In 2024, over 13,000 cases of fraud in Utah were reported to the state’s Bureau of Criminal Identification. That’s a little over 371 cases per 100,000 people. Fraud is a common crime in Utah, and there are a lot of different ways to get charged with it.
If you are facing fraud charges in Utah, here are some things you should do.
This is the first thing you should do when you are charged with any crime in Utah. It doesn’t matter how intelligent or educated you are. You are not likely to outsmart the criminal justice system. Most people you deal with police officers, prosecutors, and the judge are not there to help you. Their job is to make sure justice is served.
Anything you say can hurt you in a court of law, even when you think that you’re making yourself look like a better person. A competent attorney can help you navigate the legal process. They’ll say the right things on your behalf, file the right paperwork, and help you get the best possible outcome for your case.
It’s important to know how much trouble you can get into if you commit a fraud crime in Utah. Fraud is considered a crime against property, and there at least 33 different laws that cover it.
The severity of punishment you can face depends on the type of charge you get. Fraud crimes in Utah range from a class B misdemeanor to a second degree felony. Here’s what these types of charges mean:
These charges are the worst case scenario. If your best option is to plead guilty, a good attorney can negotiate less time for you. In many cases, you may be able to get probation instead. This means you stay out of jail or prison, but you will be subjected to other restrictions.
You should understand what actions are considered fraud in Utah and how much trouble you can get for them. This can help you prevent committing the crime in the first place.
There are a lot of ways you can commit fraud in Utah. Here are a few of the most common.
Forgery is a type of fraud that involves writing. Essentially, it’s when you alter the writing of someone else or you create a piece of writing as if you were another person, with the intent of defrauding someone.
For example, let’s say you create a document that looks like a piece of state legislation, signed by Utah Governor Spencer Cox. That would be considered forgery, which is a third-degree felony.
Forgery is also what you would be charged with in Utah if you create counterfeit money. If you are caught with counterfeit money, it is considered possession of forged writing, which is also a third-degree felony.
In Utah, it’s illegal to buy anything with a financial transaction card — like a debit or credit card — that is either expired, revoked, stolen, or otherwise fraudulently obtained. This crime also includes spending a credit line that isn’t yours by either $500 or 50% of the line of credit.
The severity of charges you would face depends on the amount of money you either spent or tried to spend:
In Utah, you can get charged with insurance fraud if you make any kind of false statement — either written or oral — to an insurance company with the intent of getting something from it. That thing can include getting a policy that you would not be able to get if you were honest, a lack of a higher premium that you should be paying, or a payment or benefit that you don’t deserve.
The severity of the charge for insurance fraud depends on how much you are trying to get from the insurer. It ranges from a class B misdeanor to a second-degree felony.
You can get charged with deceptive business practices in Utah for one of the following actions:
For example, let’s say you’re a business owner who sells screws to hardware stores. Because you sell large quantities, you decide to sell them by the pound. However, you use a scale that doubles the weight of everything you measure. This would make it so you would get more money than what the screws are actually worth.
This crime is a class B misdemeanor.
The quality of your lawyer matters a lot. You want someone by your side who has experience with fraud crimes. That means they will have a lot of knowledge about what you need to do to get the best outcome possible.
Some good lawyers who can assist you with fraud charges include Michael Holje, Staci Visser, Ann Taliaferro, Mark Moffat, and James Bradshaw. All of them have years of experience behind them, and they would love to help you out.
Tell us about your case to get started, and we’ll reach out to you!
