Fraud Crimes

Fraud involves intentionally lying, deceiving, or hiding important information to take away someone’s property or rights or to cause harm. The state has many laws that make different types of fraud illegal.

Fraud is mainly seen as a “white-collar crime” because it doesn’t involve violence and relies on trickery.

However, you could face large fines and long sentences if the court convicts you of fraud. Some fraud offenses are always treated as felonies, while others are treated as misdemeanor or felony charges, depending on the situation. If you’re dealing with fraud charges in Southern California, contact us at Singh Law to discuss how we can help you.

Understanding California Fraud Crimes

Fraud crimes involve tricking people and misusing trust to gain money or benefits, causing losses to others. You can commit fraud in various ways, and it doesn’t matter how much money is involved, but the consequences can be serious.

A fraud charge can lead to civil and criminal actions, based on who submits the complaint. A prosecutor might bring criminal charges, while the victim can file a civil claim to get their money back.

In California, a fraud offense can be considered a wobbler. That means it can be treated as either a misdemeanor or a felony based on your past and the details of the claim. In criminal cases, the prosecutor must prove the fraud beyond a shadow of a doubt, which is a higher standard than what’s needed in civil cases.

Every fraud offense is unique in its circumstances, but they usually share some common elements:

• The person committing the fraud intentionally misrepresents certain facts or issues
• The victim reasonably trusts the misleading information as true
• The defendant knows that their actions are deceitful or false
• The victim experiences a real loss due to the false representation

Any fraud can seriously impact your life, irrespective of the situation or the money. Besides facing possible fines, convictions, and restitution, you might also deal with deportation since fraud is considered morally wrong in California. Here, we will explore an overview of fraud offenses and their corresponding penalties.

1. California Insurance Fraud

Insurance fraud happens when you make a false claim to get money for injuries or losses that aren’t real, or if an insurance company unfairly denies benefits that a policyholder deserves. If you commit insurance fraud, you try to get money you shouldn’t have from an insurance provider. Insurance fraud might lead to serious penalties in California, depending on which insurance laws are broken. Here are some common forms of insurance fraud seen in California:

Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fraud

Workers’ compensation is a federal or state program that helps employees recover from injuries and damages. California PC 549 and PC 550 outline what constitutes workers’ compensation insurance fraud. Filing false or misleading claims to get benefits you don’t deserve is against California workers’ compensation laws. Below are some examples of actions that can lead to this type of fraud:

• Asking for compensation for an injury that happened outside of work while claiming it’s work-related
• Not mentioning a past physical injury that’s important to your workers’ compensation claim
• Pretending to have a more severe injury than what actually exists

Under California’s laws, employers can also be held responsible against workers’ compensation insurance fraud. An employer commits this crime when they:

• Give false details to their insurer about how many employees they have.
• Misrepresent an injured employee’s job duties to reduce their compensation or deny it altogether
• Lie to an employee about the possible benefits of their injury to stop them from asking for compensation

The penalties for workers’ compensation fraud can vary, especially if the state prosecutor treats the offense as a wobbler. Since fraudulent lawsuits often involve significant amounts of money, the prosecutor might charge it as a felony. Felony charges can lead to three to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $150,000.

• Health Care Insurance Fraud

Healthcare fraud involves people like nurses, doctors, or patients. It’s also called health insurance fraud and includes dishonest actions such as:

• Filing fake health insurance claims
• Reporting undercharges without overcharges
• Submitting multiple health insurance claims for the same issue
• Sending in false claims for services that were never provided
• Creating documents to back up false health insurance claims

These actions are what define health insurance fraud. A person will be found guilty of healthcare fraud if they intentionally break these laws. For a judge to convict someone of health insurance fraud, the prosecutor must prove two things:

• The person knew the claims were false or misleading
• The person intended to commit fraud

The penalty for health insurance fraud varies based on the money involved. If the fraud involves more than $950, it’s classified as a felony. If it’s less than $950, it’s considered a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor for health insurance fraud can lead to a maximum of six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. On the other hand, if the government charges the fraud as a felony, you face three to five years in prison and a fine of $50,000, or a fine that is double the amount involved in the fraud.

• Welfare Fraud

Welfare fraud laws in California, under the Welfare and Institutions Code 10980, state that you break the law if you try to get or increase welfare benefits that you aren’t entitled to. There are two main types of welfare fraud:

• Internal fraud, whereby an employee at a government agency misuses their position to give unlawful benefits to someone, like a friend or family member
• Recipient fraud, which involves trying to get benefits through dishonest means

• Auto Insurance Fraud  

Auto insurance fraud involves tricking the car insurance provider into getting benefits you don’t deserve. According to California Penal Code sections 548-551, you commit auto insurance fraud in these situations: 

• When you knowingly file a false claim for car damage or loss that didn’t happen
• When you submit multiple claims for the same damage or loss
• When you stage an accident that never occurred to gain illegal benefits
• When you purposely damage or abandon your car to receive false insurance benefits

Penalties for auto insurance fraud differ based on the specific law you break. If found guilty, you might pay a fine, go to prison, and provide restitution to the victim you defrauded.

