German Business Criminal Defence Lawyers

Legal Solutions Made in Germany

German
Business Criminal
Defence
Lawyer

Legal Solutions Made in Germany

Allegations of business criminal activity can have a devastating impact on a company. Investigations into a company can cause significant reputational damage, leading to a drop in customers and reduced profits. Engaging in entrepreneurial activity contains risk factors; however, getting ongoing advice from German business criminal lawyers ensures that such actions are compliant with German law. Preparing internal grievance structures allows employees and other parties to report internal business criminal activity to company personell rather than go public by whistleblowing.

The reality for our clients accused in the field of white-collar crime is that they have not had much exposure to the criminal law system. This lack of experience means that having expert legal counsel is necessary. At Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte, our corporate criminal law team acts for both individuals and businesses in such cases. We combine our expertise in criminal and corporate law to provide a complete picture of the issues involved. Contact us now to work with our business criminal law team.

Full-Service Legal Support in Germany

Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte is a full-service law firm with offices and conference room facilities in Cologne, Aachen, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg and Stuttgart. Our legal team consists of experienced criminal law attorneys and lawyers with deep knowledge and expertise in commercial transactions, contract analysis, taxation, compliance and corporate governance. Regardless of whether your company requires expert advice for a particular case or ongoing support from our criminal law attorneys, our law firm has the answer for you.

Blackmail

Blackmail can be damaging to businesses, particularly when it involves compromising information relating to the company. Corporate blackmailers usually seek to gain important data concerning the company, often simple information such as email addresses and credit card details of business customers, and upon locating the information, they can threaten the company that they will release it and thus risk the company’s reputation. This threat is more directed towards businesses rather than private individuals as companies are required to keep such information safe and its release can damage consumer trust and confidence.

At Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte, our team advises businesses regarding how to respond to blackmail and related offences. Our team will explore the options available to your company, regarding resolving the matter, outside of court where preferable.

Compliance and Whistleblowing

At Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte, our business criminal lawyers are ready to advise your company regarding internal mechanisms to help detect and prevent criminal activity. By implementing internal grievance procedures, your company can uncover damaging and criminal activity such as corruption or failure to reach specified legal standards. Not having such aspects in place can force employees, managers and others to expose these matters to the public which can cause significant reputational damage.

Compliance systems need to be secure, confidential, effective, and according to industry standards. At Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte, our lawyers advise both companies and whistleblowers regarding their options under German law.

Corruption Charges in Germany

Corruption in Germany and across other countries can be seen across all areas of society. The German Criminal Code (StGB) regulates several criminal offences that can be assigned to the colloquial term “corruption” to protect fair competition and public service integrity. However, this term is not legally defined in the Criminal Code. Rather, the corresponding offences are bribery, corruptibility, granting of advantages and acceptance of advantages.

Cum-Ex Legal Defence

With the legal decision by the Bundesgerichtshof (German Federal Court of Justice) to state that the billion-dollar Cum-Ex transactions by investors and banks were illegal, it is crucial for those who may fear investigation or legal challenge to receive comprehensive legal advice from expert lawyers. At Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte, our team is ready to advise, support and defend you.

Our firm supports both private individuals and corporate clients, and as German lawyers can ensure that you are fully aware of your rights under criminal law. Whether you need advice concerning the German criminal law system, extradition proceedings or any other issue, our lawyers are ready when you are.

Cybercrime: Technology, Media and German Criminal Law

Cybercrime is a threat to businesses globally. Cybercrime activities can have a devastating impact on a business, and companies need to be aware of their legal options should they happen. Cybercrime law in Germany is also subject to constant change.

Such criminal activity under current German law includes those committed using information technology or that have the IT infrastructure, data and data processing as its objective. In this context, the legislator sometimes extends criminal liability to alleged preparatory acts, such as creating devices or software that can aid the commission of cybercrimes (§ 202c StGB). At Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte, our business criminal lawyers are ready to support your company pursue its rights.

Embezzlement

Anyone who unlawfully appropriates another person’s movable property for themselves or for a third party is liable to prosecution for embezzlement in Germany under § 246 (1) German Criminal Code (StGB). Within companies, embezzlement occurs, for example, when proper bookkeeping, inventory or accounting is not carried out. In addition, deficiencies in the control system can encourage embezzlement by employees, e.g. by taking advantage of any disorder in the company to embezzle work equipment, orders or money. A common type of embezzlement of money is the falsification of receipts or books.

Standard embezzlement in Germany is punishable by imprisonment of up to three years or a fine. If it is a case of embezzlement, i.e. if the embezzled property was entrusted to the perpetrator, a custodial sentence of up to five years or a fine can be imposed. The specific penalty is largely determined by the circumstances of the individual case.

Extradition Law Services

Extradition cases are delicate matters and therefore, require lawyers with extensive expertise. Our extradition law team has worked alongside clients worldwide and especially with cases related to Interpol Notices and Diffusion Orders. Extradition law is a complex matter but there are often errors made by the prosecuting side.

