Increasingly, the California Legislature and the United States Congress have continued to pass new and confusing statutes and regulations defining certain irregular business activities as criminal that were formerly categorized as administrative or regulatory violations, and these activities can now lead to prison sentences. Potential violations of Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC reporting violations, violations of banking regulations, accounting irregularities, real estate transactions, and related business activities have come under increasing scrutiny of law enforcement officials.

Computer crime is criminal activity that directly involves the use of a computer. Traditional crimes such as theft, fraud, counterfeiting, forgery, larceny, child pornography, embezzlement and solicitation of sex, to name a few, could be categorized as computer crime if the person used a computer as a tool in committing the crime.

Official misconduct generally involves a public official committing an act or refraining to fulfill a duty of office, with the purpose of benefiting the official or someone else, or harming or depriving someone else of a benefit. The official conduct must be a duty imposed by law and clearly a function of the position. Likewise, the official’s action or inaction must be clear-cut as intentional and not a mere lapse in good judgment. Bribery would be an obvious example of official misconduct. Bribery is a crime for both the person offering the bribe as well as the official accepting the bribe. A more subtle crime can occur when a simple quid pro quo transaction occurs. This would seem to criminalize the political horse-trading apparently common in the governmental environment. The fine distinctions between the legal and the illegal are made by state and federal prosecutors each of whom has a different perspective. The investigation and prosecution of Government officials is a top priority of state and federal prosecutors. These matters often involve bribery accusations but can also involve other acts of official misconduct such as incorrect reporting of contributions or income or conflicts of interest in other financial matters.

Most criminal cases are settled before trial. However, some trials simply cannot be avoided, especially where the government is flat wrong and refuses to acknowledge it. In these instances, trial by jury is the only viable option. Our office has an exemplary trial record, and William Portanova has been trying criminal cases from one side or the other for thirty years.

The most common tax crime is involves state or federal income tax evasion, committed either by failing to pay or file a tax return or filing with false information. Individuals, businesses, accountants or professionals preparing false tax returns can be charged with tax crime. Other common areas include tax shelter cases, failures to pay or accurately report various payroll taxes, excise taxes or tobacco taxes.

While our offices specialize in criminal issues, we are often called upon to represent our clients in resolving civil matters. Our focus on exemplary motion practice, zealous advocacy, and forceful representation is a natural fit for litigating lawsuits for our clients. We represent individuals involved in cases as diverse as simple contractual or tortious matters to civil enforcement actions by state and federal regulatory agencies. In each case, we bring to bear the decades of experience that has propelled our firm to the forefront of the legal profession.

Corporations and small businesses can suffer significant losses through employee misconduct such as embezzlement and other bad acts. Overworked government agencies can sometimes be difficult to engage due to a variety of factors. A well-conducted internal investigation can increase the chances of prosecution or, in the alternative, can at least provide the client with full knowledge of the extent of the problem so that informed and intelligent decisions can be made either publicly or confidentially.

Environmental crimes are actions or omissions that violate standards set by local, state and federal governments to safeguard the environment and protect human health. Environmental crimes may be prosecuted against individuals or corporations that violate federal environmental statues that exist to preserve and regulate clean air, drinking water, pesticide use, atomic energy, toxic substances and solid waste disposal. Official misconduct generally involves a public official committing an act or refraining to fulfill a duty of office, with the purpose of benefiting the official or someone else, or harming or depriving someone else of a benefit. The official conduct must be a duty imposed by law and clearly a function of the position. Likewise, the official’s action or inaction must be clear-cut as intentional and not a mere lapse in good judgment.