Federal prosecutors in Missouri are pursuing two Jefferson City people who authorities believe sought a number student loans beginning in the summer of 2005 and running into the fall of 2007. Officials claim that the student loan applications were fraudulent and prosecutors have obtained a federal indictment accusing the two people of 11 counts of federal bank-fraud-related crimes.

Authorities say that the two people were married at the time and used another person’s name on student loan applications. The feds claim that the one or both would work on the application, and then someone would forge a signature and the third person’s name. The third person was not aware of the student loan applications, according to prosecutors.

Authorities say that the two people were married at the time and used another person’s name on student loan applications. The feds claim that the one or both would work on the application, and then someone would forge a signature and the third person’s name. The third person was not aware of the student loan applications, according to prosecutors.

The couple (who are now divorced) is accused of taking the student loan proceeds for their own use. Prosecutors believe that the couple obtained 11 loans, adding up to $109,000 in all. The third person, in whose name the feds claim the couple took out the loans, is only identified in the indictment by initials.

Simple mistakes on a loan application, or possibly a simple misunderstanding, can escalate quickly into allegations of some kind of fraud scheme. We live in a culture that uses electronic communications to a fairly great degree—especially in financial transactions. The federal books that contain criminal statutes can be thick, and prosecutors may bring many counts in a white collar investigation.

White collar and fraud defense lawyers generally scour not only the alleged evidence, but the tomes of law that may apply in a given situation, to keep prosecutors in check to help avoid unjust results in a criminal case.

Source: Kansas City infoZine, “Jefferson City, Missouri Man and Woman Indicted for Student Loan Fraud,” Aug. 29, 2013