Fraud charges, whether brought by South Carolina authorities or by the federal courts, are not to be trifled with. Someone confronting allegations of fraud, employee theft, or other white collar crimes should be in touch with an attorney to ensure the best chance of a positive outcome.

Oftentimes, the nature of these cases means that they get handled at the federal level. That can be a plus because the process of obtaining a grand jury indictment before pressing forward with a case tends to provide indications well ahead of actual fraud charges being filed. That allows a person who's a target of a probe to get early and essential legal advice.

There is a particular case that prompts this review of white collar crime issues. It involves a federal grand jury indictment naming a former electrical utility president from Tennessee, a businessman from Greenville, South Carolina, and a third businessman in Huntersville, North Carolina.

According to the indictment, the three men allegedly conspired together to defraud the Clarksville Department of Electricity of hundreds of thousands of dollars for their own gain. It alleges that the CDE president directed multiple contracts worth between $156,000 and $188,000 to the father-son businessmen. In return, they allegedly paid kickbacks to the president. This is supposed to have happened between the time he was hired by CDE in November 2008 and his firing in July 2009.

It's not clear what the timetable is for the actual start of any trial. The former CDE president is currently serving time in South Carolina in another fraud case. The new indictment indicates that he and the two other men face 36 counts of wire and mail fraud in connection with their alleged activities.

Source: The Leaf-Chronicle, "Former president of Clarksville Department of Electricity indicted," Jan. 25, 2012