Houston, Harris County Fraud – Forgery – White Collar Crimes – Bank Embezzlement – Counterfeit Criminal Defense Attorneys > Recent Case Results

If you’ve been accused of, have a warrant, or are under investigation for:

• Forgery of Financial Instrument
• Forgery of Check
• Counterfeiting
• Insurance Fraud
• Failure Motor Vehicle Title Records
• Possession of Fraudulent/False ID
• Tampering with Government Document
• Fictitious/Counterfeit Instrument
• Fictitious/Counterfeit Inspection Sticker
• Welfare Fraud
• Embezzlement
• Credit Card Abuse

Call us to speak with an expert

HOUSTON FRAUD / FORGERY DEFENSE ATTORNEY CARL D. HAGGARD

The Haggard Law Firm

JUSTICE DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN

Carl Haggard’s sterling reputation for integrity makes him one of Harris County’s most-respected criminal defense attorneys.

Clients rely on Carl Haggard’s expertise:

• Former Harris County District Court Chief Prosecutor
• Nationally Certified Mediator-Arbitrator –  Triple Certification
• Nationally-Known Author and Speaker on Civil Rights
• Washington, DC Speech-Maker on Constitutional Issues
• Licensed to Practice in the United States Supreme Court
• Honors Graduate from Law School – Cum Laude
• Former UH Adjunct Professor of Law
• Thousands of Cases and Trials Since 1973

RESULTS ARE WHAT COUNT

Houston Fraud/Forgery Defense Attorney Carl Haggard is at the forefront of Harris County Criminal Defense Attorneys with a proven track record of winning results for clients charged with Forgery, Fraud, Insurance Fraud, Welfare Fraud, Counterfeiting, Credit Card Abuse, Tampering with Government Document, False ID, and Fictitious Inspection Sticker. 

SAMPLE HARRIS COUNTY FRAUD / FORGERY AND RELATED CASE VICTORIES*

*Case Synopses and Testimonials included with some of these cases; clients have given written permission for use of Testimonial.
*Actual Dismissals only are listed, not “Dismissals” granted after  Deferred Adjudication.
*Dismissals and “Not Guilty” verdicts may be verified for accuracy using the listed case numbers online or through the County Clerk’s office except for those noted as
   expunged in civil actions filed by HLF.

FORGERY OF A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT – CHECK
Case No. 1260762 – Emily B.
GRAND JURY NO-BILL June 25, 2010
The Complainants in this case were the parents of Emily’s recently-deceased fiance. In a strange twist of events, Emily was inside the bank trying to cash a check on their account at the very time the parents, inside the same bank, were attempting to close that account due to several negotiated checks they told police they never gave to Emily. She also had a Visa debit card for the same account in her possession. The parents alleged to police she had stolen their checkbook and forged several checks after the death of their son. Yet, we claimed and compiled evidence in support of the contrary. Emily continued the relationship with her fiance’s parents including important online communications through MySpace. Although not guilty, Emily did as advised – declining to answer police questions until her Miranda rights were read and she was formally interrogated. We compiled a large amount of unconventional evidence in support of our defense: reconstructed timelines, bizarre MySpace emails and photos showing conflicting motives on the part of her father-in-law, and cell phone and text message records, as well as subpoenaing all pertinent banking records. Using his knowledge in Forgery laws and defenses and the Grand Jury procedure, Mr. Haggard moved to get the case as quickly as possible before the Grand Jury and then coached Emily on how to testify to present her case in the best light before the Grand Jury.

Mr. Haggard believed in me and in my case when no one else did. He worked extremely hard on my case and did everything in his power to get it dismissed. He helped me to feel more confident about my case by constantly keeping me informed on everything going on. I highly recommend HLF to anyone that needs a good attorney that will fight all the way for them.
~ Emily B.