Our knowledge of the complexities of the legal area alongside our close contacts with local extradition counsel worldwide mean that we have succeeded in challenging extradition orders. Extradition cases place clients in exceptional situations that often affect their freedom, life and physical integrity, and this means they require exceptional legal support. In times of crisis, our clients can rely on the extradition lawyers at Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte.

Fraud Defence and Prevention

Our lawyers assist businesses in preventing fraud. Certain frauds, such as the “CEO fraud” are aimed specifically at companies, and can lead to them suffering reputational damage and financial loss. Companies of any size can fall victim to expertly conceived fraud and large companies are often more attractive for the perpetrators. Large companies often have higher financial resources and more complex corporate structures, thus lowering the probability of detection.

Companies need to ensure that their compliance departments are prepared to face the fraudulent schemes of the 21st century. Medium-sized to small companies can also fall victim as many of them have no compliance department, so security standards can be significantly lower, making it easier for the perpetrators to carry out the crime and thus also represents a non-negligible incentive.

Insolvency Criminal Law Advice

A delay in filing for insolvency is the delayed or incorrect filing of an application to open insolvency proceedings. Such an action is punishable under § 15a paras. 1-3 InsO, and this stipulates that the respective obligation applies to legal entities and companies without legal personality. Accordingly, in the event of insolvency or over-indebtedness of the company, a request for the opening of insolvency proceedings must be submitted by the legal entity representatives without culpable hesitation, but at the latest three weeks after the occurrence of the insolvency or over-indebtedness.

At Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte, our criminal defence team aims to discontinue the proceedings without an incriminating trial, obtain an acquittal, or, if this is not possible, the lowest possible sentence.

Money Laundering Defence

Money laundering is the action of hiding money that has been made illegally by concealing it amidst legitimate business income. For example, income arising from criminal activity (such as drug offences) can be hidden through ownership or investment in a legitimate business enterprise. It may be seen as an activity linked to major organised crime, but in reality, many legitimate business people and private citizens can also face difficulties in this mater. Banks are expected to take action and make reports when transactions can be deemed suspicious. However, banks also do not want to cause undue disruption for prominent customers.

Therefore, this can be a difficult balancing act and consulting with legal professionals in advance may be the preferred course of action before taking any significant action.

Tax Disputes Support

We advise businesses on all matters of tax criminal law offences. Breaching German tax law can bring serious consequences including fines and imprisonment. Tax offences can also lead to the search of business premises, and can greatly disrupt a business. In turn, these matters can lead to reputational damage, if the public becomes aware of them.

Our criminal defence lawyers will advise you concerning everything you need to know about tax offences in Germany and will be by your side in planning your legal defence. Our team advises on matters such as voluntary self-disclosures, how to respond to tax investigations and how to prevent tax disputes from arising. We will advise on defence strategies, provide in-court representation and outline our clients’ rights under German law

 

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Practice Group: German Business Criminal Law

Practice Group:
German Business Criminal Law

German Criminal Law News

German Criminal Law News

Contact our German Business Criminal Lawyers

Please use the contact form to tell us about your concerns in the field of German business criminal law. After receiving your request, our criminal lawyers will make a short preliminary assessment based on the information provided and will provide you with a quotation. You are then free to decide whether you want to instruct us.

At Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte, we understand our clients’ need for maximum security when dealing with personal information and confidential records. That is why we offer a specially-operated > secure message and file server with the highest security standards.

You can use this mechanism to send us encrypted files and messages. The contents are encrypted with a password assigned by you, which you must send to us via a third channel.  Depending on the level of security required, you can forward this password to our offices via our contact form, > email, > telephone, or even PGP.

You can also send us the request directly via PGP. However, we recommend using our secure server for sending files. You can download our public key > here. Our fingerprint is: BF 10 9852 679B AFD5 F486 C5C4 E2E4 E9AC CB5E 7FA5.

Locations & Office Times

Mo – Fr: 09:00 – 19:00
24h Contact: 0221 93295960
Email: info@se-legal.de
Appointments made by telephone only.

Von-Coels-Str. 214
52080 Aachen
Tel: +49 241 4757140
Fax: 0241 47571469

Kyffhäuserstr. 45
50674 Cologne
Tel: +49 221 93295960
Fax: 0221 932959669

Düsseldorfer Str. 70
40545 Düsseldorf
Tel: +49 211 882 84196
Fax: 0221 932959669

Locations & Office Times

Mo – Fr: 09:00 – 19:00
24h Contact: 0221 93295960
Email: info@se-legal.de
Appointments made by telephone only.

Conference Rooms

Berlin 10785, Potsdamer Platz 10

Frankfurt 60314, Hanauer Landstrasse 291 B

Hamburg 20354, Neuer Wall 63

München 80339, Theresienhöhe 28