Entrepreneurial activity is invariably accompanied by criminal and legal risks arising from objective conditions on the market, intra-corporate relations and interaction with regulatory authorities. In legal practice, two separate areas related to economic crimes have recently emerged – White Collar Crime (white-collar crimes) and Forensic (corporate fraud detection and prevention services). We should also not forget about the increase in the number of cases related to AML / CFT (Anti-Money Laundering / Combating the Financing of Terrorism).

 

An economic crime lawyer is engaged in two vectors of work: 1) protecting the business itself (owners and management) in case of suspicion or accusation; 2) protection against threats to the business, in particular in the case of fraud and other criminal acts on the part of employees and contractors. If you are looking for such a specialist, welcome to Lawrange. Our capabilities and experience will be the key to a successful solution to your issue.

 

When do you need to contact an economic crime lawyer?

 

The legislation of Ukraine does not provide for criminal liability for legal entities. Therefore, in the risk zone with regard to bringing to such responsibility are company officials – managers and top managers, financial directors, as well as chief accountants, heads of departments, and so on. Mostly an economic lawyer provides services to large corporations and banks. However, representatives of medium and small businesses may also need this specialist.

 

For your information! Among the reasons for contacting such a specialized lawyer are accusations of tax evasion, fraud (fraud) with the financial resources of an enterprise, fictitious bankruptcy, bribery, abuse of power, dissemination of personal data, forgery of documents and official forgery, legalization of proceeds from crime and etc.

 

It is advisable to always have a lawyer’s contacts at hand, and contact him immediately if:

  1. the official has been suspected or charged;
  2. the official received a summons for interrogation or a summons to give explanations;
  3. representatives of law enforcement agencies came to the enterprise to conduct a search;
  4. a request was sent to the enterprise for the purpose of seizing documents in accordance with Article 93 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine;
  5. property and accounts are seized;
  6. criminal proceedings have been opened against officials, operational-search activities are being carried out (phone tapping, surveillance, and so on);
  7. suspicions arose of an imminent raider takeover of the enterprise.

 

On the other hand, an economic crime lawyer is ready to represent the interests of the company in cases related to corporate fraud, manipulation of financial statements, and misappropriation of property by employees.

 

 

White-collar crime practice in the Attorney Association LAWRANGE

 

Accusations of economic crimes of officials in companies are an instrument of pressure on business by law enforcement agencies. Basically, we are talking about Article 212 of the Criminal Code (tax evasion). In certain situations, there is a threat of imposition of fines with five or six zeros, which entails irreparable damage to the financial stability and reputation of the business.

 

For your information! Entrepreneurs are accused of so-called “twisting” (illegal VAT refunds). While the investigation and litigation is ongoing, the entrepreneur is already facing premature condemnation from the public. Therefore, it is very important to drop all charges completely and with very convincing arguments.

 

White-collar crime (WCC) lawyers for economic crimes in such situations are at the forefront of protecting business, interacting with representatives of law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies, the Antimonopoly Committee, the State Intellectual Property Service, the tax service, and, more recently, the Bureau of Economic Security. We are ready to work with complex cases and achieve success, if necessary, in court.

 

The second important area of work is the legal protection of “white collars” (officials and employees of the company) in case of suspicion or accusation of the following crimes:

  • fraud, illegal manipulation of financial statements;
  • theft of property;
  • sale of information constituting a trade secret.

 

Forensic Practice in the Attorney Association LAWRANGE

 

In addition to external factors, internal corporate offenses often have a destructive effect on business. A special tool called Forensic makes it possible to identify: a) facts of offenses that have already been committed; b) possible economic crimes in the company.

 

For your information! Among the economic crimes that Forensic aims to detect are embezzlement and sabotage by employees, bribery and economic espionage, misreporting and bribery, transactions with affiliates and abuse of power. As practice shows, in the end, such crimes at least slow down the development of a business, and over time can cause bankruptcy.

 

Forensic is a multi-vector corporate investigation involving experts. In addition to identifying violations and potential threats, the use of this tool allows you to collect evidence on detected violations in order to bring the perpetrators to justice.

