Wire fraud is one of the most devastating forms of financial fraud. In a wire fraud scenario, one individual or business convinces someone to make a wire transfer due to misrepresentation or lies. Sometimes, they make the transaction seem like a legitimate business transaction, possibly by simply altering a few account numbers.
Other times, they may play on people’s emotions or kindness to convince them to send money via wire transfer. The Nigerian prince scheme is an example: It involves someone claiming to be royalty with huge amounts of money that needs a small but substantial amount to access their resources. People wire money with the promise that they will be repaid and then some, only for those funds to disappear.
Wire fraud can be terrible for victims, but allegations of wire fraud can also do severe damage to someone’s reputation and career. Thankfully, there are defense options available for those accused of wire fraud.
Show that you took action not on your own but due to someone’s instructions
Prosecution of wire fraud can be a difficult process. Especially if the recipient turns out to be a money transfer service, it can be difficult to track who received those funds and what happened to them after the wire occurred.
In business situations that involve wire fraud, the company might hold the person who initiated the transfer responsible and push for their prosecution. If you made a wire transfer that turned out to be fraudulent at work, you likely did so under the instruction of an executive or manager.
They may have tricked you into making the transfer without appropriate paperwork. Showing that the transfer was made at the request of someone else can help you defend yourself.
Show that you could not have received or profited from the wire transfer
If you can’t demonstrate that you didn’t send a wire transfer or if you are accused as an individual of sending emails or otherwise tricking people to make fraudulent transfers, you can defend against that allegation as well.
There may be many ways to do so, but showing that you either were not physically capable of picking up the money from the location where someone sent it or that it would have been impossible for you to send the email message that initiated the process may be all it takes.
Looking at the evidence against you is usually a starting point for developing a defense strategy when you find yourself accused of wire fraud or other kinds of white-collar crime.
