Columbia White-Collar Criminal Defense
Most white-collar crimes are federal offenses that impose long prison sentences and exorbitant monetary penalties on those who get convicted of committing them. The laws concerning federal white-collar crimes such as tax fraud or health care fraud are complex, and individuals working in small businesses or large corporations might unwittingly make errors that technically amount to a crime. Yet federal agents spend months or even years gathering evidence and building a case against individuals and corporations, and by the time you find out about the charges, the cards are stacked heavily against you. Call us for help with Columbia White collar criminal defense.
Simmons Law Firm is here to help. Our founding attorney, John S. Simmons, is a former United States Attorney for South Carolina and Chief of the State Grand Jury in the South Carolina Attorney General’s office. This experience gives our law firm unique insight into government prosecutions and a deep understanding of the law we use to help our clients. Together, our lawyers have been defending individuals and corporations against serious criminal charges for more than 20 years. We take a team approach and work with experienced private investigators and former federal agents to conduct our own investigations, often working to prevent charges from ever being filed against our clients.
Call Simmons Law Firm for help with a white-collar criminal investigation or arrest in Columbia or throughout South Carolina. Our firm’s experience includes representing individuals and corporations across a broad spectrum of white-collar crimes, including:
- Bank, mail and wire fraud
- Federal grand jury investigations
- Federal sentencing guidelines
- “Qui Tam” whistleblower
- Health care fraud
- Securities fraud
- Tax fraud
- Insurance fraud
- Money laundering
- Public corruption
- Environmental crimes
- Drug and firearms charges
- Computer crimes
Call a Lawyer the Minute You Find out You Are Under Investigation
You already know to call a lawyer if you are placed under arrest and not to talk to the police without a lawyer present. The same holds true even if you haven’t been arrested or taken into custody for interrogation. Federal law enforcement agencies have enormous resources and staffing to conduct wide-ranging investigations over months or years. During this time, you may be approached for questioning by federal agents. Even though you might have nothing to hide or not even realize what their investigation is about, the smart move here is to take their card and let them know your lawyer will be in touch, and then call Simmons Law Firm. There is a law that makes it a federal crime to make a material misrepresentation to a federal officer. Once these professional interrogators have you in their grip, they are trained to catch you in a contradictory statement so they can threaten you with this charge and force further cooperation out of you. If you wait until you have a lawyer present, you can keep yourself from getting caught in this trap.
White-collar criminal defendants are sometimes scapegoats in a larger financial scheme at their workplace that they had no knowledge of or active participation in, but their signature is on a document or they are in a position that makes them responsible to take the blame for corporate misfeasance. Other times, defendants might be overly aggressive stockbrokers, tax preparers or insurance agents who were zealously working to get the best results for their clients and stepped on complex federal laws in the process. When you are charged with a financial crime, the government bears the burden of proving every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, and you have a right to defend yourself with a lawyer’s help.
With our attorneys on your side during the investigative phase, we can conduct our own investigation and find out what is going. We can work to clear your name and help avoid charges from ever being brought against you. If the agents already have charges in mind, we can potentially negotiate what level of charges get filed or negotiate the terms of your arrest to keep the case quiet and out of the media. By the time an arrest is made, our team will be well-prepared to negotiate a plea or defend you in court, in either case protecting your rights and looking out for your best interests.
Call Simmons Law Firm for Immediate Assistance With White-Collar Charges in Columbia and Throughout South Carolina
At Simmons Law Firm, we understand the enormous costs and collateral damage that white-collar criminal charges can inflict on every area of a person’s life. Call our office if you have been charged with a white-collar crime or have become aware of an investigation that could lead to criminal charges. Our attorneys are available 24/7 to meet with individuals for free initial consultations. Learn more about the aggressive and proactive representation we provide by calling us in Columbia at 803-779-4600 or South Carolina statewide at 888-715-8818, or by contacting us online.
