White-collar criminal cases arise in the very places where I have been litigating for more than twenty years: in businesses that have failed, in contracts where there is a dispute over performance, and in decisions made by executives that are viewed differently in hindsight.
A civil dispute turns into a criminal complaint; a disputed claim becomes an allegation of fraud; a business decision leads to an accusation of embezzlement.
Anyone defending against such an allegation must understand the business from which it arose—and do so in greater detail than the investigators, who are reconstructing it based on a complaint and seized documents. They must have a thorough grasp of the civil law issues on which the allegation often hinges. And they must conduct a trial in which facts and evidence are decided, against a prosecution that investigates using the resources of the state.
That is the work of a trial attorney specializing in business law. That is why I defend entrepreneurs and executives in white-collar crime cases.
Apply
In white-collar crime cases, I handle the entire matter, not just the criminal case. After all, white-collar crime proceedings always have a civil law aspect.
The complainant is usually also a creditor, a contractual partner, or a competitor, and the complaint often serves economic purposes as well: it is intended to exert pressure, or the investigation is intended to uncover information that the complainant can use in civil proceedings. Criminal proceedings and civil litigation then run concurrently and influence one another: What is said in one can be used in the other.
I use both.
In such cases, the most effective defense in criminal proceedings may well lie in civil litigation—for example, if it can be proven in civil court that the alleged victim did not in fact have the claims being asserted.
The consequences for the company are also part of the overall conflict. A criminal investigation can deal a severe blow to a company even before charges are filed. Accounts are frozen, assets are seized, and business relationships are strained. Such interventions can jeopardize the company’s economic survival, even if the allegations later prove to be unfounded.
The defense strategy must therefore be designed from the outset to ensure that the company remains capable of operating.
Understand
A charge under white-collar criminal law is often decided based on questions that criminal law itself does not answer. It depends on the assessment of complex economic transactions: on contractual arrangements involving many parties, on financing and collateral structures, on cash flows between companies, on cross-border supply relationships, and on the obligations and discretion of management.
Understanding such matters and interpreting them from a legal perspective is part of my daily work in complex and international civil litigation.
In criminal proceedings, this is precisely what determines whether a crime has been committed at all.
Penetration
The criminal justice system is designed to deal with crimes, not business transactions.
The police, the public prosecutor’s office, and the criminal courts examine a business transaction from the perspective of a potential criminal offense. From this perspective, it is not immediately clear how a transaction of this kind typically unfolds, what economic considerations underlie it, or what the parties actually agreed upon. Especially when a preliminary investigation is triggered by a complaint filed by a business partner, that partner’s account may initially shape the investigators’ understanding of the transaction.
It is the defense’s responsibility to examine this picture and correct it where it is incorrect.
That’s why the first step is to review the investigative file: Only once I know what the allegation is based on do we decide whether and when it makes sense to issue a statement. The next step is to analyze the economic context, review the client’s documents, and evaluate the complainant’s account against the actual business practices. Sometimes it is precisely the opposing party’s documents that provide the decisive evidence that conduct believed to be criminal was, in fact, part of standard business practice.
The goal is to bring the proceedings to a close before charges are filed.
Defend
Anyone facing criminal charges experiences the proceedings differently than they would in a civil lawsuit. They are not facing a business partner, but the state—with searches, seizures, and possibly an indictment.
Many people have trouble sleeping long before it is even clear what the accusation is based on.
A criminal complaint is, at first, merely another person’s allegation. A preliminary investigation means that the authorities are looking into a suspicion. Even an indictment is merely the assessment of the public prosecutor’s office, and even if a court opens a trial, no decision has yet been made regarding guilt.
None of these assessments is correct simply because they come from a government agency.
I investigate the allegation independently and leave no stone unturned. From there, I determine what can be achieved for my client, and I fight for it.
Sometimes it is best to remain silent at first. Sometimes, a carefully prepared statement can make a decisive difference even during the preliminary investigation.
If an allegation does not hold up to scrutiny, I will challenge it with all due rigor and will not be intimidated by the fact that investigators initially view the matter differently. And if a court reaches a conclusion that I believe to be wrong, I will not accept it, but will appeal to the next level of court with my client.
When I take on a case, I handle it as if it were my own, and I stand by my client until it is resolved. For me, standing up for my client means not only making the decisions along the way, but also taking responsibility for them.
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