Tampa Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer

Report confirms prevalence of fraud in Florida

Apr 9, 2015 | Fraud

The findings of a report recently released by the Fair Trade Commission is likely not that surprisingly to Tampa readers: the state of Florida, far and away, has the highest number of fraud and identity theft complaints per capita when compared to other states. The gap between such complaints in Florida and other states is quite significant, too, with the Sunshine State turning up more than twice the amount of complaints as states that took up the number two position.

Florida apparently landed seven cities on the list of top 49 metro areas in terms of fraud complaints. Among these seven cities is Tamps-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, which ranked twentieth on the list. There is little doubt that fraud is a problem in state, and reports such as this only confirm that fact.

For law enforcement agencies, combating fraud is an increasingly important priority, particularly where public money is involved. Those who are at all familiar with the way fraud investigations are conducted know that task forces and other law enforcement efforts dedicated to tracking these crimes involve sophisticated investigations. Those who are accused of fraud can often be overwhelmed by the amount of evidence they are faced with by the time they are hit with charges.

Because of the power and sheer amount of resources the government has at its disposal for investigating fraud crimes, it is critical for those who are under investigation for fraud to begin early in building up a strong defense case. An experienced attorney who is able to get control of a fraud case in its early stages stands a better chance of steering the case toward a beneficial outcome. Granted, there are no guarantees in terms of outcome in criminal defense, but a skilled attorney can certainly ensure that a defendant is able to take advantage of the criminal process with an eye toward minimizing the consequences of charges.

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