What sentence will I receive for fraud conspiracy?
There are general sentencing guidelines for fraud offences, but the exact sentence you receive on conviction for conspiracy to commit fraud will depend on various factors, including:
- The type of fraud
- The value of the money or assets involved in the fraud
- Your level of involvement in the conspiracy e.g. whether you played a minor, subordinate role or a major, controlling role
- Your level of awareness that you were contributing to a criminal conspiracy involving fraud
- The length of time over which the offences took place
- Whether you plead guilty and, if so, at what stage of proceedings
- Any previous convictions on your record
The maximum sentence for conspiracy to defraud is 10 years’ custody.
Fraud defence case study
In 2016, our serious fraud solicitors successfully defended one of four co-defendants accused of large-scale tax fraud.
The defendants, who operated two Indian restaurants in East London, were alleged to have kept for themselves money that was charged to customers for VAT. The money in question totalled £600,000, meaning the defendants faced serious penalties if convicted.
After a trial that lasted many weeks, our client was acquitted of substantive offences, being sentenced for only one count of cheating the public revenue. Our client was the only defendant who was acquitted, with the other co-defendants receiving much more serious penalties.
Read more.
How to fund your defence against fraud charges
Securing police station representation for serious fraud offences
When arrested or interviewed by the police, you are legally entitled to receive advice from a trained lawyer free of charge. This is not means-tested and you can either use the duty solicitor available at the police station or you can select your own legal representation, such as one of our criminal fraud lawyers.
When facing charges for a serious offence, such as fraud, we strongly recommended retaining out specialist fraud lawyers from the outset. This ensures that your case is handled in the most effective way from the start, making it more likely that you will avoid charges and allowing you to have the strongest possible defence if you case does later end up in court.
Legal aid for court proceedings for conspiracy to commit fraud
If your case is due to be prosecuted in a Magistrates’ Court, you can apply to the Criminal Defence Service for a Representation Order (a.k.a. ‘legal aid’). You will need to pass a means test to demonstrate that you cannot fund your own defence and also a merit test to show that it is in the ‘Interests of Justice’ for you to have a legal defence.
If your case is due to be prosecuted in Crown Court, you can also have some of the costs of your defence funded by the state. You will need to undergo a means test that will be used to decide how much you will need to contribute towards funding your defence.
A key point to bear in mind is that, if you are found not guilty, any payments you have made towards your legal defence costs will be repaid with interest.
Find out more about funding your legal defence.
Why choose our fraud lawyers for your case?
Conspiracy Solicitor is a trading style of Bird and Co Solicitors LLP, a firm that has been established in the East Midlands for over 30 years and works with clients in relation to serious fraud offences across England and Wales.
Our highly respected criminal defence team, led by Senior Partner Christopher Milligan, has over 200 years of combined experience, with a strong track record of success in serious fraud cases.
We are accredited by the Law Society for Criminal Litigation, recognising our expertise in all areas of criminal prosecutions.
Our fraud solicitors understand that facing charges for fraud is often confusing and deeply worrying, so we aim to provide honest, straightforward legal advice to make your situation completely clear to you and help you understand all of your legal options.
Our experience and expertise in serious fraud cases means, we can find the right strategy to help you build the strongest possible defence and secure a fair outcome, no matter what your circumstances.
How to transfer your case to our specialist serious fraud lawyers
Fraud charges are highly complicated and serious, meaning that having specialist legal advice is essential. Most duty solicitors and even many specialist criminal defence lawyers do not have the specialist expertise needed to ensure your case is handled effectively.
Before you are charged or granted legal aid to cover the cost of your defence, you can simply choose to have us represent you and have the cost covered by legal aid.
If you have already been granted a Representation Order to fund your defence, however, there will usually need to be exceptional circumstances for you to be allowed to transfer your case to our serious fraud solicitors and still have the cost covered by legal aid.
These circumstances include:
- Where your current solicitor needs to withdraw for professional reasons such as a conflict of interest or personal reasons such as serious illness.
- The relationship between you and your existing legal team has irretrievably broken down e.g. your solicitor gave you wrong advice that hurt your defence.
- Any other “substantial compelling” reason that a judge is willing to accept. However, this is generally a very hard condition to meet.
Find out more about transferring your case to Conspiracy Solicitors.
Contact our serious fraud solicitors now
For immediate expert legal representation from our team of specialist criminal defence solicitors and dedicated fraud conspiracy defence lawyers, use our simple contact form to request a call back or contact us on one of the following numbers:
- Call 0333 009 5968 – for standard enquiries during office hours
- WhatsApp 07535 215140 – for 24/7 emergency support including police station representation
