The Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices statutes in Arizona are very broad in scope and encompass a variety of white-collar crimes. If you've been charged with this offense, you should retain a seasoned criminal defense attorney to represent you. The penalties for crimes under these statutes can be serious.

What does "fraudulent schemes and artifices" mean?

The Arizona Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices statute is found in the Arizona Revised Statutes Title 13 Section 2310. The statute states that “any person who, pursuant to a scheme or artifice to defraud, knowingly obtains any benefit by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises or material omissions is guilty of a class 2 felony.”

The statute also defines “scheme or artifice to defraud" as “a scheme or artifice to deprive a person of the intangible right of honest services,” which is not particularly helpful if you don’t know what “scheme” or “artifice” means. Merriam-Webster defines "scheme" as "a plan or program of action, especially a crafty or secret one" and "artifice" as a "trick" or a "false or insincere behavior."

So, in plain language, anyone who uses a dishonest and intentional plan to mislead another person to gain some material benefit from them can be charged under the Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices statute. We often just refer to this crime as "fraud".

What types of offenses are considered fraudulent schemes and artifices?

The term “fraud” can be used to refer to a wide range of offenses, and many involve dishonestly manipulating systems to benefit themselves. These types of schemes are referred to as white-collar crime because they are often perpetrated by professionals. Because the statutory language is so broad, fraud can occur in many areas of life, but it often involves financial dealings, real estate transactions, investments, and insurance claims.

The following schemes can be prosecuted in Arizona under the Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices statutes:

• Insurance Fraud. Insurance fraud includes any attempt to deceive an insurance company into paying out a false or exaggerated claim.
• Identity Theft. Identity theft occurs when you use someone else’s identity to gain benefits in their name.
• Check and Credit Card Fraud. Check and credit card fraud occurs when someone uses a credit or debit card, card number, or check to fraudulently obtain money or property.
• Tax Fraud. Tax fraud occurs when someone falsifies information on their tax return to avoid paying the full amount of taxes owed.
• Ponzi Schemes. Ponzi schemes are a type of fraud where someone solicits new investors by promising high financial returns not available through traditional investments and then distributes the new investor’s investments to the original investors.
• Pyramid Schemes. Similar to Ponzi schemes, the money collected from newer investors in pyramid schemes is paid to earlier investors. Then the newer investors are also convinced to recruit even more investors through the payment of recruitment commissions.
• Investment Fraud. Investment fraud occurs when someone uses false or fraudulent claims to solicit investments or sells forged or counterfeit securities.

Some fraudulent schemes and artifices are more commonly known as scams and are often perpetrated through email or elsewhere on the internet. Some common scams include:

• Advance Fee Scams. An advance fee scheme occurs when a victim pays some money to someone in anticipation of later receiving something worth more money, but the victim never receives what was promised.
• Nigerian Letter or “419” Scams. Nigerian letter frauds are a combination of impersonation fraud and an advance fee scheme. A scam letter or email is sent from someone claiming to be a government official in Nigeria offering the recipient a percentage of millions of dollars if they provide a small amount of money to get the funds out of Nigeria.
• Reverse Mortgage Scams. Reverse mortgage scams occur when real estate, financial services, and other companies steal the equity from the property of senior citizens or to use these seniors to unwittingly aid in stealing equity from another property.
• Romance Scams. Romance scams involve someone adopting a fake online identity to develop fake romantic relationships, and then use the relationship to manipulate and/or steal money from the targets.

These are just a few of the various types of fraudulent schemes and artifices that could lead to a criminal charge. The FBI maintains a list of common scams and crimes, but a scheme does not have to fall into any pre-existing category to be prosecuted. Rather, if the elements of the crime listed in the Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices statutes in Arizona are met, you can be charged.

What are the possible penalties for fraudulent schemes and artifices?

A first-time Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices statutes in Arizona Class 2 felony offense, and the penalties can range from probation to a 12.5-year prison sentence. Repeat offenders and/or people with an unrelated prior criminal history can face much higher prison sentences.

However, if you are convicted under the Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices statute for an offense that involved a benefit with a value of $100,000 or more, you will not be eligible for probation or release from confinement until you have served whatever sentence the judge orders. This means that you will receive a prison-only sentence.

How to defend against fraudulent schemes and artifices charges

While the penalties for a conviction may be harsh, you should not despair if you are charged with this crime. Experienced criminal defense attorneys know the best tactics for defending people facing these charges.

To be convicted under the Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices statutes in Arizona, the prosecution must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. That you used a scheme or artifice to defraud.
2. That you knowingly obtained a benefit by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises, or material omissions.

A skilled criminal defense attorney will review the facts of your case and determine the best way to argue that these elements have not been met.

First, your lawyer can argue that you never had the intention to defraud anyone by showing that you did not create a scheme or artifice to obtain a benefit. For example, if you are accused of investment fraud, but you truly believed that you were providing a legitimate investment opportunity because someone else had lied to you, you would not be guilty of fraud yourself.

If you didn’t receive or gain any money or other object of value, your lawyer can also argue that you didn’t receive any benefit from the transaction. Since an element of the offense is that you obtained a benefit, if you didn’t get anything out of the transaction, you would not be guilty of violating the statute.

If you did receive a benefit, a third defense strategy is to argue that the alleged victim consented to give you the benefit and/or that you did not obtain it through false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises, or material omissions.

If you’ve been charged with a crime under the Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices statutes in Arizona, you need a criminal defense attorney who knows how to make these arguments on your side.