 

Based on our practice, among the most common violations that can be detected using Forensic:

  • “parallel business” – the creation by unscrupulous employees of a parallel company, in the development of which marketing ideas, business connections, customer base and other confidential information are used;
  • “kickbacks” – an employee receiving remuneration from a supplier or client, for example, when the goods from the supplier are overpriced or of poor quality, and also when the client manages to purchase the company’s products or services at a reduced price;
  • “dead souls” – fictitious employees who spend salaries and other rewards (although this phenomenon is more common in budgetary organizations, large companies can also sometimes encounter it);
  • “own” suppliers – the choice of a supplier with a benefit for themselves and the conclusion of a deal with him by an official on unfavorable terms for the company.

 

For your information! In the course of corporate investigations, accounting and other financial documentation is audited, information on the company’s IT infrastructure (ERP, CRM, BPM systems) is searched and analyzed, employees and other stakeholders are interviewed, and possible relationships between employees and suppliers and competitors are investigated. Based on the results of the work, a comprehensive report is drawn up, which presents the facts of violations and recommendations for their elimination or compensation for damage through the courts.

 

 

International Lawyer for Economic Crimes

 

The Lawrange team provides extensive legal support in criminal proceedings related to international economic crimes. We provide consultations regarding the application of international legal norms, as well as provide representation services in state, law enforcement and regulatory and judicial institutions of foreign states.

 

For your information! No business entity that conducts foreign economic activity (FEA) can be 100% insured against suspicion of committing such crimes as, for example, tax evasion. Also, entrepreneurs are often suspected and accused of laundering money obtained illegally. Among the entities that are at particularly high risk due to the above points, and who may need an international lawyer for economic crimes:

  • banks, credit institutions, fintech companies;
  • brokerage and dealer companies;
  • firms working with securities, investment funds;
  • casinos, auctions, galleries selling art objects;
  • audit companies;
  • bankruptcy specialists, external accountants and tax consultants, independent lawyers;
  • trust service providers;
  • realtors;
  • companies engaged in the exchange and storage of cryptocurrencies.

 

Accountability for economic crimes is carried out through the mechanisms of international legal cooperation, in particular, using agreements on mutual legal assistance between countries. The protection of the interests of the suspect or the accused is built depending on the existence and features of such an agreement in a particular case.

 

When it comes to Europe and crimes related to money laundering, the six EU Directives – AMLD are necessarily taken into account. At the same time, even the EU Member States themselves are not ready to 100% implement the recommendations of the AMLD Directives. For example, the sixth Directive refers to the need to bring legal entities to criminal liability. However, while this can not be done in all EU countries. For reference, among the penalties for legal entities are liquidation through a court, a ban on commercial activities, deprivation of the right to state assistance and state funding, closure of certain company establishments, freezing or confiscation of assets.

 

For your information! If you ask yourself about the most common economic crimes in Europe, then you can consider the data of Europol. In particular, the priorities of EMPACT 2022–2025 (European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats) are three groups of crimes:

 

  • Laundering of money obtained by criminal means.

The scale of money laundering is currently difficult to assess, but it is considered significant. According to the estimates of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), from 2 to 5% of world GDP is “laundered” annually. This is from 715 billion euros to 1.87 trillion euros per year.

 

  • VAT Fraud (MTIC – Missing Trader Intra Community Fraud)

VAT taxation rules are violated in cross-border transactions. Fraudsters make billions of euros in profits by evading VAT, or by fraudulently claiming VAT refunds from national authorities. This costs the tax authorities about 50 billion euros annually.

 

  • Excise fraud.

This group of crimes is associated with the smuggling of highly taxed goods such as tobacco, alcohol and fuel. Organized crime groups use a variety of methods to avoid excise taxes and make significant profits by selling both genuine and counterfeit excise goods at lower prices than their legal equivalents. This type of fraud is due to legal differences and different excise tax rates applicable in different EU Member States.

 

Important! If a company official is suspected or accused of committing an international economic crime, this is a very serious situation. As a minimum, it is desirable that an international economic lawyer of the Attorneys Association Lawrange analyze your case. However, the timely intervention of a lawyer greatly increases the chances of a favorable outcome.

 

 

Stages of our work

 

For clients in our law firm, there are two formats of work: 1) provision of individual services; 2) comprehensive support of the case or the solution of the task.

 

Individual services include:

  • Express consultation online or by phone – a brief explanation on interaction with representatives of law enforcement agencies, what can be done and what actions it is desirable to refrain from, how to avoid mistakes.
  • Preparation of a response to a request from law enforcement or regulatory authorities for the provision of information and documents.

