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Fraud Schemes Lawyer in Orlando, FL

The rise in fraud crimes over the last decade or so has been met with increased attempts by both state and federal authorities to prosecute. By casting such a wide net, these authorities risk accusing those who are either only marginally involved, or who never intended to commit fraud in the first place. If you’ve been charged with fraud, contact Hanlon Law today to start working on your best possible defense.

What is a Fraud Scheme?

Fraud schemes, legally referred to as Schemes to Defraud, are a crime on both the state and federal levels.

For the state of Florida, Statute 817.034 defines a Scheme to Defraud as any situation in which you:

Willfully attempt to defraud or otherwise dishonestly obtain property (be it physical, liquid, monetary, or otherwise) from another person or persons
Willfully mislead said person or persons with false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises, or other willful misrepresentations of a future act
Show a “systematic, ongoing” pattern of conduct

The inclusion of “willfully” is important, as essentially, it means fraud can only occur when there is the intent to commit fraud. Your actions must have been done with the conscious purpose of fraudulently obtaining property that does not belong to you. Actions committed in good faith cannot be charged as fraud – for example, if you believe the property in question genuinely belonged to you, or you did not intentionally mislead the property owner when obtaining said property.

Organized vs. Communications Fraud

Scheme to Defraud crimes are split into two categories: organized fraud and communications fraud.

Organized fraud is defined as any successful attempt to fraudulently obtain property – basically, when the fraud scheme is successful, and you obtain someone’s property by false or fraudulent means.

Communications fraud, as the name suggests, is committed when someone engages in a Scheme to Defraud, and communicates with someone by mail, telephone, or electronic means (email, text message, instant message, etc.) with the intent to fraudulently obtain another person’s or persons’ property.

It’s important to note that, while organized fraud is a single charge that encompasses the entire fraud scheme, communications fraud is charged per communication. This means you could be charged with dozens of counts of communications fraud, depending on how many times you communicated with someone for the purposes of the fraud scheme. For example, if you send four different emails regarding the fraud, make two separate phone calls, and also send seven text messages, you could end up with up to 13 counts of communications fraud.

What are the Legal Repercussions of Fraud Schemes?

The sentencing for Scheme to Defraud crimes is first dependent on the designation: organized or communications. From there, the specifics will be determined by the value of the fraudulently-obtained property.

Organized Fraud Less than $20,000

An offense of organized fraud where the property in question is valued at less than $20,000 is considered a third-degree felony, and is also designated as a Level 3 Offense by Florida’s Criminal Punishment Code.