White Collar Crimes Lawyer in Tempe, AZ

Tempe Police publish their reporting forms on one city page, and three of them are about money: an Embezzlement Packet, a Financial Institution Forgery Packet and an Identity Theft / Citizen Fraud Packet. The titles suggest how many of these cases start: with an account the business or the bank put together, which the detective then picks up.

That starting point deserves skepticism. A business that feels cheated can miscount approved reimbursements, forget a commission deal or knit unrelated entries into one plan. Every figure in a loss summary should trace back to a source document, and that is where we look.

Tempe's Investigations Division page lists a Document and Arson Crimes Unit and a Property Crimes Unit among its squads. It does not say which one takes a given financial complaint, so the unit on your detective's card is the best clue.

Arizona law has no separate crime of embezzlement. The usual charge is theft under A.R.S. 13-1802(A)(2): knowingly, and without lawful authority, putting money or property you were trusted with for a limited purpose to a use, or keeping it for a time, that was never authorized. Meaning to pay it back is not among the statute's defenses. Value drives the class. Amounts under $1,000 are generally charged as a class 1 misdemeanor, felonies start at $1,000, and the top class, class 2, applies at $25,000 and above. Because A.R.S. 13-1801(B) lets the State total what it says was taken as part of one scheme or course of conduct, months of small transfers can be charged as one felony.

When the total stays under $1,000, a Tempe Police report can remain local. The City Attorney's Criminal Division prosecutes misdemeanors that occur in Tempe, whether charged under a state statute or the Tempe City Code, and its courtroom cases go to Tempe Municipal Court, 140 E. Fifth Street.

Felonies take a different road. Detectives submit the case to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Its published guide to adult cases lists the choices open to the assigned prosecutor: ask police for more investigation, decline, refer elsewhere, or charge, by direct complaint, by grand jury indictment or both. White Collar Offenses is among the specialized bureaus the County Attorney has described. The Arizona Attorney General's Office brings a share of state felony cases as well, usually ones involving more than one county, a state agency's own investigation, or a referral from the county attorney. We handle these matters whichever office brought the charge. Some allegations involving banks, wires, the mail or taxes are taken federally.

Bigger accusations may add a count under A.R.S. 13-2310, fraudulent schemes and artifices. That class 2 felony needs a scheme to defraud plus a benefit the person knowingly got through false statements, false promises or material omissions. Proof that someone relied on the lie is unnecessary, and amounts within one scheme are combined. Once the benefit hits $100,000, subsection (C) rules out probation and a suspended sentence except through narrow release provisions in other statutes, and restitution is not among them.

A Tempe contract, permit or reimbursement claim brings another statute into view. A.R.S. 13-2311 covers matters tied to the business of a state agency or a political subdivision, and a city is one. In that setting, hiding or falsifying a material fact through a trick or device, or using a document you know is false, as part of a plan to defraud or deceive, is a class 5 felony, with no requirement that anyone profited.

A.R.S. 13-2317 sorts money laundering into three degrees: third degree is a class 6 felony, second degree class 3 and first degree class 2. Several forms turn on whether the accused was, in the statute's words, "knowing or having reason to know" that the funds were proceeds of an offense. Others target breaking up deposits to dodge state reporting requirements and operating a money transmitter without the required license. If first or second degree conduct forms a pattern adding up to $100,000 or more within twelve months, the State can seek substitute assets worth triple the amount.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A theft or fraud conviction can be read by lenders, insurers and licensing boards as a dishonesty offense, and a board may open a case of its own. A felony conviction makes a person a prohibited possessor under A.R.S. 13-3101 until firearm rights are restored. A.R.S. 13-603(C) requires restitution of the full economic loss as the court determines it, and the business can still sue over the same money. If you are not a U.S. citizen, get immigration advice before any plea.