Pre-Filing Investigations

Published on: July 7, 2012

Big Spike in New Type of Los Angeles White Collar Crime?

Los Angeles white collar crimes are just getting more and more diverse. We spend a lot of time on this blog dissecting crimes like medical fraud, insurance fraud, and petty theft in Southern California. But today we’re going to shake things up a bit and explore some innovative terrain to help you put your crime — and your possible defensive options — in perspective.

We’re going to look at computer crimes in L.A.

And one of the “hot new trends” in the world of computer crime is something called “smishing.” This is a cousin to the email crime known as phishing, in which a criminal uses spam and other “email lures” to get users to give away personal information, financial passwords, etcetera. Whereas “phishing” takes place in the arena of email messaging; “smishing” takes place in the arena of text messaging – a.k.a. Short Message Service (SMS) messaging.

Published on: July 5, 2012

What Jerry Sandusky’s Conviction Means for Your Los Angeles Lewd Conduct Defense

by Michael Kraut

Last week, former Penn State icon Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of sexual abuse and sentenced to a million years behind bars (okay, not that many but a lot); if you’ve been hit with a charge of Los Angeles lewd conduct or a sex crime charge in Southern California, what might the result from Sandusky’s case mean about your chances for battling your charges and clearing your name?

In short: Nothing.

Well, not exactly nothing. We can draw certain broad lessons from what happened to Sandusky. But every Los Angeles lewd conduct charge is a different animal. The factors that can go into determining your possible outcome are dizzying, not only in their variety but also in their possible permutations – the way the factors can integrate.

Published on: July 2, 2012

After Your Los Angeles Lewd Conduct Charges Have Been Dealt With…

by Michael Kraut

Whether an undercover police officer busted you for lewd conduct in Los Angeles; or you’re facing more diverse Southern California sex crime charges, you have immediate, critical projects that you must address – and address quickly.

The longer you wait to “get your legal ducks in a row,” the more time prosecutors will have to build a case against you, and the harder it may be to compile compelling defensive evidence, such as witness statements, other evidence from the scene, medical reports, etc.

It’s a scary time for you – and perhaps also a trying time for your friends, relatives, employer, and other people who are “on your side.” It’s scary because legal missteps you make now can have disproportionate effects on your future – extra years behind bars, perhaps, a lifetime label as a “sex offender,” massive fines that can take you years to pay off, etc.

Published on: June 25, 2012

Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Alert – The Government Spent $250 Million on Penis Pumps. Wow.

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve been investigated arrested for a crime like Southern California Medicare fraud or Medi-Cal fraud, you likely feel under the gun. Prosecutors, “independent” observers and even friends and family members may judge you for damaging our social safety net.

Whether you committed a serious crime or not – or a series of crimes, including Southern California insurance fraud, Los Angeles identity theft, or other Los Angeles white collar crimes – you might find it helpful to put your situation in perspective.

Consider, for instance, a new report by the Heartland Institute, which found that the federal government spent over $250 million on penis pumps over the past 10 years!

Published on: June 20, 2012

Unraveling Your Own Los Angeles Medical Fraud Situation

by Michael Kraut

Perhaps you or your husband recently got arrested for medical fraud in Los Angeles or Southern California. If so, let’s address a large “elephant in the room” issue — something not often talked about. Namely this: how do otherwise caring and well intention doctors, chiropractors, dentists and other caregivers get “sucked into” perpetrating Southern California white collar crimes, like insurance fraud, credit card fraud, etc?

Now, most people out there assume that doctors or others who engage in fraudulent behavior started with a “master plan” of some sort. They have a cartoonish image of an “evil mastermind” criminal – a la Dr. Evil.

In the real world, however, fraud and other crimes often happen spontaneously, accidentally, unintentionally, etc! This isn’t to say that planning is not involved. Indeed, many people who get into the “Medicare fraud business” (if you will) spend a great deal of time strategizing and executing on their plans. Some of the systems used are extremely complicated, after all.

Published on: June 13, 2012

72 Year Prison Sentence for 50-Year-Old Guilty of Los Angeles Medicare Fraud?

by Michael Kraut

Last Friday, 50-year-old David James Garrison was found guilty of perpetrating a Los Angeles Medicare fraud scam that bilked the federal program out of almost $19 million.

