Washington, D.C., Virginia & Maryland Fraud Defense Lawyers

Experienced Defense for Complicated Charges

Fraud is one of the most common criminal charges perpetrated. This is due to the fact that fraud includes many distinct types of actions and charges. In a general sense, fraud is defined as the intent to deceive another person or entity through coercion, dishonesty, and deception to illegally gain goods, services, or other property.

The experienced fraud attorneys at Portner & Shure believe that justice is the right of every person. That’s why we employ hard working and professional criminal defense attorneys who have over 30 years of experience to help you. We also include paralegals in our staff who are fluent in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

If you’ve been accused of fraud and need an experienced criminal defense lawyer, contact us online or call (410) 995-1515 for a free initial consultation.

Maryland Fraud Charges

There are many different forms of fraud in Maryland, some more serious than others. The most common types of fraud include credit card fraud, bad check fraud, and identity fraud. If you are charged with fraud, you should consult with the experienced criminal defense attorneys at Portner & Shure immediately because these charges can result in jail time and significant fines.

Maryland Credit Card Fraud (Section 8-203-205)

There are various charges related to credit card fraud in Maryland, which include:

• Fraud in procuring issuance of credit card: A person may not make or cause to be made a false statement in writing about the identity of the person or of another to procure the issuance of a credit card if they know the statement to be false and with the intent that their false statement is relied on.
  • A person that is found guilty of this offense will have a misdemeanor conviction, subject to imprisonment up to 18 months or a fine up to $500, or both.
• Credit card theft: This charge results when a person takes a credit card from another, receives a credit card that was taken from another with the intent to sell, receiving a credit card known to have been lost or wrongly-delivered, buying or selling a credit card, and receiving a credit card with knowledge of credit card theft or other violations. There are many different ways to find yourself charged with a serious credit card theft offense.
  • If you are found to have violated this offense, you will be guilty of a misdemeanor, subject to imprisonment up to 18 months or a fine up to $500, or both.
• Credit card counterfeiting: This charge results if a person is found to have falsely created or manufactured a credit card without authorization. A person also may not sign a credit card with the intent to defraud another if they are not the cardholder or someone authorized by the cardholder.
  • Violation of this offense results in a felony conviction, imprisonment up to 15 years or a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both.
• Obtaining property by counterfeiting, theft, or misrepresentation: A person may not use a stolen credit card or a credit card the person knows is counterfeit to purchase goods or services, or to obtain money or anything of value.
  • Penalties for anyone found guilty of this offense depend on the value of the goods. If the value of stolen items is less than $1,000, it is a misdemeanor with up to 18 months imprisonment or up to a $500 fine, or both.
  • If the value of stolen items is over $1,000, it is a felony with up to 15 years imprisonment or up to a $15,000 fine, or both.

Maryland Bad Check Fraud (Section 8-103)

There are many ways that a person can be charged with fraud by use of a bad check. Some of these offenses include issuing a check with knowledge of insufficient funds in the account, issuing a check with the intent to stop payment, issuing a check with the intent that payment is refused, and issuing a check with knowledge of stopped payment or dishonor.

Penalties for bad check offenses again depend on the value of goods or services obtained by fraud, for example:

• Obtaining property or services with a bad check with a value less than $500 will result in a misdemeanor conviction, imprisonment up to 18 months or a fine up to $500, or both.
• Obtaining property or services with a single bad check with a value over $500 will result in a felony conviction, imprisonment up to 30 years or a fine up to $25,000, or both.
• Obtaining property or services with multiple bad checks with a value over $500 will result in a felony conviction, imprisonment up to 10 years or a fine up to $15,000, or both.

Maryland Identify Fraud (Section 8-301)

Identity theft is one of the most common offenses committed in the United States. The law is simple—a person may not knowingly, willfully, and with fraudulent intent obtain personal identifying information of an individual, without the consent of the individual, in order to use that information to obtain a benefit, credit, good, service, or other things of value.

It is also prohibited for a person to assume the identity of another, including a fictitious person, in order to avoid identification or prosecution of a crime, or with intent to get a benefit, credit, good, service, or other things of value.

As with all theft crimes, the penalties depend on the value of the goods, services, or other things of value taken, for example:

• If the value is under $500, it will be a misdemeanor conviction with imprisonment up to 18 months or a fine up to $5,000, or both.
• If the value is over $500, it will be a felony conviction with imprisonment up to 15 years or a fine up to $25,000, or both.
• If your intent was to avoid prosecution of a crime, it will be a misdemeanor conviction with imprisonment up to 18 months or a fine up to $5,000, or both.

Virginia Fraud

There are many different forms of fraud in Virginia, some more serious than others. As with Maryland, the most common types of fraud in Virginia include credit card fraud, bad check fraud, and identity fraud. If you are charged with fraud, you should consult an experienced criminal defense attorney immediately because these charges can result in jail time and significant fines.

Virginia Credit Card Fraud (Section 18.2-195)

Conviction of credit card fraud in Virginia results in various penalties, depending on the value of all money, goods, and services.

• If the value is under $200 in a six-month period, conviction results in a class 1 misdemeanor.
• If the value of the goods is $200 or more in a six-month period, the conviction results in a class 6 felony.

Virginia Bad Check Fraud (Section 18.2-181)

In Virginia, anyone who passes or attempts to pass a bad check with intent to defraud and knowledge of insufficient funds will be guilty of larceny. Virginia statute defines the act of issuing a bad check as: any person who, with intent to defraud, shall make or draw or utter or deliver any check, draft, order for the payment of money, upon any bank or banking institution, knowing at the time of such making, drawing, uttering, or delivering, that maker or drawer does not have sufficient funds for the payment of such check.

Penalties for bad check offenses again depend on the value of goods or services obtained by fraud, for example:

• Obtaining property or services with a bad check with a value less than $200 will result in a class 1 misdemeanor conviction.
• Obtaining property or services with a bad check with a value $200 or more will result in a class 6 felony conviction.

Virginia Identify Fraud (Section 18.2-186.3)

Identity fraud in Virginia can take many different forms. The most common form of identity fraud in Virginia is identity theft, which is when one person obtains identifying information about another person and then uses that information to obtain benefits under that other person’s identity.

In general, it is unlawful for any person, without the authorization or permission of the person or persons who are subjects of the identifying information, with intent to defraud, to obtain or access private information that would assist in accessing financial resources or obtaining identification documents, obtain money, credit, loans, goods, or services through the use of the other person’s information, or obtain identification documents using the other person’s name.

It is also unlawful for any person, without the authorization or permission of the person who is the subject of the identifying information, to obtain such private information with the intent to sell or distribute the information to another.

The law also prohibits a person from using identification documents or identifying information of another person in order to avoid arrest, prosecution, or to impede a criminal investigation.

As with all theft crimes, the penalties depend on the value of the goods, services, or other things of value taken, such as:

• Generally, all first-time violations of identity fraud result in a class 1 misdemeanor.
• Second or subsequent violations will result in a class 6 felony.
• If the fraud results in a financial loss greater than $200, it will also be a class 6 felony.
• If the fraud involves the theft of information of five or more persons, it will result in a class 5 felony.

Contact Our Washington, D.C., Maryland & Virginia Fraud Attorneys Today

Our dedicated criminal defense attorneys understand the system and throughout our time have delivered positive results in misdemeanor and felony cases throughout Maryland and Virginia. We know the courts, prosecutors, and judges and use that to help you during this difficult time.

If you’ve been accused of fraud and need an experienced criminal defense lawyer, contact us online or call (410) 995-1515 for a free initial consultation.