Fraud & White-Collar Crime
Complex allegations, built slowly. Your defence should be too.
Commercial crime cases are not built overnight, and they are not defended overnight either. They arrive with forensic reports, years of records and a case the State has often been assembling for months before anyone knocked on your door. The work is detailed, and it starts long before trial.
The situation
What these matters look like from the inside
- A forensic audit has been run at your employer and your name is in it.
- The Hawks or a commercial crimes unit has made contact, or has already searched an office.
- You are one of several accused and you have no idea what the others are saying.
- Bank accounts have been frozen or restrained, and the practical problem is now as urgent as the legal one.
What the law says
What the law actually says
- Fraud requires an unlawful and intentional misrepresentation causing actual or potential prejudice. Intention is an element the State must prove — a loss alone is not a crime.
- Commercial matters are frequently prosecuted in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, where the prosecutors are experienced and the case is usually well prepared.
- Asset forfeiture and restraint under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act can run alongside the criminal case, and is a separate fight requiring separate attention.
- Serious commercial charges commonly fall into the schedules that shift the bail burden onto the accused, which makes early preparation decisive.
How we handle it
- 01
Contain it
Advice before any interview, disciplinary hearing or forensic interrogation. What is said in an internal process routinely reappears in the criminal one.
- 02
Understand the allegation
Precisely what transaction, what period, what amount, and what the State says your role was. Vague charges are challenged, not accepted.
- 03
Work the record
These cases are documentary. Reconstructing the paper trail is usually where a defence is found, and it takes time nobody has if they start late.
- 04
Representations, trial, or both
Well-prepared representations resolve more commercial matters than most people expect. Where they do not, we are ready to run it.
What it costs
These are the least predictable matters we handle, because the volume of material drives the work and the State controls the volume. We bill transparently against defined stages, so you can see what is being spent and on what, rather than receiving one number at the end.
What moves the number
- The volume of documentary evidence and the length of the period charged
- Whether forensic accounting or other expert evidence is required
- The number of co-accused and whether interests conflict
- Whether restraint or forfeiture proceedings run in parallel
How long it takes
Commercial crime matters routinely run for a year or more from first appearance to trial. The useful consequence is that there is time to prepare properly — but only if that time is used from the start.
Common questions
Fraud & White-Collar Crime
My employer wants me in a disciplinary hearing. Does that affect the criminal case?
It can, significantly. Internal processes are not private and what you say in one can find its way into a criminal docket. Get advice before that hearing, not after it.
The Hawks want to interview me. Am I a suspect?
Sometimes the distinction between witness and suspect is not made clear, and it can change during the interview itself. Speak to an attorney before you attend, whichever you have been told you are.
My accounts have been frozen. Is that part of the criminal case?
Restraint and forfeiture under POCA are civil proceedings that run alongside the criminal matter and have their own timelines. They need to be dealt with separately, and quickly.
There are several of us charged. Can one attorney act for all of us?
Usually not. Co-accused frequently have conflicting interests, even when they feel like they are on the same side today. Separate representation protects you if that changes.