Being charged with fraud can be an overwhelming, life-altering experience for you and your family.

In most fraud cases, the potential consequences get more serious as the dollar values involved increases.

Evidence of the fraud can create a complicated paper or electronic trail that must be analyzed by legal experts, and often also by forensic auditors and accountants.

What is Fraud?

Simply put, fraud is a deliberate deception for unlawful gain. Often the term “white-collar crime” is used to describe fraud crimes committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. Here are some examples:

Tax fraud
Credit Card fraud
Contractor fraud
Bank fraud
Mail fraud
Insurance fraud
Conspiracy to commit fraud
Mortagage fraud
Healthcare fraud
Business fraud
Charity fraud

Fraud charges may be more serious when the alleged fraud involves your employer or similar breaches of trust.

The criminal defence lawyers at Auger Hollingsworth are experienced challenging search warrants and otherwise defending serious fraud charges.

When you are facing fraud or money laundering charges, the sooner you get to an experienced lawyer, the greater the possibility you may have of a favorable outcome. Fraud charges are complex; starting early gives us a chance to examine the details.

For more information about defending your fraud charges, contact Richard Auger at richard@ottawalawfirm.ca or 613 233-4529.

Ottawa criminal lawyers at Auger Hollingsworth oppose the federal Conservative government’s tabling of a crime bill aimed at stiffening penalties for those convicted of white-collar crimes.

The bill, which is called “Standing Up for Victims of White-Collar Crime Act” and replaces Bill C-52, proposes several amendments to clauses in the criminal code as well as stiffer sentences for those found guilty of major fraud.

There are, however, flaws in the fraud bill which will have significant consequences for the legal system.

First,  if the legislation is passed, a judge’s discretion will be limited in cases dealing with white-collar crime and fraud.

Second,  the bill proposes tougher sentences for criminals charged with fraud; however, there is no  evidence to suggest that tougher sentences work to deter or reduce this type of criminal activity.

Third, the bill will limit the ability to do plea bargains. And because the incentive to plead guilty for a favourable sentence will be eliminated in cases of fraud, we can expect increases in court delays because of more trials due to the fact that fewer deals will be made.

Ultimately, it is not clear that the new piece of fraud legislation will have a positive impact or not.

If you are in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario or elsewhere in Canada, you should beware that people often think, incorrectly, that criminal findings of guilt before adulthood have no impact once a person becomes an adult. A young person’s record does not cease to exist just because they turn 18, and if they re-offend before the “non-disclosure period” has passed, their record can be used in court. Read the full article »

Most Ottawa residents know what Canada’s Charter of Rights of Freedoms is, but if you are ever placed under arrest, you might not know how it helps you. You are entitled to very important rights under the Charter; they are so important that if the police do not observe these rights, the courts can refuse to admit evidence obtained by the police, which could result in charges being dismissed by the court or dropped by the crown attorney.

If you are ever asking yourself, ‘what are my rights upon arrest?’ Here they are:

• Every person who is under arrest or detention has the right to be promptly informed of the reasons for the arrest.
• Every person who is under arrest or detention has the right to speak to a lawyer without delay.  The police must inform the person of the right to speak to a lawyer and the police must also ensure that the person under arrest can access a lawyer.
• The police must advise the person under arrest of the right to speak to a lawyer and this must be done in a language that is clearly understood.
• The police must also advise the person under arrest that if they cannot afford a lawyer, a lawyer can be provided to speak to the person free of charge.

At the police station when you are being processed, issues can often arise when the police are giving you your right to consult a lawyer.  For example, was an interpreter available if language was an issue?  Were accommodations made if the legal advice was not understood?  Was there adequate privacy for your call?  Did you want to speak with a specific lawyer?  Were you permitted to leave a message for the lawyer of your choice to call you at the police station? If any of these issues arose during your arrest, you want to ensure you discuss this with your lawyer.

Experienced criminal defence lawyers at Auger Hollingsworth can give you the advice you need to protect your legal rights. Contact a criminal defence lawyer at Auger Hollingsworth at 613-233-4529 or at info@ottawalawfirm.ca

If you have been charged with a criminal offence in Ottawa, or elsewhere in Canada,you should know that there are two ways that your charges may be dropped.

The Crown has the right to withdraw any criminal charge or they may also stay the proceedings.

Firstly, what this means is that before an accused enters a plea in open court, the Crown can completely withdraw any criminal charge. After this has happened though, if the crown attempts to relay the charge, the courts may intervene to ensure that there is no abuse of this process. If this ever happens to you, make sure you discuss it with your lawyer because any decision by the crown to prosecute after a charge has been withdrawn may require a legal application to be brought before the court.

Secondly, as of right at any time before a final judgement is rendered in a case, the crown may also stay the proceedings stopping the prosecution immediately. In this case, the accused can be released from custody and the court has no power to intervene to require the continuation of the prosecution. However, the Crown does have the power to recommence the prosecution after a stay of proceedings has been entered. For this reason, it is better to get a withdrawal of charges.

If you have been charged with a criminal offence, make sure you have a criminal defence lawyer with the knowledge and experience to protect you. Contact a criminal defence lawyer at Auger Hollingsworth at 613-233-4529 or at info@ottawalawfirm.ca

Whether or not you are found guilty at a trial will depend on whether the crown attorney can prove a guilty act and a guilty mind.

In order to prove guilt, the crown must prove two parts for every criminal offence.  The crown must prove an act (actus reus) was committed by you and that you had the criminal mental intention (mens rea) to commit the act.  There is no guilty act without a guilty mind.

