White Collar Crimes Lawyer in Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix Police sends financial cases to its Financial Crimes Detail, which sits in the Property Crimes Bureau's Technical Investigations Unit and which the department describes as dedicated to investigating fraud, embezzlement and identity theft. The detail's published list also covers fraud schemes, counterfeit documents and currency, and the financial exploitation of vulnerable adults. In a workplace case, the material a detective starts with is frequently the employer's own: an internal audit, an accountant's spreadsheet and a narrative written by the business that believes it lost money. That version deserves to be tested, not assumed.

When detectives finish, their findings go to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. The office's own guide to adult felony cases says a prosecutor at that stage can return the case for further work, decline to prosecute, pass it to another jurisdiction, or charge it, whether by direct complaint, by a grand jury's indictment, or both. MCAO's organization chart shows a White Collar/Cyber Crime bureau, and the office has described its specialized bureaus, white collar offenses among them, as the home for cases needing particular expertise.

Not every Phoenix financial case stays with the County Attorney. The Arizona Attorney General's Office prosecutes certain state felonies, often when conduct spans more than one county, when a state agency's own investigators developed it, or after the county attorney refers it. We handle these matters whichever office brought the charge. Bank, mail, wire and interstate allegations can also become federal prosecutions brought by the U.S. Attorney. Nova Law Group appears in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, whose Phoenix courthouse is the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, 401 W. Washington St.

A summons, not a squad car, is how many of these cases announce themselves. When the County Attorney proceeds by direct complaint, a judge reviews it and may order the person to appear by summons, keeping an arrest warrant for someone unlikely to come in voluntarily. The summons leads to an initial appearance where the charges are read, the right to counsel is explained and release conditions are set. Getting one does not mean the case is minor. It often means the investigation is already complete.

Size decides the courthouse. Arizona generally charges embezzlement as theft, the conversion of entrusted property for an unauthorized term or use under A.R.S. § 13-1802(A)(2), and the class follows the value. Under $1,000 the charge is generally a class 1 misdemeanor; a city police report of that size can be sent to the City Prosecutor's office, whose list of misdemeanors includes theft, and heard in the municipal courthouse on Washington Street. From $1,000 up it is a felony, and $25,000 or more makes it class 2. Because A.R.S. § 13-1801(B) lets the State add together amounts taken under one scheme or course of conduct, a year of small register shortages or padded reimbursements can be charged as one large theft.

Bigger matters can also carry a fraudulent schemes and artifices count under A.R.S. § 13-2310, a class 2 felony. Reliance by the alleged victim is not an element, amounts from one scheme can be aggregated, and once the benefit reaches $100,000, § 13-2310(C) removes probation and a suspended sentence, with narrow statutory exceptions. Repayment does not reopen that door, since the provision has no restitution exception. Where the conduct concerns the business of a state agency or a political subdivision such as a city, a companion offense, § 13-2311, is a class 5 felony that does not require that anyone obtained a benefit.

Money laundering under A.R.S. § 13-2317 comes in three degrees, from class 6 to class 2, and several forms turn on whether a person knew or had reason to know where the money came from. A pattern of first or second degree conduct totaling $100,000 or more within any twelve months can expose a person to forfeiture of substitute assets worth three times the amount involved.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A theft or fraud conviction can read as a dishonesty offense to banks, insurers and licensing regulators, and a licensing board can open its own proceeding. A felony conviction also makes a person a prohibited possessor under A.R.S. § 13-3101 until rights are restored. On conviction the court orders restitution for the full economic loss under § 13-603(C); the County Attorney notes that it covers direct monetary loss rather than pain and suffering and is paid through the Clerk of the Court. An employer can bring a civil lawsuit over the same money, and anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should get immigration advice before any plea.

Inside the company. Many cases begin with an internal review: an accountant flags a pattern, system access is cut, and a manager asks for a meeting. A written statement or a repayment agreement signed that day can later be read as evidence of what you knew and intended, so have a lawyer look at it first.

The detective's call. A Financial Crimes detective may ask to hear your side. Declining an interview is your right, and every contact can go through counsel. In a records case, an interview can supply what the paper often lacks: your explanation of intent, in your own words, on a recording.

Before charges. Until the County Attorney makes a charging decision, records the business left out can sometimes be put in front of the prosecutor by a defense lawyer: owner approvals, commission agreements, expense policies or proof that a transfer was a loan. That window often gives a lawyer the most room to work.

The charge. The County Attorney may present the evidence to grand jurors, at least nine of them, who decide whether to indict, or proceed by direct complaint followed by a preliminary hearing on probable cause. Either route lands the case in the downtown Superior Court complex: the Central Court Building, 201 W. Jefferson St., or the South Court Tower, 175 W. Madison St. Confirm the building on your current notice.

Disclosure. Both sides must disclose what they plan to use at trial. In a financial case that can mean years of bank statements, payroll exports, emails and an outside accountant's summary chart. We trace transactions one at a time, sometimes with a forensic accountant, because a total on a chart is an argument about the numbers rather than proof of them.

Negotiation. Settlement conferences, held before a judge other than the trial judge when one is ordered, are part of the County Attorney's description of the process. Talks in these cases tend to center on the loss figure, whether separate transactions really form one scheme, and whether the case can be resolved below the $100,000 line or as a lower-class theft count.

Sentencing. If there is a conviction, Probation prepares a presentence report, victims may speak, and the judge sets restitution. Probation under A.R.S. § 13-901 may be available unless a statute such as § 13-2310(C) rules it out.

Nova Law Group was built by Ryan Tait, a former Maricopa County Attorney's Office felony prosecutor. The practice is criminal defense first. We keep caseloads deliberately low, which means the lawyers on your case have time to actually watch the video and read the reports line by line. We take white collar cases to trial when trial is the right pressure. Overcharging happens, and a case that is genuinely prepared for trial changes the conversation with the prosecutor. Most criminal cases are quoted as a flat fee. Consultations are free and confidential.

Office: 4455 E. Camelback Rd., Suite C250, Phoenix, AZ 85018. Meetings are by appointment.