Fraud is an ever-increasing problem, with fraudsters and scammers making clever use of technology and artificial intelligence to trick more and more people out of their money.
Yet, you do not need to be a fraudster to find yourself accused of fraud. Each year, many innocent people face questioning, and in some cases prosecution, due to unwittingly getting caught up in a fraudulent act initiated by someone else.
One way a charge could come about is as a result of your employment. For example, if the authorities discover fraudulent activity from your employer, they may assume your role in management or accounting means you were somehow involved.
Or maybe you work doing the admin at a doctor’s surgery and have been inputting the information that one of the partners told you to, without realizing they were passing you inflated bills for treatments and medications that were never given to scam money out of insurance companies.
All 3 things must be true
Prosecutors must prove all of the following three things are true beyond reasonable doubt if they wish to get a criminal conviction against you on charges of fraud:
- You purposefully deceived someone
- You did so to try and deprive them of money or another thing
- They suffered or could have suffered an actual loss as a result
Casting sufficient doubt on just one of those things could be enough for the case against you to collapse.
Fraud charges can carry hefty sentences and victims of fraud may also turn to civil action to seek compensation from those they believe were responsible. If you find yourself accused of a fraud you knew little about, you cannot afford to assume that the prosecutors or court will work out that you are not to blame. Instead, you need to be proactive and learn more about your defense options.