoid a conviction by unwittingly participating in fraud schemes. A lot of people aren't aware of crucial facts and may have confused them in order to cover their tracks. The person accused of the crime may not have known the factsor have believed that a misrepresentation was true. A conviction for mail fraud not only involve criminal fines but can land someone in federal prison for up to 30 years.
You will need to be asking yourself these questions: What elements make mail fraud and wire fraud? How can you distinguish the two? Mail fraud is a fraudulent activities that are committed using the postal service, but wire fraud is based on wires instead of mail. In the past, wires only covered telephones. In the present, wires encompass all methods of communication like the internet. So, if you've received an email asking for sensitive information, then you're in danger of being charged with this kind of crime.
The elements that constitute mail fraud are the same as those in wire fraud. Both require the use of interstate communication or electronic communications. These types of fraud could be punished with a sentence that is like the criminal sentence: the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a heavy fine. A conviction for fraud at a financial institution is more serious.
You must have been guilty of at least one of these in order to be able to get convictions in mail or wire fraud. These include the use of the United States Postal Service or a private interstate carrier or interstate wire transmission. These are the most well-known forms of wire fraud and mail fraud. There are a myriad of examples. If you're accused of any of these crimes make sure you are prepared to defend yourself with a strong defense.