Fraudulent Schemes Lawyer in Mesa, AZ

Mesa Police's online reporting system accepts wire fraud and false pretenses reports for incidents inside the city, and the Document and Financial Crimes Unit works the fraud cases that follow. Its fraud packet asks the person reporting for a notarized affidavit and the statements behind each transaction, and tells them to submit it only if they want prosecution.

The department also warns residents about overpayment checks from online buyers, demands for payment in gift cards, callers posing as a grandchild in trouble, and strangers asking someone to deposit money and pass it on. Its advice: no deposits for anyone you do not know personally. People drawn into those schemes as account holders or go-betweens can become suspects themselves, and what they knew at the time is what separates a victim from a participant.

The unit's victim guidance draws a line that matters in many of these cases. It tells people not to sign a repayment agreement with someone they know unless they are willing to give up prosecution, warning that such a deal could be construed as an extension of credit, making later charges a civil matter. A failed venture or an unpaid invoice can be a contract problem; a scheme to defraud requires knowing false representations, promises or material omissions.

A class 2 felony is beyond the Mesa City Prosecutor, which handles city misdemeanors, so these cases go to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, whose organization chart lists White Collar/Cyber Crime and Property and Financial Crimes units. Charges come by grand jury indictment or direct complaint, and a judge may issue a summons rather than a warrant. The Arizona Attorney General's Office takes certain cases, often where conduct spanned counties or a state agency investigated, and federal prosecutors can treat the same facts as wire or mail fraud; Nova Law Group appears in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Our firm takes these matters on whichever office brought the charge.

When an arrest happens, booking is at the Mesa Police holding facility, followed by a transfer to the county jail's intake building on 28th Drive in Phoenix and an initial appearance within 24 hours (Rule 4.1). The case is heard in Superior Court downtown, at the Central Court Building or South Court Tower; confirm the building on your current notice.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A felony conviction makes a person a prohibited possessor (A.R.S. § 13-3101(A)(7)(b)), with a federal bar under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Fraudulent schemes falls in title 13, chapter 23, and an offense under that chapter, pending or proven, precludes a level I fingerprint clearance card, subject to a good cause exception (§ 41-1758.07(C), (E)). Sealing a class 2 record waits ten years after discharge, with fines, fees and restitution paid (§ 13-911(E)(1), (G)). Licenses and public contracts can be at risk, and noncitizens should get immigration advice before any plea, since 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2) can apply.