Fraud is a crime that often goes unpunished. I have now been a victim of fraud and have come across the daunting task of trying to work within the system for justice. By changing the laws regarding fraud and how law enforcement is trained to enforce those laws, the impact to the community at large will be significant. You can prevent this story from happening again. 

In today's system there are two options for justice when someone you know steals from you: criminal charges and civil suit. The chances of the first occurring are slim in today's criminal justice system for several reasons: under-funding of police departments and prosecutors and lack of training for police officers who investigate these charges and often determine prematurely that the issue is civil, not criminal. Remember an individual can NEVER press criminal charges. That is done by the governing authority.

In order to press civil charges the individual must hire their own attorney and pay just to file suit. In addition, even knowing the victim will win judgement against the criminal often does no good. The criminal who is an expert at committing financial fraud is not likely to suddenly obey the law and begin making payments on the judgement against them. Instead the victim will have lost thousands of more dollars pursuing a civil suit that will produce no restitution for them.

As stated, on the Fraud Recovery Center Website, "One of the greatest obstacles to reforming the American criminal justice system on the issue of sweetheart scams and fraud is the predominant mindset of the public regarding the victims’ own “complicity” in the loss of their money. The public tends to believe that the victim should have known better and, therefore, it is not reasonable to ask that taxpayers’ dollars be spent to help them get their money back or get “revenge” on their former friend who took it. Of course, victims know how misguided this attitude is. But it is very real and if you have already attempted unsuccessfully to convince law enforcement to charge your "friend" with fraud, you know that this attitude is prevalent in the law enforcement community as well.

Until the public recognizes that sweetheart fraud or relationship fraud or business partnership fraud can easily happen to anyone who is not cynical and compulsively suspicious, this reform will remain an uphill battle. It is possible that the Bernie Madoff case may give a positive nudge to this reform. After all, Bernie Madoff does not have a criminal record and was the darling of Wall Street during his long-term Ponzi scheme. How could anyone know what self-centered con he was running for his own aggrandizement? Yet, the destruction he has left in his path, including the suicide of an investment manager, is proof positive that con artists destroy communities, not just individuals.

The only sure security system against this kind of financial betrayal is to enter into all relationships with suspicion, with full background checks and with constant monitoring of mutual activity where money is involved. Because this is not the way most Americans want to live their lives, the only alternative is to guarantee that con artists will be held accountable for any betrayal that leads to the losses of victims’ money. And to guarantee that the penalties for this betrayal are sufficient to actually deter con artists from doing it over and over again."

That is what I am proposing. I want anyone and everyone to sign the petition to have criminal fraud laws to have stiffer penalties and that a "relationship" with the criminal does not protect the criminal from prosecution. I would propose that any fraudulent relationship be it romantic, under the law of marriage, friendship, business based, etc. be looked at as not a protective cloak for the criminal to conduct their activities but instead a more egregious act against the law and society. 

Theft and fraud in and of themselves are horrible crimes. To commit these crimes against the ones that the criminal claims they "love the most" should call for harsher penalties. The fact that when financial or fraudulent crimes are committed by those we know, the legal system is LESS likely to prosecute, seems counter intuitive to every other investigative principal taught in law enforcement. 

When a violent crime occurs the first suspects that police investigate are often those closest to the victim. Why should it be any different when it comes to financial and fraudulent crimes? If my spouse can't murder me under criminal law why should they be able to produce fraudulent documents, forge my signature, steal tens of thousands of dollars and solely, under the protection of the law of marriage, be told they committed no crime? 

I believe the time for change is long over due. At some point, members of our society must learn that there are consequences for their actions. I urge everyone not just to sign this petition but also to utilize the greatest reform tool available to you on this issue – a letter to your legislators. Summarize a case in a one-page narrative with the general points of the fraud and the specific negative responses received from law enforcement. Or if you have not been a direct victim of fraud write a letter on behalf of a victim you know and share their story. Your legislators cannot help initiate reform if they do not know about the issue. An example of my story can be accessed by clicking on this link.