Helping Others to Understand Your Long Beach Medicare Fraud Charges

Whether you just came under investigation for Long Beach healthcare fraud — or you’ve been arrested for fraud and other crimes — you’re trying to figure out what you should do next to protect your rights and ensure fair treatment.

Frankly, it’s tough to talk about your Long Beach fraud charges, even with friends and family. News reports on healthcare fraud vilify defendants — make them seem almost like cartoon characters. Even the use of words like “scheming” and “scamming” can influence people’s perceptions. You may be prejudged as guilty, even if your case is more complicated than it appears to be at first glance.

Avoid saying anything that might compromise your potential defense. As a savvy Long Beach criminal fraud defense lawyer will tell you, you must be careful about what you say about your case and to whom.

Also, know this: would-be sympathetic friends and colleagues may not understand why you did what you did:

• Perhaps you and a few colleagues stole people’s Social Security Numbers to purchase wheel chairs or other expensive electronic medical equipment… and then you billed Medicare at exorbitant rates and pocketed the money.
• Or maybe you pulled off a far more sophisticated, multi-level crime.

Odds are, however, that you did not wake up one morning and say to yourself “I want to be a criminal and defraud Medicare.” Odds are, the thought process took place gradually and involved multiple epiphanies. For instance, maybe you felt enraged at the unfairness of the insurance system. You blamed the system for making it impossible to run a profitable medical business. So you started committing the fraud as a way to “make things even” in your eyes.

Or perhaps a smooth talking colleague or boss convinced you to go along with the fraud because of peer pressure or threats of retribution.

You’d like to walk your friends and associates through your thought process, so they can understand why you did what you did, even if they still judge you harshly. After all, you’re not a cartoon villain — you’re a complex human being who’s trying to navigate a confusing world.

Of course, you also need grounded advice about your next steps.

What should you do now, not only to protect your rights, but also to ensure a positive outcome in your case?

The seasoned Long Beach healthcare fraud defense lawyers at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers would be happy to listen to you in depth and provide a free, no obligation case evaluation. That way, you’ll be equipped with a good understanding of the charges and your potential options for recourse.

If you have been arrested for a crime in Long Beach, please contact Long Beach criminal defense attorney Michael Kraut for 24/7 assistance by phone at (562) 531-7454 or toll free at (888) 334-6344 or online. We’re located at 444 West Ocean, Suite 800, Long Beach, California 90802.