White Collar Crime Defense

White collar cases rarely begin with an arrest. They begin quietly — a letter from an investigator, a subpoena for records, a call from a forensic auditor, or a request to “come in and clear a few things up.” By the time charges are filed, the government has often been building its case for months, gathering documents, emails, and bank records while the target has no idea how much is already known. The most important defense decisions are frequently made in that window, before a single charge exists, and they are made better with counsel than without.

Boyadzhyan Legal Shield defends individuals and professionals throughout Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley who are under investigation for or charged with financial crimes — fraud, embezzlement, forgery, grand theft, identity theft, money laundering, bribery, and related offenses. Founding attorney Knarik Boyadzhyan began her career as a paralegal in the United States Department of Justice's Violent and Organized Crime Section and went on to serve as a Deputy Public Defender. That combination — inside a federal enforcement office and across the counsel table from the government — means she understands how these cases are assembled, document by document, and where the assembly breaks down.

White collar charges turn almost entirely on one question: what did you intend? These are not cases about who did an act — the paperwork usually shows that plainly — but about whether an honest mistake, a business dispute, a bookkeeping error, or a good-faith belief that money was owed has been recast as a crime. Because intent is provable only by inference, the same facts can support very different stories, and the story the government tells is not the only one available.

We approach every matter with discretion. Reputations, professional licenses, security clearances, and careers are often at greater risk than jail, and a white collar accusation can do lasting damage long before a court ever weighs in. From the first contact, our focus is protecting your record, your livelihood, and your name — quietly where possible, and aggressively when the case demands it.

The most valuable work in a white collar case often happens before anyone is charged. Fraud and financial-crime investigations are slow and document-heavy: agents and auditors gather bank records, subpoena emails, interview co-workers, and assemble a timeline long before they approach the person at the center of it. If you have received a target or subject letter, a grand-jury or investigative subpoena, a request for documents, or an invitation to a “voluntary” interview, you are already inside that process — and what you do next can determine whether charges are ever filed.

This is precisely where experienced counsel changes outcomes. A defense attorney can communicate with investigators and prosecutors on your behalf, so you are not answering questions alone; can present exculpatory documents and context the government has not seen; can invoke privileges and narrow overbroad demands for records; and can, in the right case, persuade the government not to charge, to charge a lesser offense, or to resolve the matter civilly or through restitution rather than prosecution. None of that is possible once statements have been given or documents surrendered without thought.

Discretion is part of the defense. White collar clients frequently have careers, licenses, businesses, and reputations that a public accusation can damage before any court rules. We handle these matters quietly — managing communications, avoiding unnecessary exposure, and protecting your name while the facts are still being sorted out. The instinct to “explain and cooperate” to make the problem go away is understandable and often costly; the better instinct is to get advice first.

White collar conduct can be prosecuted by the state of California, by the federal government, or sometimes by both, and which sovereign takes the case dramatically changes the stakes. State cases are brought by the Los Angeles County District Attorney — including its specialized fraud and major-crimes units — under the California Penal Code, and are heard in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Federal cases are brought by the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, headquartered in Los Angeles, under federal statutes carrying their own, often harsher, sentencing framework.

The investigating agency usually signals where a case is heading. Federal financial crimes are worked by the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in securities matters, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) in tax and money-laundering matters, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in mail-fraud cases, and Homeland Security Investigations in others. State and local fraud is investigated by the District Attorney's investigators, the California Department of Insurance in insurance-fraud cases, the Franchise Tax Board and CDTFA in state tax matters, and local police financial-crimes detectives.

The dividing lines are practical: cases that cross state lines, move through the banking or mail systems, involve federal programs or agencies, or reach large dollar amounts tend to draw federal attention, while locally contained fraud, embezzlement, and theft are typically handled by the state. Federal exposure is generally more serious — determinate guidelines, restitution, and limited parole — so recognizing early which track a matter is on is a core part of the defense.

For residents of the San Fernando Valley, a state financial-crime case will generally be filed and prosecuted in the Valley's own courthouse rather than downtown, while a federal case is heard at the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. We defend matters on both tracks and, where parallel state and federal or civil and criminal proceedings exist, coordinate them so that a step in one does not damage your position in another.

California punishes financial crimes largely by the amount involved. The line that separates petty theft from grand theft — and misdemeanor from felony exposure — is generally $950 in value; above it, offenses such as grand theft under Penal Code § 487 can be charged as felonies carrying up to three years in custody. Many white collar offenses are “wobblers,” meaning the prosecutor may file them as misdemeanors or felonies, and how a case is charged is itself something a defense can influence.

Restitution is central and often exceeds the fine. Courts routinely order repayment of the full claimed loss as a condition of any resolution, and the amount the government asserts is frequently inflated or double-counted — making the loss calculation a battleground in its own right, not a foregone conclusion. Fines, probation conditions, and forfeiture of assets can accompany a conviction.

The provision that most changes the stakes in a large California case is the aggravated white collar crime enhancement, Penal Code § 186.11. When a person commits a pattern of related felony fraud or embezzlement offenses that results in the loss of more than $100,000, the enhancement adds additional prison time on a sliding scale that grows with the amount taken, and where the loss exceeds $500,000 the added term is greater still. It also authorizes the court to freeze and levy assets to secure restitution, sometimes before trial — which can paralyze a person's finances during the case. Because the enhancement requires both a qualifying loss threshold and a “pattern” of two or more related felonies against one or more victims, whether it applies at all is often contestable, and defeating it can matter as much as the underlying charge. This enhancement is barely explained on most defense websites; understanding exactly when it attaches is one of the most important things counsel can do in a significant fraud case.

Beyond the sentence, a financial-crime conviction — because it is a “crime of moral turpitude” — carries collateral consequences that often outlast any custody. Professional licenses are directly at risk: doctors, nurses, lawyers, accountants (CPAs), contractors, real-estate agents and brokers, insurance producers, and other licensees are generally required to report charges or convictions to their boards, which can suspend or revoke the credential the career depends on. A conviction can also affect immigration status, security clearances, the right to possess firearms, and future employment and lending. Where a conviction cannot be avoided, we work to structure the outcome — the charge, the level, and the record — to limit these downstream effects, and in appropriate cases pursue expungement under Penal Code § 1203.4 after probation.

Boyadzhyan Legal Shield is based in Encino on Ventura Boulevard and defends white collar and financial-crime matters throughout the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles — Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, Van Nuys, Woodland Hills, Studio City, Northridge, and the surrounding communities. Many of our clients are professionals and business owners for whom a discreet, local defense matters as much as a skilled one.

If you are under investigation or charged with a state financial crime in the Valley, your case is most likely to be prosecuted at the Van Nuys Courthouse, which handles felony and misdemeanor matters for the San Fernando Valley. Knowing the local court, the prosecutors who staff its fraud and general felony calendars, and how these cases actually resolve in the Valley is an advantage that a downtown-only or out-of-area firm cannot offer. A federal white collar case, by contrast, is heard at the United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles — a different court, a different set of rules, and a different set of prosecutors — and we defend matters on both tracks.

Whether your matter is a quiet inquiry that has not yet surfaced or a filed felony, the first step is the same: a confidential conversation about what you are facing and what can be done. We appear in Van Nuys and the surrounding Los Angeles County courts regularly, and we handle every case with the discretion these matters require.