FORGERY OF A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT – CHECK
Case No. 1156928 – Chiara B.
GRAND JURY NO-BILL
Chiara was a struggling college student victimized by an internet scam promising payment for online surveys and work as a mystery shopper. Chiara received a very large check and naively tried to cash it, waiting patiently when told to wait, not realizing the police had been called. Investigation revealed the account the check was written on had been closed for fraudulent activity. This fact, plus other evidence, along with several excellent Affidavits including from university and post office personnel attesting to the care Chiara had taken to ascertain the check’s validity before cashing it, as well as to her proven probity and honesty, helped us to save her college career.

FORGERY OF A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT – COUNTERFEITING
Case No. 1021305 – Wilson B.
DISMISSED
Our client was given several counterfeit $50 bills by a bank upon cashing his paycheck. The next day he went to a store to make a payment on an account, using a counterfeit bill given him by the bank. The yellow ink turned black and client was arrested. The prosecutors wanted to convict and even accused us of changing our story. We remained firm, did not back down from our original presentation and, using the evidence we had compiled and preserved, were able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt our client’s innocence by tracing the probable source of the counterfeit bills back to the bank.

FORGERY OF A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT – CHECK
Case No. 982275 – John B.
DISMISSED
Our client tried to deposit a fraudulent check for a very large sum tendered to him in a real estate transaction. Although he was actually the victim in this real estate transaction and had no idea the check was not legitimate, he was charged with forgery. We were able to develop and use the favorable circumstantial evidence in the case to show our client’s innocence and get the case dismissed.

FORGERY OF A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT – COUNTERFEITING
Case No. 847189 – Kenneth J.
DISMISSED

Mr. Haggard did a great job fighting for me in court. He pointed out all the things in my favor and strongly defended me by strongly attacking this bad case. I was really worried, but Mr. Haggard was a real professional in court and stuck by me to the very end.
~Kenneth J.

FORGERY OF A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT – COUNTERFEITING
Case No. 866328 – Trenton T.
DISMISSED

FORGERY OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT – CHECK
Case No. 813583 – Clara A.
DISMISSED

FELONY INSURANCE FRAUD
Case No. 10CR1639 [Galveston County] – Chad G.
REDUCED TO MISDEMEANOR FALSE REPORT November 1, 2010
Chad was a doctor whose medical license was on the line when he was charged with insurance fraud. We obtained an unbelievable result for Dr. G. in light of the evidence against him: video surveillance showing him furtively looking around to make sure no one was looking, then carefully lying down to simulate a slip and fall in the pool area of his yacht club. It was alleged he made a fraudulent insurance claim to the yacht club’s insurance company in order to receive free treatment for a pre-existing back injury. We fought this case on several fronts but argued that ultimately an unaddressed problem with alcohol and stress was behind his bizarre behavior; after sailing that day he was, as usual, intoxicated and did something he would normally have done. We got him into alcohol treatment and psychological counseling for PTSD and used corroborating testimony from his treating professionals. This was then supported by impressive character and reference letters from well-placed friends and employees in his medical practice to prove that this was outside of his customary character. Finally, and most importantly, with a fine-toothed comb we perused the related case documents, facts, evidence, and statutes and sufficiently proved to the Prosecutors that, based upon the statutes and the facts, the case was more properly False Report. This was a victory for our doctor client as his license would have been imperiled with any type of Felony charge on his record.

Mr. Haggard and his staff took my case for Felony Insurance Fraud and produced such a favorable outcome that I would recommend him to my closest friends and family. Without Mr. Haggard I would have lost my practice and my livelihood.
~ Chad G.

MOTION TO ADJUDICATE GUILT ON
FELONY DEFERRED ADJUDICATION PROBATION FOR INSURANCE FRAUD
Case No. 958059 – John B.
DISMISSED
At the time of his arrest on the above Forgery charge, our client was on probation for insurance fraud. When he was charged in the above Forgery case, the State moved to revoke his probation. HLF was able to reinstate his insurance fraud probation after getting the underlying forgery case dismissed.

