Fraud and financial cases are document-heavy by nature. The defense may have to reconstruct transactions, contracts, account records, electronic communications, payment history, business relationships, and what the accused knew at the time of each act. The State still must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt.
Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card
A common charge is N.J.S.A. 2C:21-6(h).
- knowingly used a counterfeit, fictitious, altered, forged, lost, stolen, or fraudulently obtained credit card to obtain money, goods, services, or another thing of value; or
- with unlawful or fraudulent intent, furnished, acquired, or used an actual or fictitious credit card, cardholder name, or other credit-card account information.
Insurance Fraud
Insurance fraud under N.J.S.A. 2C:21-4.6 can involve claims, applications, payments, premium-finance transactions, and related records.
- the defendant knowingly made, or caused to be made, a false, fictitious, fraudulent, or misleading statement of material fact, or knowingly omitted a material fact;
- the statement or omission was contained in or connected with a claim, application, payment, insurance policy, or other covered insurance transaction; and
- the statement or omission was material.
Separate statements or documents may create separate alleged acts. Five or more qualifying acts with the statutory aggregate value can increase the grading.
Business and Financial Offenses
This phrase covers several different statutes rather than one offense. The charging document should be reviewed to identify the precise theory.
Theft by Deception
Theft by Failure to Make Required Disposition
- a purposeful obtaining or retention of property subject to an agreement or known legal obligation to make a specified payment or disposition;
- dealing with the property as the defendant’s own; and
- failure to make the required payment or disposition.
Falsifying or Tampering With Records
N.J.S.A. 2C:21-4 criminalizes specified forms of falsifying, destroying, removing, concealing, or otherwise tampering with records when the statutory mental state and purpose are proved. The exact elements depend on the subsection charged.
Bribery-Related Charges
Bribery allegations can arise in public or private settings, and New Jersey uses different statutes for those contexts.
Bribery in Official and Political Matters
- an offer, conferral, agreement to confer, solicitation, acceptance, or agreement to accept a benefit; and
- that the benefit was consideration for an official decision, recommendation, vote, exercise of discretion, violation of official duty, or performance of official duties as identified by N.J.S.A. 2C:27-2.
Commercial Bribery
What the Defense Looks At
Financial cases frequently turn on materiality, intent, authorization, accounting treatment, ownership of funds, contractual obligations, timing, whether a statement was actually false, whether an omission was legally material, and whether the State can connect the accused to each transaction rather than merely to the business or account in general.