Miami Criminal Lawyers Blog

The President of a Miami based company has pled guilty to monetary transactions connected to a plan to bribe former Haitian telecommunications officials.  Jean Fourcand admitted to receiving funds that originated from U.S. telecommunications companies for the benefit of an official with Haiti's state owned telecommunications company. 

Fourcand admitted that some of the funds were sent to an intermediary company J.D. Locator Services Inc.  The president of J.D. Locator previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and money laundering.  Fourcand also admitted that Robert Antoine a prior official at Haiti's telecommunications company was a recipient of bribes.  Antoine was also indicted for money laundering conspiracy and was subsequently arrested and forced to leave Haiti to answer to the U.S. charges.

In carrying out the scheme, J.D. Locator would write checks to Fourcand, which would contain a fabricated invoice to create the false impression that the payment was for legitimate services.  In reality, the money was intended to be diverted to real estate transactions for the benefit of Antoine.  Fourcand faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.

Prior to Fourcand's guilty plea, Antoino Perez who was the controller of a U.S. telecommunications company also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit (FCPA) violations and money laundering for paying bribes to former officials of the Haiti telecommunications company.

White collar criminal investigations and prosecutions threaten companies with serious consequences and the tactics of a criminal investigation which include grand jury subpoenas, search warrants, undercover informants, unannounced visits from law enforcement agents and even wiretaps.  These tactics are unfamiliar and highly unsettling to most companies and individuals but can themselves lead to criminal penalties when handled unwisely.  Effective representation in a white-collar criminal prosecution requires not only knowledge of the law but experience with the offices and agencies that enforces them according to Miami criminal defense lawyer John Musca.  "The federal authorities increasingly pursue white-collar crime very aggressively.  These are complicated cases that are difficult to defend so it is important to have an experienced white-collar attorney on your side," said Musca.

The Miami-Dade Environmental Trust Fund, which was created to investigate and prosecute environmental criminal activity, has been frozen in the wake of questions regarding how the funds are being used.  The fund was set up in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency to address environmental crime including the transportation and dumping of toxic material.  The Miami-Dade police department has been charged with the responsibility for overseeing the fund in a county sometimes referred to as the country's "drum dump capital."  The trust is managed by the Miami-Dade police and is funded through court fines, donations and government funding.

The Miami-Dade police department spent over $5 million from the fund since 2001 with half of the amount being spent during the last 3 years.  The Miami-Dade police department and the EPA signed a memorandum March 27, 2002 indicating that the "primary mission of the Task Force is to seek out and arrest those persons or companies that have violated state and federal environmental law."  Miami-Dade police chief counsel Glenn Theobald issued a memo February 13, 2008 indicating that the fund was "not only for environmental objectives."   A freeze on spending and complete audit has been ordered in the wake of revelations that money from the fund has been used to purchase DirecTV subscriptions, SUVs used by command staff, office furniture, travel and training, iphones and computers and equipment in excess of $450,000.

In the wake of the revelations, Miami-Dade Police Director James Loftus has ordered that the all spending from the Environmental Trust Fund be frozen and that a detailed audit of any expenditures from the fund be conducted.  "Our department is investigating all expenditures relative to the Environmental Trust Fund and all correspondence relating to those expenditures," said Loftus.  Theobald has since withdrawn his prior approval of fund spending on non-environmental crimes in a memorandum indicating, "a direct nexus with the expenditure and the furtherance of environmental investigations is required.  Any other interpretation was mistaken, due to the information provided at the time the memorandum was presented."

"Environmental crimes can carry very severe penalties including staggering fines and imprisonment," said Miami criminal lawyer John Musca.  "Authorities in Florida have aggressively prosecuted executives and companies charged with white-collar crimes including environmental crimes."  Florida set a record in 1999 when a man was sentenced to 13 years, which at the time was the longest sentence ever for someone convicted of an environmental crime.  Given the potentially staggering consequences of a conviction for an environmental crime, a person accused of such an offense should seek immediate legal advice.

When you are faced with criminal charges in Miami, you will face some serious legal issues, where you will need the assistance of a Miami Criminal Defense Attorney.  It is crucial that you have legal representation if you are facing a criminal charge.  Don't face this situation without an aggressive attorney fighting for your rights every step of the way. Contact Musca Law immediately.

Miami- Detectives are investigating a man who has allegedly been stealing identities and passing counterfeit checks across South Florida.  This form of criminal act is often referred to as Identity Theft.

In a statement made by police the suspect enters the victim's banks to then deposit counterfeit checks into their accounts.  A split deposit is made where the suspect deposits a phony check into the victim's account to then withdraw a portion of the funds.

Identity theft is a crime that is considered to be a white collar crime.  White collar crimes are fraud, bankruptcy fraud, bribery, insider trading, embezzlement, computer crime, medical crime, public corruption, identity theft, environmental crime, pension fund crime, RICO crimes, consumer fraud, occupational crime, securities fraud, financial fraud, and forgery.

A conviction for a white collar crime could mean prison time and thousands of dollars in fines.

If you have been arrested or charged with a crime in the State of Florida you will need to hire an experienced Florida Criminal Defense Attorney who will demand the integrity and the proficiency of the investigation that lead to the arrest is beyond reproach.  Attorneys at Musca Law will provide you with the highest quality criminal representation available.

As an experienced Miami Criminal Defense Attorney, Attorney Musca is committed to protecting his clients' rights. If you or someone that you know is facing a white collar crime, contact Musca Law to schedule a consultation.  Call Musca Law toll free at 1-800-687-2252 or visit us on the web at muscalaw.com.

Corporate crime is often used interchangeably with the term white collar crime, although the two are not one and the same. Embezzlement may be a white collar crime but not a corporate crime. For example, a secretary at a small business might slowly siphon off funds from the business. Insider trading is an example of a crime that occurs most frequently in the corporate world.

When many people think of corporate crime, they think of Enron. Enron Corporation was a Texas-based energy business, which dabbled in communications, paper, internet services, and natural gas in addition to electricity. The company famously posted profits in excess of $100 billion in 2000. Later, it became publicly known that the company had engaged in massive fraud in its accounting practices and it became the largest company to ever file for bankruptcy in the United States. Directors of the company settled several civil suits with their own funds.

Enron executives engaged in insider trading practices, strategically selling off their own stock because they were aware of the fraudulent accounting and the losses the company was not posting. Meanwhile, they informed investors that the stock would continue to become more valuable. Insider trading occurs when those with "inside information" such as company directors or executives sell or buy stock based on secret information. The executives even created some fraudulent power outages in California, causing rolling blackouts and national concern about the California energy crisis, which the company claimed was based on too little available power. On certain occasions, the system had actually been manipulated.

Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeff Skilling were convicted on numerous criminal corporate fraud charges in 2006. Lay died prior to sentencing in the case, but Skilling was sentenced to 28 months in federal prison for his role in the Enron scandal.

If you have been arrested or charged with a white collar, corporate, or federal crime, contact the Miami criminal defense lawyers at Musca Law.