Honest Services Fraud Defense
Strategies to defend against allegations of honest services fraud.
Honest Services Fraud Defense
Dowling Defense Group routinely defends individuals and business owners under investigation for, or charged with, honest services fraud in federal court.
Not only does federal law criminalize wire and mail fraud, it also criminalizes designing and executing a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services. This crime typically involves an effort by a person or company to offer something of value to a public official in exchange for special or preferential treatment. The statute is aimed at prohibiting the corrupting and corrosive effects of unduly influencing public officials.
Honest services fraud carries stiff penalties, including fines and prison up to 20 years.
Dowling Defense Group routinely secures favorable resolutions for clients under investigation for honest services fraud. In any honest services fraud case, it is critical to have the advice of counsel at an early stage to try to mitigate the exposure to criminal liability at the outset—even, and especially, before an indictment is issued.
Federal prosecutors usually charge additional offenses honest services fraud cases, including conspiracy and money laundering.