 

***Note: The investigator has the right to request documents in accordance with Article 93 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine. If such a request is left unanswered, liability under the law is not provided. However, this state of affairs provides the investigator with the opportunity to obtain a court order for a search. Based on this, it is often appropriate to respond to requests for information and documents.

 

  • Departure for a search or interrogation – representing the interests of the client in the course of investigative actions minimizes the risk of errors, incorrectly formulated answers, which can subsequently aggravate the situation. For example, quite often the status of a witness can change to that of a suspect.
  • Removal of seizure or return of seized property, including when seizure or confiscation is used in criminal proceedings even before a guilty verdict is issued.

 

Comprehensive case management includes:

  • Consulting support of the client (person in the status of a witness, suspect or accused).
  • Representing the interests of the client at the stage of pre-trial investigation and in court of all instances.
  • Development of a defense strategy based on the study of the case materials, if necessary, conducting your own legal investigations.

 

If we are talking about complex support of a case or solving a specific task, the work includes the following steps:

  1. Signing an agreement on the provision of legal services.
    At this stage, the details of the case are clarified, the essence of the economic crime in which the entrepreneur or company official is involved, a general consultation is given regarding the prospects and costs.
  2. An in-depth introduction to the case.
    Our team studies the case, forms a general strategy for protecting the interests of the client and a plan for future work.
  3. Preparing for the trial.
    Collecting materials and documents, conducting (if necessary) a lawyer’s investigation, interviewing witnesses and engaging experts.
  4. Representation of client’s interests in court.
    We have the necessary practical experience, which makes it possible to represent the client’s interests not only in the court of first instance, but also in the case of appeal or cassation proceedings.

 

For your information! The international lawyer for economic crimes of our lawyer association is also ready to represent the interests of individuals in matters related to extradition, temporary and extradition arrest.

 

 

Benefits of contacting the Attorneys Association Lawrange 

 

Legal support for business, including international business, is our main area of specialization. Our team has repeatedly faced violations in the direction of taxation and AML. For more than a decade, we have been working with high-risk businesses, including cryptocurrency projects. Interaction with regulatory and law enforcement agencies is part of our work. And this applies to the competent authorities not only in Ukraine, but also in other states.

 

Important! Cooperation with Lawrange is a solution for entrepreneurs, officials and employees of companies who prefer reliability, confidentiality and activity proven not by word but by deed. Our team will help you get out of a difficult situation due to suspicion or accusation of an economic crime, and even more – we will help you avoid such situations in the future.

 

 

The cost of services of economic crime lawyer

 

Our law firm works on a fixed price list for some services, as well as on an hourly basis. We can send you rates upon request. If you choose comprehensive support, then we issue an invoice as a whole for a certain type of work or for a separate stage (for example, for supporting a case in a court of first instance). The specific cost of services in this case depends on the complexity and volume of the case.

 

Often, the scheme of working with us provides for an advance payment, and then the client making the remaining amount after our analysis of the case materials and clarification of the amount of work to be done. We also practice the so-called success fee, which the client agrees with the lawyer in advance and pays if a successful result is achieved.

 

 

Conclusions

 

In the light of international globalization, deoffshorization and the exchange of tax data between states, economic relations are becoming more complex. At the same time, for the successful development of business, entrepreneurs increasingly have to enter new international markets. Against this background, corporate relations are becoming more complicated, and the company’s dependence on IT systems is growing. The risks for the company associated with economic crimes are becoming higher.

 

An economic lawyer can be a useful assistant for businessmen, namely: 1) identify facts of corporate fraud in a company; 2) ensure the protection of the interests of the owner or official of the company in case of suspicion or accusation of committing an economic crime; 3) prepare anti-corruption compliance algorithms for company employees.

 

 

FAQ

 

What does an economic crime lawyer do?

This specialist provides legal protection for officials and employees of the company (“white collars”) in case they are suspected or accused of economic crimes – fraud, theft of property, taking bribes, forgery of documents, and so on.

 

Is it possible to defend oneself when accused of an economic crime?

We are talking about the threat of prosecution, which means the likelihood of imposing huge fines, confiscation of property and even imprisonment. There is too much at stake to ignore the value of a good lawyer.

 

Are you ready to defend a client if he is accused of an economic crime in another state?

Yes. Thanks to our own capabilities and the presence of a network of partners around the world, we provide such a service – representing the interests of the client in foreign countries.

 

 

 

 

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