As a result of his convictions — fraud, conspiracy, and other Los Angeles white collar criminal charges — Garrison could face more than seven decades behind bars and a fine of up to $2 million. If he ends up having to serve that entire prison sentence, he would have to become the 2nd oldest person in the history of the world to ever see freedom again.

Garrison worked as a physician’s assistant at various bogus medical clinics. He pilfered the identities of patients and used those IDs to create false prescriptions and to place orders for (Medicare funded) equipment. He also stole the identities of doctors to write these fake scripts.

Published on: June 11, 2012

Los Angeles Medicare Fraud News Alert: Scheme Out of Pennsylvania Has Seniors Livid

by Michael Kraut

If you or a loved one has been arrested for Los Angeles Medicare or Medical fraud, odds are that what you did (or allegedly did) pales in comparison to what four Pennsylvania men have been accused of doing. Last week, Ross Rabelow, Thomas Muldoon, Bruce Cherry, and Robert Lerner were hit with multiple criminal charges pursuant to accusations that they victimised 218 Pennsylvania seniors. Prosecutors allege that many of the victims lived alone and were very elderly – 83-years old was the average age. The Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section and Elder Abuse Unit called the scheme “Operation False Comfort,” and investigators painted a vivid and disturbing picture about what went on:

• Seniors were often encouraged to cancel actual insurance policies to purchase bogus long-term healthcare;

• More than two-thirds of all the checks written to American Comfort (one of the defendant’s companies) were used to pay salespeople and the owners, while only 3% of the company’s money was used to provide services;

Published on: June 1, 2012

Exactly What Not to Do After a Los Angeles Petty Theft

by Michael Kraut

If you or a friend has recently been arrested for petty theft in Los Angeles, odds are, in sober reflection, you probably wouldn’t have made the same decisions that landed you where you are.

We all make bone-headed decisions, from time-to-time. One case out of Milwaukee, however, takes this concept of “the dumb criminal” to almost cartoonishly absurd levels.

20-year old Houaka Yang stole a camera from the aide to a Republican State Senate candidate and used the camera to film himself gleefully confessing to the theft. The owner of the camera, 25-year old Chris Rochester, ultimately got the camera back and noticed a bunch of new videos on his camera – videos that weren’t there before the theft. He checked them out. Most were uneventful – recordings of television screens. But one video caught his eye – a video of the thief confessing to the crime. Here is a full quote. It sounds like something Dr. Evil’s daffy little brother would say. But it’s a real quote, and it’s kind of amazing: “This is my house, yes, and a stolen video camera that I stole, but it’s okay, the cops won’t figure it out….Oh yeah, to introduce you, my name is Houaka Yang, so yeah. How do you do.”

Published on: May 25, 2012

Los Angeles Lewd Conduct: An Icky Case Out of Florida Makes You Think Twice about Using the Bus

by Michael Kraut

Fortunately, most cases of lewd conduct in Los Angeles are not as weird and disturbing as this one…

A 19-year old woman, Krystal Kamil Hernandez, has been arrested; charged with lewd conduct, sexual battery, and lascivious exhibition; and held in a Florida jail on $35,000 bail in connection with a series of events on local public buses. Ms. Hernandez allegedly showed her pubic region and genitals to several underage girls, including a pair of 16-years old and a pair of 15-years old, according to a deputy’s allegations. She also has been accused of trying to assault a 13-year old girl with a sex toy and texting a nude picture of herself to a 14-year old girl.

All told, not exactly an excellent situation, for anyone involved.

Published on: May 23, 2012

A Fun Way to Deter Petty Theft in Los Angeles – Lessons for the Accused, Too

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve been arrested for petty theft in Los Angeles – due to shoplifting, stealing an item from work, or something along those lines, you are probably pretty frightened about what’s going to happen to you. How will you deal with the fallout, such as jail time, mandatory restitution, a criminal record? What will you do if you face deeper legal complications — e.g. if you have a prior record and/or if the Los Angeles petty theft was done in conjunction with other crimes, such as hit and run, robbery, sexual assault, etcetera?

Solutions to your problems – as well as solutions to the general problem of theft crime in our society – may be simpler than you and many other people have been led to believe.

Enter a very interesting innovation called the “anti-theft lunch bag.” Engineered by two designers named Sherwood and Mihoko, these bags look like normal zip lock sandwich bags. But they’re colored to look moldy and disgusting. The idea is: put your sandwich in one of these bags, and it looks like the food has rotted through or covered with mold. Hence, you deter employee lunchroom “lunch thieves.”