Many people believe that those charged with financial fraud committed the fraud. However, some people face Oregon City, Oregon, fraud charges without even doing anything wrong.
Identity theft
First, anyone who has access to customer information could face identity theft charges, even if you are just doing your job. For example, a few years ago, Wells Fargo opened up accounts that their customers did not request. In some cases, it was alleged that these employees did so purposely. Nonetheless, it is entirely possible that some, if not most, of these employees were simply following their supervisor’s directions with the understanding or assumption that the new accounts were the result of a customer request. And, if that was the case, these employees could face identity theft charges.
Lender fraud
If you work for a bank or lending institution, you could also be caught up in lender or mortgage fraud. This could happen if you sell a mortgage with fraudulent rates, mislead your customer on terms, like interest variability, etc. However, for most in the lending industry, front-end staff has no control over what the computer says, their training materials, etc. This means that these front-line employees could honestly believe the terms they sold, but still get caught up in charges.
Investment schemes
If you work as a broker job or in financial services, you may make more money than you ever thought possible. But, keep in mind, you could face financial fraud charges for what you do at this job as well. Like with mortgage fraud, if a prosecutor believes that you lied or mislead your customers, fraud charges could follow.
But, again, front-line staff does not control the backend. Indeed, you could work for a Ponzi scheme or an illegal Pump and Dump scheme and have no idea. Prosecutors rarely care though, and everyone will likely face charges.
What to do if you face charges
For Oregon City, Oregon, residents who face criminal charges know that these charges are just accusations. These charges do not mean that you are guilty, but you need to take control of the narrative now and build your criminal defense now. The police and prosecutors have probably already released some information to control your narrative, and you likely need an attorney to help stop the poisoning of your potential jury pool.