SERIOUS FRAUD & CRIMINAL LAW SPECIALIST
Jeremy Bioletti law's Top 5 legal rules
1. Do not plead guilty.
2. Do not talk to the police about your case.
3. Do not try and get it over with.
4. Do not panic.
5. Remember your situation can be solved.
Quick Legal Tips
When you first go to court you can ask for your case to be adjourned for two weeks to get proper legal advice.
Depending on the seriousness of the charge you can choose to be tried by a judge or jury.
If you are detained or arrested by the police you must be given a call to a lawyer, shut up and make that call. My number is 0274870347.
Five Ways I Can Help You!
Here are five ways I can help you:
1. Liase with the Police on your behalf so they don't arrest you in front of the neighbours.
2. Attend with you at the Police station so you do not confess to something you haven't done.
3. Negotiate Police bail so you are not locked up all weekend to go to court on monday.
4. Help you find which courtroom you need to appear in so you don't get arrested for failing to appear.
5. Talk to the Judge on your behalf about your personal circumstances.
Am I Going to Jail?
One of the most common questions I get asked is “Am I going to go to jail?”. Often the person will have no previous history with the Police or Courts. Generally there are three types of cases that attract prison sentences. They are serious drug offending, serious dishonesty offending and serious violent offending.
The law has for a long time that these types of offending attract what is called deterrent sentencing. In other words the main issue is to make an example of the person, to stop him or her from doing it again. It is also done to prevent others from doing the offending by showing what happens to people who do. This is called general deterrence. This means that a person’s individual and personal circumstances are less likely to be taken into account in reducing their sentence.
For a person to be eligible for home detention, which is a bracelet at home, they must be in a position where they are going to receive a sentence of two years imprisonment or less. A guilty plea at first instance attracts a sentence discount of up to a quarter or 25%.
I specialise in all areas of Serious, Complex Fraud
We act on all allegations of serious fraud and theft. Fraud or theft committed as an employee is serious no matter what the amount of money it involves. Fraud at the border, in relation to passports or applications to enter the country, is also regarded seriously by the courts. Immigration fraud or passport Fraud is in my experience a very technical area involving quite complicated matters of proof for a prosecution to succeed. It can involve the authorities having to obtain evidence from overseas which can make the task of proving the case against you quite difficult. Tax fraud whether GST, Paye or income, can be extremely complicated to prove. I recently successfully dealt with a tax fraud allegation relating to $4 million dollars of GST and that particular case took about three years to resolve. The Serious Fraud Office is the NZ’s specialist fraud investigation unit and generally cases brought to court by them are of a high standard. Significant jail sentences can result from major fraud and a specialist defence lawyer is needed to successfully defend cases prosecuted by them. I recently successfully defended a prosecution by the Serious Fraud Office which centred around pokie funding.
The different types of fraud and theft are wide ranging but the underlying legal principles are identical so we can deal with any type of fraud or theft allegation. The key is being able to remember large factual scenarios and apply the relevant law. Feel free to contact me for advice.
Price/Costs:
We aim to make our services affordable so our clients get the representation they need.
Options are an hourly rate or an agreed fixed fee basis.
Jeremy Bioletti's
Quick Legal Advice:
How to Choose Your Lawyer?
Be wary of the lawyer who says he can get you off the charge without knowing anything about it. Look for a lawyer who is nosy and wants to know what happened. Sometimes the lawyer who says “no problem I can get you off this very serious charge” will change their minds just before you are about to be arraigned before the jury and say I think you should plead guilty. A trained monkey can tell people to plead guilty. You might be better off with a lawyer who appears a little pessimistic but when the bullets start to fly doesn't wave the white flag.
Four ways you can avoid a conviction.
Firstly the allegation against you may fall within the criteria for the Police issuing you a written warning. Secondly you may be charged with an offence but offered diversion. That is a police process where if you plead guilty and make amends the Prosecution will withdraw the charge against you. Thirdly you can apply to the Court for a discharge without conviction. This can be imposed if the consequences of the offending outweigh the seriousness of the offence. And fourthly there is the old fashioned way where you plead not guilty at trial and secure an acquittal. This results when the case against you is not proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Thinking clearly about the potential for conviction.
It is important to consider all the possible consequences when facing a serious criminal charge. For instance, it is not simply a question of staying out of jail so that you can retain employment. There is also the issue of the impact an alternative sentence such as home detention will have on your job. Will an employer want to have an employee who is electronically monitored. Will a sentence of community detention allow you to work freely during the day and be on an electronic curfew at night. These are the types of issues you need to manage within the context of the prosecution against you. It is always better to try to sort out these issues before they become an issue rather than afterwards. This is one of the major benefits of competent legal crisis management.
Who decides the outcome of your legal case?
Often people think that it’s the police who decide whether they have committed a crime. If they confess to the crime they think that’s it, theres nothing more to be done. Firstly sometimes people don't know what they are actually confessing to. This can be so in complex cases. Obviously if it’s an assault case its more straight forward. In fact the place that determines guilt or innocence is the Court. They also determine what someone has actually done and importantly they determine how the matter is to be sorted out i.e. what sort of punishment will be handed out. The power of the Court is illustrated by the fact that a person can be discharged by the court without a conviction even when they have committed the offence.
Considering the evidence.
The art of defending a client against criminal charges is being able to predict the likely outcome on the evidence. Sometimes this allows you to make a tactical decision at the earliest opportunity. This in turn can lead to a result being achieved which would not be possible at a later stage in the case. Rather like that old saying “don't cut off your nose to spite your face”. In other cases because they are so serious it can often be an all or nothing approach.
