California White Collar Crimes
What are white collar crimes in California?
- “White Collar” crimes include crimes such as embezzlement, extortion, bribery, money laundering, perjury and RICO charges.
- Extortion is defined as “the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, or the obtaining of an official act of a public officer, induced by a wrongful use of force or fear, or under color of official right.”
- Extortion in the California Codes
- Bribery is defined as offering or giving a bribe to any “judicial officer, juror, referee, arbitrator, or umpire, or to any person who may be authorized by law to hear or determine any question or controversy, with intent to influence his vote, opinion, or decision upon any matter or question which is or may be brought before him for decision.”
- Bribery in the California Codes
- Embezzlement is defined as the “fraudulent appropriation of property by a person to whom it has been entrusted.”
- Embezzlement in the California Codes
- Money Laundering is defined as conducting a “transaction or more than one transaction within a seven-day period involving a monetary instrument or instruments of a total value exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or a total value exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) within a 30-day period, through one or more financial institutions (1) with the specific intent to promote, manage, establish, carry on, or facilitate the promotion, management, establishment, or carrying on of any criminal activity, or (2) knowing that the monetary instrument represents the proceeds of, or is derived directly or indirectly from the proceeds of, criminal activity, is guilty of the crime of money laundering.”
- Money Laundering in the California Codes
- Perjury is defined as offering in to evidence, “as genuine or true, any book, paper, document, record, or other instrument in writing, knowing the same to have been forged or fraudulently altered or ante-dated, is guilty of felony.”
- Perjury in the California Code
- RICO is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal law that prohibits criminal organizations.
- RICO in Federal Law
- Legal penalties for white collar crimes vary from a small fine and probation for embezzlement to life imprisonment for RICO convictions.
- Bribery is punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three or four years.
- White collar crimes are a serious category of criminal offenses. Convictions can not only result in jail time, but can also impact your chances for future employment.
- Don’t risk it! If you, a family member, or friend is facing a white collar crime charge, it is best to contact an experienced criminal defense attorney.
- For the best white collar crime defense in Los Angeles, contact The Law Offices of Erik S. Lewin.
