Miller Johnson’s Fraud and Embezzlement Recovery practice group is the first place to turn when there is any suspicion of employee, partner or vendor theft, embezzlement, dishonesty or fraud. Our team has worked to uncover financial fraud by employees, third parties, vendors and other insiders involving Fortune 500 companies, closely held family entities and individuals, including the elderly or infirm.

Miller Johnson attorneys have represented companies and individuals who have suffered economic loss due to embezzlement by an employee, assisted in determining the loss and protecting company assets in employee separation matters, advised company owners on matters relating to criminal prosecution of their employees, and have secured restitution relating to other crimes against companies.

We have obtained judgments against employees who were stealing directly from their employers or making money in other illegal ways, such as by stealing business opportunities or information, or forming sham or “dummy” corporations to illegally funnel products and money. We act quickly so we are able to either “tie up” or recover needed assets.

Our team consists of experienced attorneys in all the necessary disciplines for these types of complex cases, including employment, bankruptcy and debtor/creditor rights, criminal and trial law. The group assists in all stages of an investigation, from forensic accounting and law enforcement involvement to employee interviews and discipline. The attorneys on our team can help conduct the necessary investigation without violating any employee laws and privacy rights while still obtaining the necessary evidence to terminate the employee and collect damages through civil judgments and restitution in any criminal prosecution.

We will see every case through to potential civil litigation to recover damages and/or criminal prosecution to garner restitution. Some specific examples of our experience are:

• Our team represented a large national equipment lessor on a multi-million dollar equipment lease, uncovering a significant equipment leasing fraud involving approximately $100 million in equipment leases. Our attorneys were able to obtain the immediate appointment of a receiver and, subsequently, represented the receiver as special counsel in expanding the receivership to include the principals and affiliated entities involved in the fraudulent enterprise. We also assisted and worked with law enforcement on a parallel government investigation.
• When a large company suspected one of its senior financial personnel of embezzling from company coffers, our team stepped in on an emergency basis to quickly initiate litigation and ultimately resolve the matter by recovering hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our experienced team interacted with financial institutions, forensic accountants, law enforcement and private investigators to successfully resolve the situation.
• A closely held family organization turned to Miller Johnson when the owner feared that a trusted financial officer was stealing money. We recovered all of the embezzled money through emergency civil litigation to locate and uncover financial and property assets to satisfy the judgment. The team also worked closely with law enforcement and prosecutors in obtaining an order of restitution in the criminal proceedings.
• Our team represented an elderly couple when a caretaker and helper abused his position of trust by taking advantage of them through unlawful and inappropriate use of credit cards, checks and bank accounts. A significant civil judgment and order of restitution in a criminal proceeding was obtained on behalf of the clients.

Miller Johnson’s Fraud & Embezzlement Recovery attorneys believe a swift, appropriate response favorably affects the final outcome. We also work with clients to design remedial measures to comply with and mitigate future risk.