Economic Crime Unit

The ECU is primarily involved in the prosecution of complex white-collar crime including:

a. Bank, contractor, loan/mortgage, investment, and securities fraud;

b. Intricate identity theft and employee embezzlement;

c. Public corruption; and

d. Civil forfeiture.

Con artists who perpetrate identity theft and other financial crimes are becoming more and more sophisticated. Often these cases are complex, involve thousands of documents and require an expertise in accounting, internet technology, mortgage fraud, business practices, securities transactions, or other specialty areas. In the last three years, we have increased the number of attorneys in our office with MBA’s and financial degrees, and have emphasized training for both attorneys and investigators so that they can effectively investigate and prosecute these offenses. We have increased the number of attorneys in our economic crime unit, but the caseload is enormous and continues to increase. As other forms of crime decrease, financial crime continues to be on the rise. Staying one step ahead of these criminals is the most effective way to manage these offenses and the reason we place so much emphasis on education, public awareness and prevention. While that does not keep criminals from trying, it does significantly decrease the number of actual victims we have. Once you have lost money, even if we are able to find and prosecute the person who took it, it is very difficult and often impossible to get it back.

We cannot emphasize enough that consumers have to read and understand contracts and mortgage agreements before they sign them, regardless of how long it takes to do so. If you are having work done on your home, use someone who is recommended to you by a friend or check references before turning over any money. Do not ever give out personal information on the internet or telephone. Do not let sales people pressure or bully you into doing something you would never do if you had time to think about it. Most importantly, remember that there is still no such thing as a free lunch. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Call our fraud assistance line or your local police department and ask about anything you suspect may be a scam before you turn any money over to anyone, especially someone you do not know. Our fraud assistance line number is 720-874-8574.

Financial crime often goes unreported because of threats, or the victim may just feel foolish for being taken in by a scam. If you are a victim of financial crime, you are by no means alone. Please report it to your local law enforcement agency and if they cannot assist you, please report it to the District Attorney’s Office.

Economic Crime Unit

18th Judicial District

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