In reaction to a series of highly-publicized corporate accounting scandals, Congress enacted the Public Company Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, which is also known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Act also includes a new stipulation to shield whistleblowers by prohibiting any sort of retaliation against the employees of publicly traded companies who choose… Read More
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False or Deceptive Advertising
It is a criminal offense to disseminate false or deceptive advertisement even if no one is actually deceived or sustains losses from the advertisement. Penalties for deceptive advertising depend on the nature of the violation, but may include fines, injunctions, and possible jail. A skilled San Francisco white-collar criminal lawyer may be able to reduce… Read More
False Claims Act
The term “whistleblower” is defined as a citizen who reports illegal activity against the government, or any other fraudulent act within a company, state agency or organization. A federal law called the False Claims Act (“FCA”), also known as the “Lincoln Act”, allows whistleblowers to file suit, known as a qui tam suit, in the… Read More
Customs Restrictions on Bringing Items into the United States
While everyone who travels internationally has had experience filling out customs declaration forms when reentering the United States, most people have very little knowledge of what they are and are not actually allowed to bring into the country and how steep the penalties can be for even an innocent or unwitting mistake. Are you aware… Read More
Currency Schemes and Forex Fraud
Currency trading is a highly speculative, fast-paced high-risk investment strategy. International currency markets operate 24 hours a day with a high volume of trading. Foreign exchange (Forex) market trading is also one of the financial activities that federal regulators scrutinize most closely for instances of fraud and illegal diversion of investors’ funds. The Forex arena… Read More
Cell Phone Fraud
An act of fraud is essentially an intentional act done with deceit that causes the victim to suffer a financial loss. One of the most common types of cell phone fraud is subscriber fraud. If you use false information to acquire a cell phone or enroll in a service plan, or, alternately, you use the… Read More
White Collar Criminal Attorney Explains Bribery and Kickbacks
Bribery is a very serious crime in California, carrying stiff penalties of both prison time and fines upon conviction. Bribery may be defined as providing, or attempting to provide, something of benefit to a public official to influence some action within that public official’s official duties. It is important to realize that bribery applies to… Read More
Adoption Scams
Adoption scams are crimes that involve misrepresentation. In general, misrepresentation is an untrue statement of fact that is material to the contract and is intended to deceive or mislead. Specific to adoption scams, alleged misrepresentations may include the birth mother accepting money for expenses from more than one prospective adoptive parent. In other cases, the… Read More
Labor Day Weekend Sobriety Check Points in San Francisco Area
SFPD has announced the location of their DUI checkpoint this weekend. Starting at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night, September 3rd SFPD will be checking drivers’ sobriety levels at 14th and Mission. A Alameda police are reminding motorists that they plan to stage a DUI checkpoint sometime between Friday Sept. 2 and Sept. 5. CHP Plans DUI… Read More
Check Fraud
If you commit check fraud in California, you may be subject to both criminal and civil penalties, and you should contact a San Francisco white collar criminal attorney to make sure your rights are protected. Under § 1719 of the California Civil Code, which is known as the “California bad check law,” an individual who… Read More