Fraud | Attorneys, Lawyers & Legal Resources

Fraud

Fraud is any action that is performed with the express intent of tricking or cheating another for unlawful gain, usually of a financial nature. Most cases of fraud are committed on a large scale basis and investigated by the FBI. Some of the more noteworthy types of fraud include:

Bankruptcy Fraud

The primary method of Bankruptcy Fraud is concealing assets prior to filing. This involves purchasing expensive items that are supposedly given away as gifts, but they are really held for a short time by a friend of the person declaring bankruptcy. After the procedure is complete, the item(s) will be returned so that they may be kept without paying for them. Another method is to sell these items to friends or family members at a staged garage sale. Once the items are returned, they may either be kept or sold for profit after the bankruptcy proceedings have been finalized.

Corporate Fraud

There are two well known Corporate Fraud Schemes. The first involves falsifying accounting records to give the appearance that a particular company is garnering more profit than it actually makes. The falsified documents may generate interest from investors or even other companies who may wish to purchase the business based on its perceived amount of revenue. The second is stock fraud. It involves executives purchasing stock at the current market price, but back-dating the purchase to make it appear the stock was bought when the stock held a lower value. This allows the executives to resell the stock at a much higher price for personal gain.

Government Fraud

These crimes may have a very adverse affect on the public. Acts of government fraud may include accepting bribes and issuing falsified identification cards, such as drivers' licenses. Government fraud can also include cases of voter fraud and the allowance of illegal materials and substances into the country for a fee. (This crime is referred to as Public Corruption.)

Health Care Fraud

Healthcare professionals are sometimes guilty of committing fraud against their patients. There are three major types of healthcare fraud.

1. Invoices may be altered to charge unsuspecting patients extra money for any form of treatment, or even to double the charge for services.

2. Medical professionals sometimes encourage patients to receive unnecessary medical treatments or surgeries for the purpose of charging the patient for these services. In some cases, the treatments can be detrimental to the patient.

3. Another similar scam is to convince patients that they are in need of unnecessary pharmaceutical drugs. This type of fraud usually involves a partnership between a healthcare worker and a pharmaceutical professional.

Insurance Fraud

Insurance related crimes are committed on both sides of the industry. Agents may take money from premium accounts that are intended for their customers. They may also raise rates with no reason and simply pocket the extra income. Customers can defraud insurance companies by making false claims and over reporting the value of stolen or damaged items.

Fraud is a serious issue in the United States that costs the country millions of dollars annually. To prevent and reduce these losses, the FBI works full time to investigate cases of Fraud.