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GUIDE · FRAUD & WHITE COLLAR

Most fraud cases begin
with a letter, not an arrest.

An audit notice or an investigator's call is the start of the case. What you say in the informal interview is usually the whole case.

How these cases arrive

Welfare fraud follows an eligibility audit.

Overstated household size, unreported income, benefits collected in two counties. Most people first learn of the case from a county letter rather than a police officer.

EDD, workers' compensation, and disability fraud.

Claims are cross-checked against payroll and medical records. A discrepancy that looks obvious on a spreadsheet often has an ordinary explanation — but only if someone presents it before charges are filed.

Employee misclassification is charged against owners.

Treating employees as independent contractors can generate payroll tax charges and civil penalties against a business owner personally.

Insurance, check, credit card, and identity theft.

All turn on documents and intent, which is what makes them defensible — and what makes early, quiet resolution realistic.

Why intent is the whole fight

A mistake is not a crime.

These statutes require a knowing, willful intent to deceive. Confusion about reporting rules, reliance on an accountant or a caseworker's advice, and plain clerical error are defenses, not excuses.

The paper record cuts both ways.

The same documents the government uses to build the case usually contain the context that explains it. Getting them organized early changes what a prosecutor is willing to do.

Resolution before filing is realistic.

Repayment agreements, charge reductions, and diversion are far more available before a felony complaint exists than after.

THE AUTHORITY

The charging statutes behind most California fraud prosecutions.

Welf. & Inst. Code § 10980

Welfare fraud — false statements to obtain aid; a wobbler above a threshold amount.

Unemp. Ins. Code § 2101

False statements or representations to obtain or increase unemployment or disability benefits.

Ins. Code § 1871.4; Pen. Code § 550

Workers' compensation and general insurance fraud — knowingly presenting a false or fraudulent claim.

Pen. Code § 487

Grand theft, including theft by false pretense — the default charge where a specific fraud statute does not apply.

Pen. Code § 476

Making, passing, or possessing a fictitious or altered check with intent to defraud.

Pen. Code § 530.5

Identity theft — willfully obtaining and using another person's personal identifying information for an unlawful purpose.

Pen. Code § 186.11

The "aggravated white collar crime" enhancement for a pattern of related felony fraud exceeding statutory loss thresholds.

Pen. Code §§ 801, 803(c)

A four-year statute of limitations for most fraud offenses, which may run from discovery rather than from the conduct.

Pen. Code § 1202.4

Victim restitution is mandatory on conviction and is frequently the largest practical consequence.

Authorities current as of 2025. Law changes; nothing here is a substitute for advice on your own facts.

TIME MATTERS IN A CRIMINAL CASE

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Most fraud cases beginwith a letter, not an arrest.