White Collar Crimes

Follow the Money 

They say that money makes the world go ’round. While that may be up for debate, it is indisputable that money motivates a whole universe of criminal behavior. From armed robbery to theft of fine art, the aim of perhaps most illegal activity other than crimes of passion is money.  

“White-collar” crimes are no different in that respect – they are committed for financial gain. Other kinds of criminal activity involve violence – actual or threatened – while white-collar offenses entail depriving others of their wealth through deception – by subterfuge, swindling, or false promises.  

Literally everyone is a potential victim of white-collar crime. White-collar offenses cost companies, individuals, and investors billions of dollars every year. And punishments can be harsh.  

Since the federal government most often prosecutes white-collar offenses, the resources arrayed against white-collar defendants are formidable. That’s one reason you need a fearless courtroom warrior like Dan Cogdell. A well-funded prosecution by the SEC, the IRS, the FBI, or even the Secret Service or USPS won’t frighten Dan and his team. They’ve fought in this arena for decades and emerged victorious.  

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the national savings and loan crisis hit Texas, spurring a groundbreaking slew of prosecutions aimed at white-collar defendants. Dan went to work, representing the owner of Continental Savings and Loan and receiving a “not guilty” verdict at trial. He went on to win acquittals for several other clients in later years.  

For instance, in the Oxford Funding Trial, not only did Dan obtain an acquittal for his client on all charges, but both the lead prosecutor and the lead agent for the Government were held in contempt. Following the collapse of Enron, Dan was neck-deep in the resulting criminal prosecutions. He was the only attorney to win his client’s acquittal on all charges at their first trial.  

Another equally important reason to have the Cogdell Law Firm on your side is that white-collar cases are, by their nature, exceedingly complex. Simplifying that complexity to a jury is vital to a successful defense. Dan and his team develop a strategy from the outset, identifying how the prosecution intends to prove its case and crafting the means to destroy it.  

Sometimes, it just makes sense to resolve a case without a trial. Dan’s focused, strategic defenses can minimize the adverse impact of the worst cases, shaving decades off of a sentence or saving millions in restitution. 

The Stanford International Bank prosecutions arising out of a $7 billion Ponzi scheme resulted in a 110-year sentence for the bank’s leader, Allen Stanford. Dan was able to negotiate a considerably better deal for his client, the bank’s Chief Investment Officer: a mere three years. Significantly, Dan’s client did not have to give testimony against co-defendants to receive this deal.  

In addition to the not guilty verdict one of his clients received, Dan Cogdell represented another high-ranking officer at Enron. As in the Stanford case, Cogdell’s client received the lowest sentence of any of the defendants and served less than two years. Moreover, Dan’s client was not required to pay tens of millions of dollars in restitution. Many of his co-defendants received sentences approaching twenty years and forfeited all of their financial assets.  

Defendants in white-collar cases often are well-respected members of the community. They often learn that they will be targeted in a prosecution before any arrest is made. This gives them the opportunity to hire counsel early and, if they are wise enough to hire the Cogdell Law Firm, allows their defense counsel to develop their focused strategies and begin the defense preparation even before the prosecution is ready to proceed.