Choosing a good lawyer.
It's helpful to have an experienced criminal lawyer on your case for a number of reasons. Importantly, a real trial lawyer can look at your case and the evidence and advise you straight away about what would potentially happen to you down the track at a trial. Would it be good or would it be evil? So that armed with this knowledge, from someone you can trust, who has your interests truly at heart, you can make important decisions about how you should deal with the situation. So a criminal trial lawyer has the ability to help you in a number of different ways. If after being advised properly on what your prospects are you want someone to go into court and fight for you regardless of the odds you have, with the best possible defence. It is very difficult to place your future entirely in the hands of one person. The answer is to find the most experienced person you can and let them go for it. Don't be a backseat driver. You could end up in the ditch.
What should I do if the police either ring me or come to see me?
1. You should not talk to them other than to arrange a time to see them at the police station.
2. You should then contact a lawyer to attend the appointment with you.
3. If the police arrest you do not resist. Go with them but do not discuss the case.
4. Once arrested or detained you have the legal right to call a lawyer.
5. Take advantage of this opportunity you are given and make the call.
The inherent bias in our justice system
There is an ever expanding twilight zone between those people who are eligible for legal aid and those who can afford to pay for private representation. The legal aid system artificially inflates the cost of legal services and people struggle to be able to afford private representation particularly on complex prosecutions. It is not a case of meeting the market for services because the market is distorted by government intervention. The twilight zone consists of those who for financial reasons try to represent themselves in Court. Inevitably justice is not served in those situations where a lay person is being prosecuted by a professional lawyer and tried by a professional judge. The only amateur is at the defence table. So rather than the reforms providing greater access to justice they are actually constricting access to justice. A constriction in access leads to an erosion of the rule of law. Of course a lack of legitimate participation leads to increased levels of desperation and is going to reduce the level of respect for all court processes.
Technical Legal Advice on Fraud by Deception
I have spent time over the last three days researching our offence of obtaining by deception and in particular the issue of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by dishonestly evading repayment of a debt. The core offence in this area of fraudulently obtaining property used to be obtaining property by false pretences. This struck problems when I took the Wilkinson case to the Court of Appeal in 1998. As a result of that decision there was a major rewrite of Part ten of the Crimes Act. In enacting an offence of obtaining or causing loss by deception NZ drew heavily on the UK 1968 Theft Act. The enactment of our S229A in 1973 also drew on the concept of pecuniary advantage. Australia also enacted similar provisions to S16 of the Theft Act long before NZ did in 2003. However in 2006 the UK repealed the Theft Act and enacted a fraud act. So it took NZ 35 years to copy the UK obtaining by deception provision but the section enacted was very generalised. The Hayes decision in our Supreme Court reversed previous authority to hold that just because you may be entitled to something doesn't mean you cant seek to obtain it dishonestly. But the issue of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by evading the repayment of a debt or the return of money lent still seems to remain controversial. The issue was addressed in the Victorian Court of Appeal in Lasic in 2005. The Court held that evasion of repaying a debt was an offence. But what of a situation where you have received a deposit for a contract. Can you obtain a pecuniary advantage by dishonestly avoiding the repayment of the deposit. If you had the money sure I can see it but what if the money was spent and you had no other money. You really don't obtain any monetary advantage by your deceptive conduct. You don't retain any money as a result of your actions.
Four ways to avoid a driving disqualification
Firstly you can defend the charge and get acquitted. There would then be no penalty such as disqualification. This assumes you have a valid defence and the Judge finds in your favour. Secondly if you have no defence and have to plead guilty you could apply for a discharge without conviction. This is rare when a charge carries a minimum statutory penalty such as disqualification. But it does happen if you can satisfy the statutory criteria. Thirdly, if you have a history of disqualification you may be able to get a community based sentence substituted for disqualification. This is what lawyers call a section 94. And fourthly there may be special reasons that allow the court not to impose a disqualification such as not driving very far or just re-parking the car.
About Jeremy Bioletti
I enjoy working with people to help them through the sticky legal situations that they have found themselves in. I have 30+ years of experience in the legal system and have seen almost every different situation imaginable in my career. It is important to have empathy and compassion in the legal system. I take on cases that others won't as I believe everybody deserves to be defended no matter what they have done and it is important to treat all cases with respect in order for our justice system to work.
Specialisms: I defend Serious and Complex Crime cases, all types of Serious Fraud including; Investment, mortgagee, company, credit card, beneficiary, online etc. Other areas I specialise in include Corruption, Financial and Drug conspiracy, Organised Criminal groups, Proceeds of crime. I cover all serious criminal crimes against the person and property as well as Terrorism and Human Rights cases.
Due to my experience of working for the Serious Fraud Office and my wide knowledge of Fraud I also help those who have been defrauded with dealing with the other side of the coin. I assist them with their needs by advising them on what should happen and how to deal with their situation. NZ and International i.e Nigerian fraud situations.
What I do that can help you
Investigation support, advising and representation during interviews & investigations. Liaising with investigators, police and companies on behalf of clients. Including outside of court settlements. This can be one of the most important stages in helping you get a better outcome for your legal situation. Do not delay getting a lawyer and getting professional advice.
We pride ourselves on offering the strongest legal defences in New Zealand.
Trials, Hearings, Appeals. District Court, High Court, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.
Second opinion & case analysis
If you wish to have a expert second opinion on your case and would like to know if your lawyer is doing everything they can for your situation we provide this service. Particularly Serious Fraud and complex cases.
Legal representation - negotiable
Legal Aid option for complex cases available.