Businesses and organizations in California and around the country run thousands of sweepstakes and contests each year, but not all offers to send in entries that could win money or prizes are legitimate. The Federal Trade Commission receives more than 100,000...
Bribery is an offense defined by giving, offering, receiving or soliciting something of value in order to influence the action of an official or individual who is responsible for performing public or legal duties. Bribery is a serious crime that only serves to...
Telemarketing fraud commonly occurs when solicitors in California or elsewhere try to get data from unsuspecting people. They may offer them a "grand prize," such as a free hotel stay, to keep them interested. Solicitors may use this to collect sensitive information...
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California announced that a 50-year-old man has been sentenced to spend six months in a federal prison for embezzling more than $200,000 from the San Diego Zoo. Federal prosecutors say that the man is likely to...
As a public official, whether at the local, state or federal level, your constituents – and the law – hold you to a high standard of ethical conduct. Should someone accuse you of doing something that breaches the public’s trust in you, you could find yourself accused...
When you own or operate a California health care practice, you may trust others to handle the administrative end of things, including creating and sending invoices to patients. Medical billing and coding are not easy, though, and if your practice references the wrong...
Mail fraud occurs whenever someone uses the mail in any way while committing a crime. Because of this broad definition, there are many ways in which it can occur. However, the United States Postal Inspection Service highlights a few specific types of schemes that are...
Doctor shopping involves visiting more than one doctor to obtain many prescriptions for a controlled substance. While California doctors have a duty to check a state database before prescribing potentially dangerous drugs, doctor shopping remains common in the state....
The federal government carefully regulates the use of pharmaceutical drugs to ensure that people safely use them and that pharmaceutical companies and other health care providers do not defraud government benefit programs like Medicaid. Unfortunately, many forms of...
Employee theft can be a serious problem for small businesses. Business owners can lose thousands of dollars, if not more when an employee steals money. According to Entrepreneur, small businesses are more likely to suffer from embezzlement because owners do not always...
