NYC White Collar Crime Attorneys

A NYC White Collar Crime Lawyer So Respected Even Federal Prosecutors Hire Him

Think about it. If even current DOJ-Prosecutors and active FBI Special Agents hire New York City federal criminal defense lawyer Dr. Nick Oberheiden to defend against federal criminal charges and internal OIG investigations in New York, then Nick’s reputation within the Justice Department and his demonstrated skillset ought to be good.

Meet NYC federal defense attorney Dr. Nick Oberheiden. Unlike most NYC white collar criminal defense lawyers you may find advertising for drunk driving and shoplifting defense next to their federal criminal “expertise,” Nick has dedicated his entire career to exclusively defending people accused of white-collar offenses. In hundreds of federal cases spanning more than 35 states, Nick has built an exceptional track record of avoiding criminal charges in approximately 94% of all government investigations and in 100% of all grand jury cases. Recent examples include:

• Defense of New York Surgeon (Federal Grand Jury): No Charges.
• Defense of New York Physician (DEA Investigation): No Charges.
• Defense of New York Physician (Kickbacks): No Charges.
• Defense of New York Business Owner (DEA/FBI Search Warrant): No Charges.
• Defense of Business Executive (False Claims Act Case): Dismissed.
• Defense of Large Business (False Claims Act Case): Dismissed.
• Defense of Corporate Conglomerate (Qui Tam Case): Dismissed.
• Defense of Out-of-State Business (Whistleblower Case): Dismissed.

Nick has prevailed in arguments before all major federal agencies including the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, the IRS, the DEA, the Office of Inspector General, as well as appeared at U.S. Attorney’s Offices and in federal courts across the entire United States.

Featured for his federal practice by media stations in all 50 states, Nick offers executives, entrepreneurs, CEOs, accountants, lawyers, physicians, dentists, and business owners a unique experience and performance track record in government investigations. The difference between Nick and other lawyers already becomes apparent when you call Nick. Instead of sending you to secretaries or paralegals, Nick answers all calls personally, including on weekends. What are you waiting for? Call 212-970-9468 and get answers to your most pressing questions.

Put our highly experienced team on your side

Dr. Nick Oberheiden

Founder

Attorney-at-Law

Lynette S. Byrd

Former Department of Justice

Brian J. Kuester

Former U.S. Attorney
Former DA

John W. Sellers

Former Senior Trial Attorney
U.S. Department of Justice

Local Counsel

Joanne Fine DeLena

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney

Local Counsel

Joe Brown

Former U.S. Attorney & Former District Attorney

Local Trial & Defense Counsel

Amanda Marshall

Former U.S. Attorney

Local Counsel

Aaron L. Wiley

Former Federal Prosecutor

Local Counsel

Roger Bach

Former Special Agent (OIG)

Michael Koslow

Former Supervisory Special Agent (FBI)

Chris Quick

Former Special Agent (FBI & IRS-CI)

Ray Yuen

Former Supervisory Special Agent (FBI)

The Nick Oberheiden White-Collar Defense Difference

Most lawyers you will interview will tell you one of two things: a) don’t worry, you had no intent, and/or b) let’s see what the government does and then we defend. Both statements are fatal.

No Intent. There is nothing less impressive for a prosecutor to hear from a defense attorney that, yes, my client did these things, but he did not commit the offense knowingly, willfully, or intentionally. Prosecutors hear this all the time, every day, in court and in plea negotiations. The truth is the “no intent” objection that so many lawyers carelessly use is an absolute last resort. It’s never a starting point even though it is abused and misinterpreted as such.

Factual Defenses. Much more powerful are factual defenses. But here is the problem: factual defenses require lawyers to actually listen to their clients and to care for their clients’ side of the story. From taking over a few cases per week from other lawyers, Nick is shocked in every single case by how little time the previous lawyer has spent with the client and what minuscule effort was dedicated to factual analysis. At the end of the day, facts are the difference between being guilty and walking away. Facts are a 100-times more compelling than the “no intent” argument.

Understanding the Law. Many lawyers don’t understand the law. No joke. Take a complicated Medicare Fraud case to a criminal defense attorney and ask him/her spontaneously how they would analyze Medicare Form 485 in this case. Don’t settle on “let me do some legal research.” If you have a serious legal problem, like Medicare Fraud, and your lawyer needs to do research, you may need to move on. If your lawyer does not know the law, he will never be able to convincingly explain the law to a jury. More so, your lawyer will be completely overwhelmed if, in the example of healthcare fraud, your lawyer has to defend your interests in a negotiation with highly trained FBI healthcare fraud agents and federal prosecutors in charge of civil and criminal Medicare fraud investigations.

The main lesson Nick learned early on was that the more time the government is given to investigate, the more likely they will bring charges. Vice-versa, the earlier an experienced attorney gets involved, intervenes, and introduces factual corrections and defenses, the less likely it is the government will pursue the case further.

If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation that your business is under investigation or you received a government subpoena, then don’t commit the number one mistake: don’t wait. Call our NYC white collar crime defense attorneys at 212-970-9468 for the investigation before things escalate to your disadvantage.

Who Investigates White Collar Offenses in NYC?