• Unemployment Insurance

Unemployment insurance in California is a program that combines federal and state support to assist you if you lose your job without fault. It helps meet your needs during the initial year while you look for new job opportunities. To qualify for California’s unemployment insurance, you must actively search for work, have worked for at least the last 18 months, and be able to work.

You perpetrate unemployment insurance fraud if you falsely provide identification or information to receive benefits you don’t deserve. Cheating the workers’ insurance system to get these illegal benefits can have serious consequences, including prison time and fines.

Handling an insurance fraud lawsuit is tough to do on your own. It’s important to reach out to a defense attorney right away. They can investigate your situation and help find any weaknesses in the allegations presented for your defense in court.

2. Credit Card Fraud

Utilizing someone else’s credit card details to complete a fake purchase is called credit card fraud, according to California law (PC 484e). This type of scheme is a type of identity theft. It occurs when you take someone’s debit card or details without permission to steal money or complete purchases. According to California PC sections 484e to 484j, you perpetrate credit card fraud if you:

• Use a lost card to get money or buy things
• Use fake credit cards
• Fraudulently use an expired credit card to get goods, services, or money
• Forge someone else’s credit card details without their permission
• Knowingly accept stolen credit cards to purchase stuff
• Share someone else’s credit card information

Credit card fraud results in felony or misdemeanor charges, based on the details of the claim and the laws broken. Serious cases of credit card fraud can result in prison sentences of a maximum of three years. If you’re a non-citizen, there may also be immigration consequences, as credit card fraud is considered a serious crime that can lead to deportation.

3. Mail Fraud 

You can commit mail fraud if you carry out a dishonest plot to make financial deals through the mail, using fake receipts or contracts. Here are the key points the prosecutor must demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt to charge you with mail fraud: 

• You had a plan to perpetrate mail fraud
• You utilized the mail to support that fraudulent plan
• You intended to commit fraud

A scam in mail fraud could be any plot aimed at taking someone’s money or property. Even if the fraud doesn’t succeed, using the mail to carry it out makes you guilty of fraud. In California, mail fraud can lead to a 20-year prison sentence and hefty fines. It’s important to hire a defense attorney to help you fight this offense or negotiate for lesser charges, as such a long prison term can greatly impact you.

4. Identity Theft  & Forgery

Forging any document is a fraudulent crime. Many forged documents relate to someone’s identity, so these offenses break state fraud laws, forgery laws, and identity theft laws.

• Counterfeiting, Forging, or Possessing a Fake Public Seal Under PC 472

This crime isn’t just about California seals. You can get convicted for doing any of these activities with any public seal, whether it belongs to a:

• Government
• Corporation
• Government agency

If you break this law by forging a public seal on a document that uses someone else’s identity, you also break identity theft laws.

• Counterfeiting or Forging Driver’s Licenses or ID Cards

If you break California’s laws about forging or counterfeiting a driver’s license or ID card (PC 470) and use a different name, you can also be charged with identity theft. However, you don’t need to commit identity theft to violate this law.

To violate this fraud law, you only need to change any government-issued driver’s license or ID card or create a fake one.

Remember that just having a fake or counterfeit driver’s license or ID card (PC 470b) counts as fraud too.

• False Impersonation

California’s false impersonation law (PC 529) makes it illegal to pretend to be someone else to gain benefits for yourself or to harm that person. That counts as identity theft.

Here are some common examples:

• Signing another person’s name on a check and trying to cash it
• Using another person’s name to get welfare benefits

Often, these offenses happen online. Some typical examples include:

• Using another person’s credit card to buy something online
• Pretending to be someone else in an online chatroom or hacking into their social media account

5. Gambling Fraud 

In California, under PC 332, you commit gambling fraud if you trick someone out of their money or property using game tricks like betting or gambling. The law doesn’t ban gambling itself, but it does make it unlawful to use card tricks, stacked decks, or other schemes to deceive people into betting, allowing you to take their property or money.

Gambling fraud has penalties similar to grand theft or petty theft. You face misdemeanor penalties if you trick someone out of money or property worth under $950. A misdemeanor charge can result in a maximum fine of up to $1,000 and a six-month jail sentence. However, defrauding someone of property or money worth more than $950 through tricks becomes a felony. You can face 6 months to 3 years in prison and a fine of approximately $5,000 if it’s your first charge.

6. Telemarketing Fraud 

Telemarketing fraud is a common crime in California. It can easily happen over a call or online.

In this type of fraud, you might call someone and use fabricated claims to trick them into sharing personal information, like their bank account details.

You can also be charged with telecommunication fraud when you call another person and promise to sell them something you never plan to deliver, just to get money you don’t deserve. 

To convict you of telecommunication fraud, a prosecutor needs to prove these key points:

• You were acting as a salesperson or representative
• You were directly or indirectly involved in dishonest business activities, intending to take money from your victim
• You used a phone or similar device to make fake business deals

This type of fraud is a wobbler crime, which means the prosecuting attorney can choose to charge it as either a felony or misdemeanor based on how serious the crime is. If you’re charged with a misdemeanor, you could face up to one year in prison and a fine of $10,000 for every transaction. On the other hand, a felony offense can result in the same fine but a longer sentence of three years. Rather than going to prison, you might also be placed on informal or formal probation under specific conditions.

