Defence in Business Fraud Cases

VINCO’S Legal Company provides legal defence to business owners, directors, chief accountants, CFOs, managers, investors, partners and other officers in criminal proceedings related to alleged fraud in business.

Business fraud cases often arise at the intersection of criminal, corporate, commercial, tax and contract law. An ordinary contractual dispute, non-performance, conflict between partners or investment dispute may be used as a basis for involving law enforcement authorities.

Defence in such cases requires a prompt analysis of contracts, payments, correspondence, negotiations, actual performance, the role of each participant and the presence or absence of intent to obtain another person’s property or funds unlawfully.

Legal assistance is needed not only after a notice of suspicion. In business matters, risks often appear earlier: after a counterparty’s claim, a corporate conflict, an investment dispute, a summons for questioning, a search, seizure of accounts or removal of documents.

• a director, accountant, owner or manager is summoned for questioning in a fraud case;
• a counterparty alleges unlawful taking of funds or property due to non-performance of a contract;
• an investor, partner or client has filed a complaint with law enforcement after a business conflict;
• investigators review contracts, acts, invoices, payment documents, correspondence or commercial offers;
• the company faces a search, temporary access or seizure of equipment and documents;
• bank accounts, property, corporate rights or other assets have been frozen;
• law enforcement questions the reality of transactions or the intention to perform the contract;
• there is a risk of a notice of suspicion under Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;
• it is necessary to separate a commercial or corporate dispute from a criminal proceeding.

Defence in business fraud cases includes analysis of criminal case materials, contracts, primary documents, invoices, acts, payments, corporate decisions, correspondence, negotiations, actual performance and the conduct of the parties before and after the transaction.

VINCO’S develops a defence strategy by assessing whether the client had intent to obtain another person’s property, whether there was a genuine business purpose, whether obligations were performed and whether the matter is in fact a business risk, commercial conflict or civil-law dispute.

• defence of business owners, directors, accountants, managers, investors and partners;
• analysis of grounds for opening the criminal proceeding and risks for the company;
• preparation of a legal position on the absence of deception, abuse of trust or intent;
• separation of the criminal case from a commercial, corporate or investment dispute;
• support during questioning, searches, temporary access, inspections and seizure of documents;
• protection against freezing of property, bank accounts, corporate rights and business assets;
• return of seized documents, equipment, servers and electronic data carriers;
• challenging actions or inaction of investigators, prosecutors or other authorities;
• preparation of motions, complaints, applications, explanations and procedural documents;
• representation before investigators, prosecutors, investigating judges and courts.

In business, fraud proceedings often arise where the actual dispute concerns contract performance, refund of funds, quality of services, delivery of goods, investments, corporate arrangements or distribution of profits.

For effective defence, it is important to show that the parties had real business relations, documents, negotiations, payments, partial performance, commercial logic of the transaction and no initial intent to unlawfully obtain property or funds.

In fraud cases, law enforcement often focuses on the director, accountant, sales manager, CFO, founder or the person who negotiated with the counterparty.

A lawyer helps establish the client’s actual role, scope of authority, content of negotiations, grounds for signing documents, decision-making procedure within the company and the involvement of other persons who influenced the transaction or its performance.

Effective defence requires not only formal documents, but also evidence of the parties’ real conduct, commercial logic of the transaction, actual performance and absence of intent to obtain another person’s property unlawfully.

• contracts, amendments, acts, invoices, delivery notes and payment documents;
• bank statements, cash documents, accounting registers and financial calculations;
• commercial offers, technical specifications, requests, letters and claims;
• corporate decisions, internal approvals, minutes, orders and job descriptions;
• emails, messengers, CRM, ERP, IP telephony and other digital data;
• documents confirming partial performance, delivery, payment, refund or negotiations;
• specialist opinions, economic, computer-technical or other expert studies.

Business fraud proceedings may involve searches, seizure of documents, phones, laptops, servers, corporate correspondence, access to bank transactions, freezing of accounts, property or corporate rights.

VINCO’S supports investigative actions, checks the limits of court orders, records violations, objects to unjustified seizure, prepares motions to lift asset freezes, return property and documents, and restore normal business operations.

VINCO’S also represents companies, owners, investors and entrepreneurs who have suffered from fraudulent actions of counterparties, partners, employees, managers, contractors or other persons.

In such cases, it is important to properly record the deception, amount of damage, movement of funds or property and causal link between the actions of offenders and the losses, file a criminal complaint, obtain victim status and monitor the investigation.

1. Initial consultation and determination of the client’s procedural status.
2. Analysis of the criminal proceeding, complaint, court orders, protocols, documents and facts.
3. Assessment of risks for the director, accountant, owner, employees and the company.
4. Development of a legal position on the absence of deception, abuse of trust or intent.
5. Preparation of officers and employees for questioning or other investigative actions.
6. Support during searches, inspections, temporary access, questioning and communication with investigators or prosecutors.
7. Preparation of motions, complaints, statements, explanations, attorney requests and procedural documents.
8. Organization of the evidence base: documents, electronic data, specialist opinions and expert examinations.
9. Representation before the investigating judge and court.
10. Support at the closing stage of the proceeding, return of property or minimization of consequences for the business.

• company register extract, charter, management structure and information on officers;
• contracts, amendments, acts, invoices, delivery notes, specifications and payment documents;
• bank statements, cash documents, accounting registers and financial calculations;
• commercial offers, technical specifications, requests, claims and responses;
• corporate decisions, minutes, internal approvals, orders and job descriptions;
• correspondence with the counterparty, partners, investors, employees or clients;
• court orders, search protocols, temporary access protocols, questioning records or seizure documents;
• a factual timeline with dates, persons, amounts, contracts, payments and previous events.

• incorrect explanations at the initial stage may be used against an officer;
• providing documents without legal analysis may expand risks for the company;
• uncoordinated explanations by employees may create contradictions in the defence position;
• without analysis of contracts and payments it is difficult to separate a commercial dispute from fraud;
• without recording violations during a search it is harder to return property or challenge investigative actions;
• freezing accounts or equipment may block the company’s operations;
• late involvement of a lawyer makes it harder to protect the director, accountant, employees and company.

VINCO’S helps businesses quickly assess criminal-law risks, protect the director, accountant, owner or employees, prepare a legal position, collect evidence, support investigative actions, challenge unlawful decisions and reduce the impact of criminal proceedings on the company’s operations.

Our goal is not only formal participation in the proceeding, but a practical result: preservation of assets, return of property, protection of reputation, restoration of operations and minimization of personal risks for business officers.