The Low Down on Even More White Collar Crimes

We’ve been examining white collar crimes, which are crimes that are committed mainly for monetary gain. Furthermore, since frequent white collar crimes involve financials, these tend to be perpetrated by businessmen and businesswomen — those whom you normally wouldn’t think of when you think of crimes. The term came into use in the late 1930s and originally referred to those of the upper thresholds of society. Today, it’s more likely to be an accountant, an employee, or even a check-out clerk rather than those of upper society.

Probst Law Office in Columbus helps those accused of white collar crimes, from embezzlement to elder fraud. In this continuing series, we’ll take a look at even more white collar crimes, particularly investment schemes and elder fraud. Contact us today for a free consultation!

EVEN MORE WHITE COLLAR CRIMES

Investment schemes

We’ve already discussed Bernie Madoff, but it’s important we bring him up again since he epitomizes one of the more prominent investment scheme, the Ponzi scheme. Named after the first known perpetrator of the Ponzi scheme (or at least the first recorded), Charles Ponzi, a Ponzi scheme is in essence where investors pay someone money who promises large returns and pays the returns out of the new investments he receives. This works well, as long as there is always continual money coming in. Once the new money stops, the Ponzi scheme collapses.

You would think in today’s society a Ponzi scheme of such magnitude would not exist, but Bernie Madoff proved them wrong, losing approximately $18 billion of investors’ money. This speaks to humans’ desire for rich returns with little work involved.

Other types of investment schemes to watch out for include pyramid schemes, pump and dump scams, pre-IPO investment frauds, tax shelter cons, fake charities, and recently fake illnesses. While sites such as GoFundMe are great for those who truly need help, they also are enabling financial crimes to soar. The same can be said for the homeless. It’s hard to know who truly needs help when it seems like everywhere you go, people are begging for money.

Probst Law Office in Columbus defends those accused of investment schemes. Contact us today to learn more!

Elder fraud

Perhaps the most despicable of the frauds out there involve the stealing of money from the elderly. A century ago, this would not be as prevalent, as our elders were revered by society for their wisdom and were provided for by the community at large. Not so today where everyone can be out for themselves.

Sadly, elder fraud (or sometimes called elder abuse) is most often perpetrated by someone whom the elder trusts. This person gains access to the elder’s financial accounts and steals his or her money — sometimes slowly or sometimes in one fell swoop. The elderly who are suffering from Altzeimer’s and dementia are easy targets since their mental faculties are not operating at 100% capacity.

Another form of elder abuse is telemarketing, where elders are taken advantage of over the phone, and increasingly, online. Sadly, many of these crimes are never reported because the victims are embarrassed by their gullibility.

Probst Law Office defends those accused of crimes against the elderly. Often, due to in-fighting over an elder’s will, people will falsely accuse others of elder crimes in order to gain a bigger inheritance down the road. Sadly, they may involve the elders themselves in this crime by feeding them lies about others. Elder abuse has become one of America’s ignominy crimes.

If you are the caretaker of a senior, there are signs you can watch for to help prevent elder abuse:

  • Sudden changes in wills
  • New romantic relationship that exists only online
  • New caregiver or uncharacteristic friend
  • Large withdrawals from the bank, or large wire transfers, especially to foreign countries
  • Large withdrawals from retirement accounts for inexplicable reasons
  • New joint account
  • Different signatures on checks
  • Increase in credit card debt
  • Insufficient fund charges on bank account

These are just some of the signs to watch out for as a caretaker of a senior. Oftentimes, the senior won’t even know he or she is being taken advantage of and he or she may be in utter denial of it as well. As the caregiver or even a caring community member, it is our responsibility to watch out for the elderly just like they watched out for us while we were younger.

THE PROBST LAW OFFICE IN COLUMBUS DIFFERENCE

Probst Law Office in Columbus cares about both the victims of white collar crimes, as well as those accused of white collar crimes. We honor the fact that you are innocent until proven guilty, and we do our utmost to keep you declared innocent. The burden is on the courts to prove you guilty, and we won’t give them an easy time of doing so.

When you partner with Probst Law Office in Columbus, you are gaining an experienced criminal defense attorney who understands criminal law and the court system process. We have helped hundreds of people regain their lives after being accused of crimes. After all, if convicted, the penalties are severe, from jail time to large fines. But more than that, if you are convicted of a felony in the state of Ohio, it will be years before the conviction is expunged. However, that doesn’t preclude the fact that on most job applications, you’ll be asked the question “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” and you’ll have to answer yes.

When you partner with Probst Law Office, we do our best to ensure the answer is no. Contact us today for a free consultation!