To prove the guilty act, the crown has to show:

a) an action (or omission of an action)

b) by a person with capacity

c) in a voluntary manner

d) which caused certain consequences.

If there is any reasonable doubt about whether these aspects of the alleged criminal act occurred, the court must find you not guilty.  You do not need to testify and your lawyer does  not have to prove that the alleged criminal act did not occur.  You can remain totally silent because the burden of proof is on the crown.

Sometimes, no matter how good your criminal defence lawyer is, you end up with a finding of guilt or a plea of guilt and a sentencing hearing is required.    Sentencing in Ottawa is a very important part of your case and should not be treated as an afterthought.

Where sentencing is likely or possible, our criminal defence lawyers will work with you to help build a strong case for a lenient sentence.   A key component of the sentencing package is reference letters.

We work with our clients to devise a list of people who can provide personal letters of reference on your behalf.   Typically these letters come from members of your community, religious institution, employer, neighbors, teachers or anyone else who is prepared to tell the court that you are a person of integrity who should be sentenced lightly.    Note that we would never contact anyone for a reference letter without your express consent and instructions.

Generally,  the letters of support set out the following:

-who the writer is in terms of occupation and family status

-a description of the writer’s connection to the accused person

-the fact that the writer is aware of the charges; and

-a description of a number of the accused person’s positive personal attributes (such as hard working, honest, a reliable worker, etc.).

The letter should include the writer’s contact information.

A package of supportive letters from people of good reputation in the community can go a long way to assisting your Ottawa criminal lawyers in making strong submissions on sentence.

Last week, the legislation that eliminates two-for-one credit on Canadian sentences came into force.  What this means is that people convicted of a criminal offence and then sentence do not receive additional credit for time they spent in jail before they were found guilty or plead guilty.

While this new law will appeal to those espousing a  tough on crime agenda, there are some real concerns it raises.

First, the two-for-one credit took into account that the conditions at the detention centres where people are typically held before trial are much worse than at a federal or provincial penitentiary.  Local detention centres are over-crowded, often in poor repair and lack programming.  Spending 6 months in this type of holding tank is much, much worse than 6 months at a proper facility.

Second, there is a philosophical argument that is important for people who believe that the presumption of innocence is an important tenet of our judicial system.  Pre-trial, pre-conviction custody entails detaining someone who has not been convicted of a crime.  In our view, there needs to be recognition of this fact.

Third, it eliminates the ability of judges to treat each case individually.  One of the virtues of Canada’s criminal justice system is its ability to tailor the outcome of a criminal prosecution to the facts of the case.   Tying a judge’s hands is contrary to this important principle.

Fourth, lengthy pre-sentence custody is necessitated by a lack of government resources.  People serve “dead time” because there are backlogs in the courts, not enough judges and court staff, etc.  The removal of the 2-1 in sentencing takes a way one incentive for the Crown and the administration of justice to keep the process moving.

Fifth, there is really no evidence that this move will have any impact on reducing crime.  This is legislation about appearing to be tough on crime.  It is not about reducing crime.

Today is the 13th anniversary of my call to the Bar of Ontario.

During my 13 years I have been very fortunate to secure some great outcomes for great people who have had the misfortune of getting caught up in the criminal justice system. Some of the highlights of my career to date include:

• being counsel on a number of the leading decisions on extradition in Canada;
• acting as co-counsel for a man who had been convicted of murder on his second trial where a jury acquitted him;
• having the charges dropped for several clients on major tax evasion cases through Charter arguments and disclosure requests;
• having fraud charges dropped following preliminary inquiries for several business people in different cases;
• resolving countless domestic assault cases with no criminal records of conviction for my clients;
• acting as counsel for a key witness at the Gomery Inquiry;
• representing Karlheinz Schreiber before the Parliamentary Ethics Commitee and the Oliphant Inquiry; and
• acting for important political activists who are charged following protests and similar acts of alleged civil disobedience.

While these are just some highlights of the cases I have been fortunate enough to handle, this list serves to me as an important reminder of how lucky I am to be able to go to work every day to help people like you solve potentially life altering problems.

I am humbled and honoured to be able to enter my 14th year of practice as a criminal defence lawyer.  I thank all my clients, past, present and future for allowing me to serve.

If you have been released on bail, you may have bail conditions to obey while you are released.  These conditions will be printed on the papers the police gave you when you were released from the police station or detention centre.  You should study these conditions and have them on your person at all times.

To avoid being charged with a breach of your bail conditions (which is another criminal charge), you must obey the conditions.  If you have sureties, it is their job to make sure you obey your conditions.  They could lose their posted bail if you don’t obey your conditions.

So what happens if you have a legitimate reason why you cannot readily obey your conditions?  For example, you may have a curfew that requires you to be home by 8 pm but your shift at work ends at 8:30.  If you keep your condition, you will lose your job.  There is a solution in most cases which is to get a bail variation.

Your criminal defence lawyer can try to get you a bail variation when you have a good reason to vary the bail.   Often this can be obtained on the consent of the Crown, depending on the reason for the variation and the nature of the variation.  Sometimes, a bail variation is contested.  A contested variation will require argument before the court and a decision by a judge or a justice of the peace.

In either situation, the variation will certainly take days and may take a few weeks.  As a result, it is very important that you do not leave it to the last minute.  Your criminal lawyer needs some lead time to get a bail variation done.  In the meantime, recall that breaching your conditions could result in additional charges and will almost certainly ensure that your criminal charges will be harder to resolve favorably.