7. Misusing Handicap Placards 

In California, VC 461 declares it a crime to intentionally misuse disability placards or parking plates. You perpetrate this crime if you: 

• Give your placards or disabled license plates to someone else 
• Park your vehicle in a spot reserved for handicapped individuals 
• Knowingly use a revoked, canceled, or expired placard 

The prosecution must prove these actions during the court trial to find you guilty of this crime. In California, misusing a disabled parking placard can be a misdemeanor or an infraction. It can lead to a penalty of up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,000. The only permitted exemption to this rule is if you are transporting a physically challenged person or are close to the legal holder of the placard.

8. Real Estate Fraud 

Fraud in real estate often involves large amounts of money, especially given the high prices of properties in California. California law defines real estate fraud as dishonest activities related to buying, renting, or selling property. You can perpetrate this offense at any point in a transaction. Here are some fraudulent activities that happen in real estate:

• Foreclosure Fraud

In California, foreclosure fraud (CC 2945.4) is one of the most common types of real estate fraud. Simply put, it happens when someone, often calling themselves a foreclosure “consultant,” claims they can delay or stop a foreclosure that’s about to happen. 

More broadly, you commit this fraud if you engage in any deceitful actions related to: 

• A home that is currently going through the foreclosure process
• A foreclosed home

• Forging Deeds

Forgery means knowingly changing, creating, or using a written document to commit fraud. California law (PC 115) makes it illegal to:

• File a forged deed
• Try to register, file, or record a forged deed
• File, record, or register any false or forged document in any public office in the state with the intent to wrongfully transfer title or take money

Forging deeds is a felony and can lead to a prison sentence of 16 months to 3 years and fines that can reach a maximum of $10,000.

• Predatory Lending Scams

Predatory lending involves illegal actions by banks and other lenders that exploit borrowers who may not realize they’re being taken advantage of. 

In simple terms, if you’re a lender in California, you break the law on predatory lending when you set up a loan deal to get the most profit for yourself without considering whether the borrower can actually pay it back. 

• Straw Buyer Scams

Straw buyer scams in California cause serious problems for “straws,” or people with good credit whom real estate agents or brokers recruit. These professionals persuade the straw to use their personal information to get a loan for someone else, or even a fake buyer, who supposedly can’t get a loan due to bad credit.

After the loan goes through, the agents and other involved parties, like mortgage brokers, take the loan money and disappear. That leaves the straw responsible for the mortgage, often leading them to bankruptcy and potential criminal charges.

• Illegal Flipping

Flipping properties is usually a legal activity. It generally includes a buyer who: 

• Buys a property for less than its worth
• Quickly sells it for a profit
• Makes improvements to it, and then 

In California, illegal property flipping is against real estate and mortgage fraud laws. It happens when you create fake appraisals or loan paperwork to support a higher price than it should be.

• Rent Skimming

California has laws against rent skimming (CIV 890). You break these laws when you:

• Rent out a property that you don’t own or have permission to rent and keep the rent for yourself
• Use rent money from your residential rental property within the first year of owning it, without applying that money to your mortgage first

Usually, rent skimming is a civil issue, and you only face fines. However, if you skim rent from five or more properties in two years, you could also face criminal charges.

9.  Using Fake vehicle registration stickers

If you try to make money or skip paying taxes or fees to the DMV by tampering with:

• A license plate
• A registration card
• Registration stickers

Depending on how you tamper with these items, you might also face extra charges for forgery, counterfeiting, or having a fake public seal.

10. Chargeback Fraud

It is often known as double-dipping, and usually includes:

• You buy a product using a credit or debit card
• You request a refund
• You falsely claim that you never received the item or say it was damaged
• You keep the product and might even sell it

11. Senior Fraud (PC 368)

You break California’s elder abuse laws when you physically, emotionally, or financially harm someone aged over 65. When the abuse involves money, it usually counts as senior fraud.

Common examples of financial elder abuse include:

• Funeral and cemetery fraud
• Credit repair scams
• Home repair scams
• Predatory lending in real estate
• Telemarketing scams

12. Nursing Home Fraud 

Similar to elder abuse, nursing home abuse can be emotional, physical, or financial. Financial abuse in nursing homes is considered California nursing home fraud. This type of fraud may involve:

• Persuading an elderly resident to transfer their property to the employee,
• Overcharging for care or medications
• Forging the senior’s signature on a check

Find an Experienced Criminal Defense Law Firm Near Me

If you’re facing fraud charges, you should speak to an experienced defense attorney. Your defense attorney can use various legal strategies to help you avoid severe penalties for fraud crimes. They can argue that you lacked intent when committing the offense or that it was mistaken identity. We at Singh Law are ready to assist you in understanding the charges against you and protect your rights through our aggressive defense strategy. Call us at 714-328-6189 to schedule your consultation if you are in the Southern California area.