What to Do If You're Under Investigation for Financial Crimes

If a federal or state investigator contacts you, whether by phone, email, or in person, do not answer their questions. You are not required to. You have the right to decline, and exercising that right cannot be held against you.

What you should say: "I'm not going to answer any questions without my attorney present. Here is my attorney's contact information."

What you should not do: try to explain your side of the story, provide "just a little context," or cooperate in the hope that it will make the investigation go away. Investigators are trained to extract useful information from informal conversations. Statements made without counsel, even well-intentioned ones, can be used against you, taken out of context, or form the basis of additional charges such as making false statements to federal agents (18 U.S.C. § 1001).

Types of Financial Crimes

The term "white collar crime" covers a wide range of conduct. Common charges in Massachusetts and federal courts include:

• Wire fraud and mail fraud: using electronic communications or the postal system in connection with a scheme to defraud.
• Bank fraud: knowingly executing a scheme to defraud a financial institution.
• Securities fraud: misrepresentation or omission of material facts in connection with securities transactions.
• Embezzlement: misappropriation of funds entrusted to your care.
• Money laundering: conducting financial transactions designed to conceal the source of illegally obtained funds.
• Insurance fraud: filing false or inflated claims with an insurance company.
• Larceny over $1,200: theft of property exceeding the statutory threshold in Massachusetts.
• Identity theft and forgery: using another person's identifying information or creating false documents for financial gain.
• Tax fraud: willfully filing false tax returns or evading tax obligations.
• Public corruption: bribery, kickbacks, or abuse of a public position for personal financial benefit.

These cases often involve overlapping state and federal jurisdiction. A single set of facts can give rise to charges in both systems, each with its own prosecutors, courts, and sentencing guidelines.

What an Attorney Does During the Investigation Phase

Retaining counsel during an active investigation, before charges are filed, is not about preparing for trial. It is about trying to influence the outcome before the case ever gets that far.

Advising on Your Rights

An experienced attorney will ensure you do not inadvertently waive any rights, make damaging statements, or destroy documents that may be subject to a preservation obligation. These are real risks in the early stages of an investigation, particularly for individuals who are not aware that they are under scrutiny.

Conducting an Internal Review

Your attorney can review the relevant financial records, communications, and transactions to assess what the government is likely focused on and where the vulnerabilities lie. This allows for an informed defense strategy rather than a reactive one.

Communicating with Prosecutors

In many white collar cases, defense counsel can open a dialogue with the assigned prosecutor before charges are filed. This is an opportunity to present context, raise legal defenses, and advocate for a resolution that avoids formal charges entirely, or results in reduced charges.

Not every case is appropriate for pre-charge negotiation. But when it is, it can be the most consequential stage of the entire case.

Protecting Privileged Communications

Investigations involving business records, emails, and internal communications raise complex privilege issues. An attorney can help identify and protect communications that are covered by attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine before they are swept up in a subpoena response.

Common Defense Strategies in Financial Crime Cases

Every case is different, but several defense approaches recur in white collar matters:

• Lack of criminal intent. Many financial crime statutes require proof that the defendant acted "willfully" or "knowingly." Demonstrating that conduct was the result of negligence, mistake, or poor judgment, rather than deliberate fraud, can be a viable defense.
• Challenging the documentary evidence. Financial crime cases are built on documents. Scrutinizing the accuracy, completeness, and interpretation of financial records, transaction histories, and communications is essential.
• Forensic accounting analysis. In complex cases involving large volumes of financial data, independent forensic accounting can identify errors in the government's calculations or offer alternative explanations for the transactions at issue.
• Constitutional challenges. Evidence obtained through unlawful searches, seizures, or compelled testimony may be subject to suppression. If the government violated your Fourth or Fifth Amendment rights during the investigation, the evidence obtained as a result may be excluded.

Why Prosecution Experience Matters

Financial crime cases are prosecuted by specialized units with substantial resources. Understanding how those units operate, how they prioritize cases, what evidence they consider most persuasive, and how they make charging decisions, gives the defense a real advantage.

An attorney who has worked inside the system, who has managed investigations from initial referral through trial, brings a perspective that cannot be replicated by reading case law alone. That perspective informs every decision: when to engage with prosecutors, when to stay silent, when to challenge the evidence, and when to negotiate.

What to Do Right Now

If you believe you may be under investigation for a financial crime, here is what you should do immediately:

1. Do not speak with investigators. Politely decline and request that all communication go through your attorney.
2. Do not destroy or alter any documents. This includes emails, text messages, financial records, and electronic files. Document destruction during an investigation can result in separate criminal charges for obstruction of justice or analog charges in the state courts, and enterprising prosecutors will use the destructive act itself as evidence of consciousness of guilt.
3. Contact an attorney experienced in white collar defense. The earlier counsel is involved, the more options are available.
4. Do not discuss the investigation with colleagues, business partners, or friends. Anything you say to a third party is not privileged and can be subpoenaed or used as testimony against you.

Time matters in these cases. Not because the government is about to arrest you tomorrow, but because the decisions you make now will define the landscape of your defense for months or years to come.

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