Financial crime cases are rarely simple, which is why they are more likely to result in felony charges and more likely to go through the federal courts. They often involve business operations that go on for years and involve multiple people, sometimes crossing state or national boundaries. If it is a case of sex trafficking or drug trafficking, then it is easy for prosecutors to say that the entire enterprise is illegal and everyone who participates in it is guilty of a crime, with the exception of sex workers who may convincingly argue that they were coerced into engaging in commercial sex. If an operation makes money through illegal activities, such as identity theft or the sale of illegal drugs, and then falsifies records to make it look like the money came from a legitimate business operation controlled by the defendants, this is money laundering. Things are even less clear-cut if the original business was legal, but some of its dealings were fraudulent. Can you prove that you acted without criminal intent, even as your business partners engaged in fraud and other financial crimes? Your best chance of doing this successfully is with the help of a Texas criminal defense lawyer.
If a Business Partner Defrauded You, Does This Cast Doubt on the Allegations That You Defrauded Customers?
Gestational surrogacy is legal in all states except Louisiana and Nebraska. In gestational surrogacy, a couple conceives embryos through in vitro fertilization, and another woman carries the pregnancy after an embryo transfer; after the surrogate gives birth, the genetic parents become the child’s legal parents. Surrogacy escrow services handle payment to ensure that the legal parents pay for the gestational surrogate’s medical expenses. These businesses are also legal in most states, including Texas.
The owner of a gestational surrogacy escrow firm is currently facing charges for allegedly using the company’s funds to pay for personal expenses and an unrelated business venture of hers rather than using it to match genetic parents to gestational surrogates and pay the surrogates’ medical expenses. After customers complained, a court was about to freeze the company owner’s assets, and she allegedly transferred a piece of undeveloped land to a business partner, allegedly to conceal the property and protect it from the freeze. Now, the recipient of the piece of land, who claims that she bought it from the surrogacy firm owner, is also under investigation, as is another associate of theirs.
So far, none of the three have formally faced criminal charges. If you are under investigation for a financial crime, you have the right to hire a criminal defense lawyer. Your lawyer can help you avoid criminal charges during an investigation into a civil matter.
Contact the Law Office of Patrick J. McLain, PLLC About Criminal Defense Cases
A Dallas criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are under investigation because of allegedly illegal business activities undertaken by business partners or associates of yours. Contact the Law Office of Patrick J. McLain, PLLC, in Dallas, Texas, to discuss your case.