If you are facing federal criminal charges for bank fraud, Bristol C. Myers is the experienced federal criminal defense attorney you can trust to thoroughly investigate your case and provide an innovative and relentless defense. Call now 512-478-2100 or connect online.
Elements of Bank Fraud
Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344(1) makes it a crime for anyone to knowingly execute a scheme or artifice to defraud a financial institution.
The Government must prove each of the following beyond a reasonable doubt:
1. That the defendant knowingly executed a scheme or artifice.
2. That the scheme or artifice was to defraud a financial institution.
3. That the defendant had the intent to defraud the financial institution.
4. That the scheme or artifice to defraud was material in that it employed a false material representation or concealed a material fact.
5. That the defendant placed the financial institution at risk of civil liability or financial loss.
Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344(2) makes it a crime for anyone to knowingly execute a scheme or artifice to obtain any money, funds, assets, securities, or other property owned by or under the custody or control of an insured financial institution by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises.
The Government must prove each of the following beyond a reasonable doubt:
1. That the defendant knowingly executed a scheme or artifice.
2. That the scheme or artifice was executed to obtain money or other property from a financial institution.
3. That the scheme or artifice was executed by means of false or fraudulent pretenses or false or fraudulent representations or false or fraudulent promises.
4. That the false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises were material.
Defenses
Experienced federal criminal defense attorneys know a common defense to bank fraud is to demonstrate that the defendant had a good faith belief that the allegedly fraudulent representations were true when made. The “materiality” or importance of the allegedly false representations is also an area for the federal criminal defense attorney to explore. Depending on the duration of the alleged scheme and the timing of its discovery, the statute of limitations may also be a useful defense.
Sentencing Issues
The amount of loss or intended loss can be a hotly contested issue at sentencing. Generally speaking: the greater the loss, the longer the potential punishment. If the scheme jeopardized the soundness of a financial institution, it may lead to a longer sentence.
