The charge is not the beginning of a white collar case. The investigation is, and it is usually long. Financial cases are built quietly through subpoenas, records requests, and interviews, often for months before anything is filed. In Florida that stretch matters even more than many folks expect, because the State Attorney charges most felonies by filing an information, so the decision to charge sits with the prosecutor rather than with a grand jury. What happens during the investigation can decide whether an information is ever filed, what it alleges, and what the State believes about intent. This page is about that phase, and about the parts of a financial case that run alongside the courtroom.
It is also the part of the practice that fits my background most directly. Reading an investigation early, managing what the State sees, and opening a channel with a prosecutor before positions harden is where a white collar case is often won or lost, long before a jury is ever in the picture.
How a Florida Fraud Case Is Charged
It helps to be clear about how these cases reach a courtroom in Florida, because it is not the federal picture. The State Attorney charges most felonies, fraud included, by filing an information, which is a charging document the prosecutor files directly. A grand jury indictment is required only for capital crimes, so the ordinary fraud case never sees a grand jury at all. Florida does have a statewide grand jury, and it is used for multi-circuit organized fraud and racketeering, but that is the exception rather than the path most cases take.
The practical consequence is where the opportunity lives. Because the charging decision rests with the prosecutor, the most valuable work in a financial case is often done before an information is filed, by shaping what the State sees and believes during the investigation. That is a state-level practice, and it is the one this page is built around.
Earlier in my career, my practice was almost entirely white-collar defense, including fraud cases, conspiracy charges, and a statewide racketeering prosecution. That work shaped how I read these files: where the money really moved, what the State can prove about intent, and where a paper case quietly falls apart. I defend the state-level side of these matters here in Florida. When a case is federal, or turns federal, I bring in or refer trusted federal co-counsel so you are covered on both tracks rather than caught between them. Learn more about my background.
The Pre-File Window
When a subpoena arrives, a detective makes contact, or you are asked to give a statement, the instinct to handle it alone is the most dangerous one. A statement, a document production, or an interview given without counsel can hand the State the intent evidence it was missing. Handled well, the same window is an opportunity to shape the narrative, narrow or resolve the investigation, and sometimes prevent an information from being filed at all. The table below lays out the stages where early defense work has the most impact.
| Stage | What happens | Why early counsel matters |
|---|---|---|
| Investigation | Subpoenas, records requests, and detective interviews | What you say or hand over shapes whether charges are filed |
| Charging decision | The State Attorney files most felonies by information, not by grand jury | Counsel can engage the prosecutor before an information is filed |
| Asset seizure and forfeiture | Property tied to the alleged offense is seized under chapter 932 | A separate civil case runs alongside, with its own deadlines |
| Professional licensing | A parallel board complaint can threaten a license | The criminal and licensing tracks must be defended together |
A grand jury indictment is required in Florida only for capital crimes; the statewide grand jury is reserved for multi-circuit organized fraud and racketeering. The Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act runs parallel to the criminal case, has an innocent-owner defense, and requires the State to prove the property’s connection to the offense.
Asset Seizure and Professional Licenses
Two parallel tracks can do as much damage as the criminal charge. The first is forfeiture. Under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act in chapter 932, property alleged to be used in or derived from an offense can be seized and pursued in a separate civil case, with its own deadlines and an innocent-owner defense, and the State has to prove the property’s connection to the crime. Missing a forfeiture deadline can cost a person assets even as the criminal case is still being fought.
The second is professional licensing. A criminal allegation against a doctor, lawyer, contractor, or other licensed professional can set off a board complaint that threatens the license on its own timeline. The criminal case and the licensing matter have to be coordinated, because an admission or a plea entered in one can be decisive in the other. Defending the charge without defending the livelihood is half a defense.
Building the Defense Before the Charge
The pre-file phase is active defense, not waiting. It can mean managing document production so that a response is complete without volunteering more than the law requires, preparing a client for an interview or declining one, and deciding whether and how to engage the prosecutor through a proffer or a written submission. Each of those choices carries risk and opportunity, and they are made with the whole case in view rather than one request at a time.
Parallel proceedings make the timing harder and the stakes higher. A civil forfeiture action, a licensing complaint, or a regulatory inquiry can move on its own schedule while the investigation continues, and a statement made in one can haunt the others. The Fifth Amendment has to be managed across all of them at once. Coordinating these tracks, protecting assets early, and shaping what the State believes before it decides whether to charge is the work that the rest of the case often depends on.
Where a Case Turns Federal
Many white collar matters can be charged in state court, in federal court, or both, and the system you are in changes the procedure, the sentencing math, and the whole strategy. I do not take federal cases, and I am direct about that. I defend the state-level side here in Florida, and when a matter is federal or starts to turn federal, I bring in or refer trusted federal co-counsel and stay engaged so the state and federal tracks are coordinated rather than working against each other. I defend the state-level side here in Florida.
For you, that means the right experience on each track and no pretense on either. The investigation phase is often when this question gets decided, which is one more reason the smartest move in a financial case is usually made before a charge is ever filed.
Common Questions
How will I know I am under investigation?
In Florida state cases there is usually no formal target letter the way the federal system uses one. You tend to learn another way: a detective reaches out, a subpoena lands on your bank or your business, or someone asks you to come in for a statement. Any of those is a signal to get counsel before you respond, because the investigation stage is where a financial case is often shaped.
Does a fraud case go to a grand jury in Florida?
Usually not. In Florida the State Attorney charges most felonies, including fraud, by filing an information, and a grand jury indictment is constitutionally required only for capital crimes. A statewide grand jury exists for multi-circuit organized fraud and racketeering, but the everyday path is an information, which means the real opportunity is with the prosecutor before charges are filed.
Can a lawyer help before I am charged?
Often more than after. Early counsel can manage document production, prepare you for or shield you from an interview, open a channel with the State Attorney's office, and sometimes head off charges before an information is ever filed. In financial cases the investigation is long, and that time is an opportunity.
What happens to my property if it is seized?
Under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act, in chapter 932, property tied to an alleged offense can be seized and pursued in a separate civil case. That case has its own deadlines and an innocent-owner defense, and the State has to prove the property's connection to the crime, so it has to be defended in parallel with the criminal matter.
What if I hold a professional license?
A criminal allegation can trigger a parallel licensing complaint that threatens your livelihood on its own track. For doctors, lawyers, contractors, and other licensed folks, the criminal case and the board matter have to be defended together, because what happens in one affects the other.
Related: White collar and fraud overview, Insurance fraud, Racketeering and RICO, Search and seizure, and About Rory Safir.
This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. These offenses are governed by chapters 817, 831, 895, and 896, and section 775.0844, Florida Statutes, and many of the same facts can also draw federal charges, so the exposure should be confirmed against current state and federal law. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
