COMMON THEFT CRIMES HANDLED BY BUCHANAN DEFENSE LAW

 

• BAD CHECKS

  • ​NRS 205.130 defined the issuing of bad checks when "...a person who "willfully, with an intent to defraud, draws or passes a check or draft to obtain: (a) Money; (b) Delivery of other valuable property; (c) Services; (d) The use of property; or (e) Credit extended by any licensed gaming establishment ("casino markers"), drawn upon any real or fictitious person, bank, firm, partnership, corporation or depositary, when the person has insufficient money, property or credit with the drawee of the instrument to pay it in full upon its presentation, is guilty" of a crime. 

 

• BURGLARY

  • NRS 205.060 defines burglary as "...a person who, by day or night, enters any house, room, apartment, tenement, shop, warehouse, store, mill, barn, stable, outhouse or other building, tent, vessel, vehicle, vehicle trailer, semitrailer or house trailer, airplane, glider, boat or railroad car, with the intent to commit grand or petit larceny, assault or battery on any person or any felony, or to obtain money or property by false pretenses, is guilty of burglary." (See: NRS 205.060)

  • ​i.e.: The act of entering a building or vehicle with the intent to steal something inside, commit assault or battery on someone inside, commit any felony inside, or obtain money or property by false pretenses inside.

 

• CARJACKING

  • ​The State of Nevada does not have a law that specifically defines the crime of carjacking. Rather, "carjacking" is generally a series of crimes, including but not limited to: grand larceny of a motor vehicle (in taking or attempting to take the car); robbery (via the unlawful use of force, violence or intimidation to take the car); assault and battery (the unlawful use [or attempted use] of force on the driver or passengers to take the car); and/or murder or attempted murder (if the suspect tried to kill the victim [or else acted in a way that would foreseeably result in their death] to take the car).

 

• CASINO MARKERS

  • Casino Marker laws  are addressed in NRS 205.130. ​Casinos in Las Vegas will often offer credit to gaming patrons which are referred to as “markers.”  These markers are essentially a promissory note to acknowledge what is owed by the patron. If the gambler fails to pay the marker back in full, the casino can not only sue them, they can also have them charged with a crime and arrested.

 

• CREDIT CARD FRAUD

  • ​In general terms, credit card fraud occurs when someone intentionally uses or attempts to use a credit or debit card in an unlawful manner. Any deliberate act of forging, altering, stealing, or otherwise misusing a credit or debit card qualifies as credit card fraud in Nevada. See NRS 205.

 

• EMBEZZLEMENT

  • ​NRS 205.300 defines embezzlement as "Any bailee of any money, goods or property, who converts it to his or her own use, with the intent to steal it or to defraud the owner or owners thereof and any agent, manager or clerk of any person, corporation, association or partnership, or any person with whom any money, property or effects have been deposited or entrusted, who uses or appropriates the money, property or effects or any part thereof in any manner or for any other purpose than that for which they were deposited or entrusted, is guilty of embezzlement."

 

• EXTORTION

  • ​NRS 205.320 defines extortion as when a person, with the intent to gain money or property or to influence a public officer or to do any wrongful act, threatens to:

    • expose any secret;

    • expose or impute to any person any deformity or disgrace;

    • publish any libel;

    • injure a person or property; or

    • accuse any person of a crime.

 

• FALSE IMPRISONMENT

  • NRS 205.450 defines "personating another" as someone who falsely represents themselves as someone else in any of the following circumstances:

    • getting married

    • making a real estate transaction

    • confessing to a crime or civil judgment

    • acting as bail or surety in any legal proceeding

    • doing any other act in the course of a lawsuit or proceeding that compromises another's financial interests

 

• FAKE IDS

  • NRS 205.460 and NRS 205.465 make it "unlawful for a person to possess, sell or transfer any document or personal identifying information for the purpose of establishing a false status, occupation, membership, license or identity for himself or herself or any other person."

 

• FORGERY

  • ​NRS 205.085 defines forgery as the "false making, counterfeiting and the alteration, erasure or obliteration of a genuine instrument in whole or in part, the false making or counterfeiting of the signature of a party or witness, real or fictitious, and the placing or connecting together with intent to defraud, of different parts or the whole of several genuine instruments."

 

• ​FRAUDULENT CONVEYANCE

  • ​NRS 205.330 states that a Fraudulent Conveyance by a debtor in Nevada occurs when people owing a debt ("debtors") either sell, give away, conceal, or move their assets for the purpose of preventing their lenders ("creditors") from accessing the same.  Examples of the property in these cases are real estate, vehicles, and jewelry.

  • NRS 205.355 states that a Fraudulent Conveyance by a judgment debtor occurs when defendants in a lawsuit ("judgment debtors") either sell, give away, conceal, or move their property so they don't have to use it to pay the plaintiffs in the case ("creditor").  

 

• GRAND LARCENY

  • NRS 205.220 defines Grand Larceny as when a person "intentionally steals, takes and carries away, leads away or drives away" property owned by another person without that person's consent and when the property is valued at $650 or more.

 

• GRAND THEFT AUTO

  • ​NRS 205.228 defines grand larceny of a motor vehicle as when someone "intentionally steals, takes and carries away, drives away or otherwise removes a motor vehicle owned by another person."

 

• INSURANCE FRAUD

  • ​Insurance Fraud is covered under NRS 422, which make it illegal for a doctor or other medical professional to deceive a health insurance company in order to get more money. Penalties can include prison, fines and license revocation. Typical offenses include:

    • Accepting “kickbacks” for prescribing certain drugs

    • Double-billing” for appointments and operations

    • Charging for medical tests that were never done

    • Lying about costs for medical procedures

    • Falsifying medical records for the purpose of justifying unnecessary procedures

 

• MEDICARE/MEDICAID FRAUD

 

• MORTGAGE FRAUD

  • ​NRS addresses Mortgage Fraud, and explains that a fraudulent mortgage occurs when a person deliberately carries out (or tries to carry out) a dishonest mortgage fraud transaction. The types of suspects in mortgage fraud schemes are often one of two groups of people:

    • People trying to buy or hold onto homes, or

    • People trying to sell homes or mortgages.

 

• PETTY LARCENY

  • ​NRS 205.240 defines Petit Larceny as when someone "intentionally steals, takes and carries away, leads away or drives away" any property owned by another person without their consent when the property is valued at less than $650."

 

• POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY/VEHICLE

  • NRS 205.275 states that "A person commits an offense involving stolen property if the person, for his or her own gain or to prevent the owner from again possessing the owner's property, buys, receives, possesses or withholds property: (a) Knowing that it is stolen property; or (b) Under such circumstances as should have caused a reasonable person to know that it is stolen property."

 

• SHOPLIFTING

  • NRS 205.220 and  NRS 205.240 cover Retail theft (or "shoplifting"), which is a type of larceny in which the property stolen is store merchandise.

 

PENALTIES

 

Being convicted of a theft crime in Nevada can result in some seriously burdensome consequences. Penalties for offenders include high fines and even prison time, though many find the real punishment follows whatever sentence they may serve. Passing a background check and getting a job after being convicted of a theft crime can be unduly troublesome. Even minor offenders can be overlooked for positions they are more than qualified for if a prospective employer sees a theft conviction on their record. 

 

Buchanan Defense Law is highly experienced when it comes to fighting for clients charged with theft-related offenses. We have helped countless individuals in getting their charges lowered or even dismissed altogether so their records stay clean.