The term white collar is used to describe non-violent offenses such as financial crimes and money laundering, theft and embezzlement, healthcare fraud, Medicare fraud, mortgage and bank fraud, securities and investment fraud, as well as public corruption and bribery.

• Healthcare Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1347)
• Bribery (18 U.S.C. 201)
• Tax Fraud
• Mail Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1341)
• Wire Fraud 18 U.S.C. 1343)
• Computer Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1030)
• Tax Fraud (26 U.S.C. 7206)
• Embezzlement
• Bank Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1344)
• Counterfeiting (18 U.S.C. 2320)
• Money Laundering (18 U.S.C. 1956)
• Credit Card Fraud
• Mortgage Fraud
• Currency Schemes
• Forgery
• Insurance Fraud
• Investment Fraud
• Securities Fraud (15 U.S.C. 78j, 78jj; 18 U.S.C. 1348)
• Insider Trading
• Obstruction of Justice (18 U.S.C. 1512)
• Perjury/ False Statement (18 U.S.C. 1001)
• Intellectual Property Crimes

Most white collar investigations are federal. That means that the United States Department of Justice, the FBI, the SEC, the IRS, the DEA, and other law enforcement agencies are in charge of the case and your lawyer’s primary contacts. In NYC, most federal fraud cases are handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. In specialized matters, such as healthcare fraud, the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MCFU) may lead the investigations.

How Do I Know If the Investigation Is Civil or Criminal?

When rumors of an investigation evolve, one of the imminent and most pressing questions is whether the case is civil or criminal in nature. Indeed, the early stage of a government investigation is sometimes not easy to read in terms of the scope, objective, and targets of the investigation. The good thing about white collar investigations compared to cases involving violent acts like kidnapping, rape, or murder is that almost always the investigation announces itself. The bad thing, however, is that too many people either ignore or deny clear signs of a criminal case and delay required and effective defense mechanisms.

Importantly, the mere fact that federal prosecutors or federal law enforcement agencies are involved is not conclusive by itself to determine the nature of the case. Unknown to many, the Department of Justice (and the FBI, etc.) is divided into a criminal and a civil section. Prosecutors in each of those two sections operate independently and exclusively meaning interaction and coordination between civil and criminal investigators is missing at times.

This division sometimes results in parallel proceedings, in which case a matter is both under civil and criminal scrutiny. You will know that your case is criminal if the investigation involves grand jury subpoenas, search warrants, seizure warrants, arrests, or an indictment. By contrast, most cases that are False Claims Act matters, whistleblower and qui tam cases, Civil Investigative Demands (CID), OIG subpoenas, or DOJ records subpoenas tend to be civil in nature.

If you experience any of these signs or become aware of federal agents attempting to interview you or your business affiliates, you need to consult with an experienced New York City white collar criminal defense attorney right away to keep the case civil and to protect your business from unjust fines and charges.

Why Does the U.S. Attorney’s Office in NYC Often Claim a “Federal Conspiracy” in Criminal Cases?

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York tend to prefer conspiracy charges to squeeze multiple defendants as co-conspirators into one case rather than indicting a series of cases. Besides this aspect of convenience, conspiracy charges somewhat reduce the prosecutor’s burden of proof. Federal law does not require the government to prove that the individual defendants actually worked together, knew each other, or entered into a verbal or written agreement with one another. All the government needs to show (beyond a reasonable doubt) is that each conspirator knowingly participated in a criminal scheme.

For example, in a federal healthcare fraud conspiracy involving kickbacks, the government may charge a surgeon, a marketer, and a pharmacy owner: the surgeon for receiving kickbacks from the marketer, the marketer for paying kickbacks to the doctor, and the pharmacy owner for using the marketer to get business. Frequent examples of federal conspiracies are:

• Conspiracy to Commit Medicare Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1347; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Accept or Receive Illegal Kickbacks (42 U.S.C. 1320a-7(b)(b); 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Obstruction of Justice (18 U.S.C. 1518, 1519; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Identity Theft (18 U.S.C. 1028A; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Make False Statements Relating to Healthcare Matters (18 U.S.C. 1035; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances (21 U.S.C. 841; 21 U.S.C. 846)
• Conspiracy to Commit Healthcare Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1347; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Theft or Embezzlement in Connection with Healthcare (18 U.S.C. 669; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Attempt or Conspiracy to Commit Healthcare Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1349; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Medicaid Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1347; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1348; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Unlawfully Use Health Information (42 U.S.C. 1320d-6; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Use Identification Information (18 U.S.C. 1028(a)(7); 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Bribery (18 U.S.C. 201; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1341; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1343; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering (18 U.S.C. 1357; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1344; 18 U.S.C. 371)
• Conspiracy to Commit Tax Fraud (26 U.S.C. 7206; 18 U.S.C. 371)

FAQs About NYC White Collar Crime and Federal Criminal Defense

Proven Results in Hundreds of Federal Criminal Cases: 212-970-9468

When you hire Manhattan federal white collar defense attorney Dr. Nick Oberheiden, you will enjoy a lawyer with true experience. No matter how hopeless you consider your situation, Nick will explore different options and find mitigating factors and strong factual and legal defenses. Call Nick directly at 212-970-9468 or contact him online today.

Additional Pages for New York City, New York

• New York City federal criminal defense
• New York City healthcare fraud defense

Oberheiden P.C.
30 Wall Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10005
212-970-9468