FAILURE TO MAINTAIN MOTOR VEHICLE TITLE RECORDS
Case No. 1700911 – Sharon E.
DISMISSED November 18, 2010
Sharon owned an auto title services agency and was the holder of a Motor Vehicle Title Service License. Had she been convicted of this charge, she would have lost her license and her business. But a conviction seemed likely to her as she had a prior record for Fraud including False Title Application and Tampering with a Government Record to Defraud. This was a document-intensive case in which Sharon was accused of failing to keep title records for a vehicle sold from a re-po center to a man with several aliases including a father with the same name. Our position was that the tax a/c gets the title originals and that our client had provided him with all the computer scans required by law to keep. We used witness evidence in the form of Affidavits, invoices and notarized mechanic lien forms from company personnel and the seller [an ex-police officer who testified about the aliases of the Complainant], on preciesly who did the transfer, how it was done, the computer scans, etc. Furthermore, the VIN is supposed to be 17 characters but was showing 18 characters; Sharon believed the buyer was being accused of stealing it which further complicated and obscured the title issues. On the eve of setting the case for Trial, Mr. Haggard forced justice to prevail.

My case involved a great number of records and was very complicated in the paperwork. Mr. Haggard showed extreme patience and diligence with the prosecutor.  He worked very hard as my case was a “Dismiss or Try” case. [That is, she would not have pleaded.] My heart is pounding as I write this as he persuaded them to dismiss and save me a Trial. I think he’s the greatest!!!
~ Sharon E.

FRAUDULENT USE/POSSESSION OF ID
Case No. 1262431 – Tiffany G.
DISMISSED May 26, 2010
In a badly-bungled case, persistent police bent on making a case, overzealous loss prevention officers,and rude store personnel mistakenly pegged Tiffany and her sister with shoplifting. Then all cooperated in trying to transmute the nebulous, unproven “facts” into a Fraud case like some sort of police blotter alchemy. To make matters worse, rather than being arrested for their “theft”, the sisters were allowed to drive away, but it was alleged they returned to the store with their “stolen” items for a cash refund – although no evidence existed in support of this. (They did return some items – but not stolen ones.) A warrant was issued for their arrest and police contacted Tiffany’s sister to return the “stolen merchandise” or go to court. Her sister said simply, “See you in court.” Perplexed police scratches his head and makes a Discovery: Tiffany has three prior theft offenses on her record. Officer concocts fraud charges out of thin air with the help of store personnel who claim without evidence Tiffany returned stolen items using someone else’s ID. The woman whose ID was allegedly used was identified by police, in one and the same O.R., as being both black and white. Tiffany was selected out of a photo lineup. So many lies, absurdities and false allegations were made by store personnel, loss prevention officers and police it took us quite some time to untangle the knots on this one … but ultimately we were able to make justice prevail.

POSSESSION OF FRAUDULENT/FALSE I.D.
Case No. 896249 – Yvette Z.
DISMISSED

TAMPERING WITH A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT
Case No. 1404135 – Rony O.
DISMISSED BY OUR FIRST COURT APPEARANCE
Our client purchased insurance from someone he met at college who told him he worked for an insurance company and provided him with a written policy. Our client discovered it was fraudulent when he presented it in traffic court.

I was a senior finance major and bought some bad insurance from an acquaintance. HLF got my case dismissed by the first setting. Mr. Haggard is a
very brilliant and respected attorney who never stops fighting for his clients. If you believe in justice, call Carl Haggard.
~Rony O.

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSTRUMENT
Case No. 1415960 – Lymell C.
DISMISSED
Lymell had surcharge-related problems with his Texas license and thought he could drive here legally using his Missouri license. When he showed police 2 licenses from 2 states he was charged with possession of a fictitious license as well as DWLS. Mr. Haggard was able to help our client clear his license and then obtained the Dismissal of both charges.

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSPECTION STICKER
Case No. 1744773 – Lizbeth P.
DISMISSED BY OUR FIRST COURT APPEARANCE March 25, 2011
Lizbeth was driving a vehicle whose title was not in her name when stopped on a pretense.  The fake inspection sticker had been purchased by a third party [not by the owner of the vehicle] who didn’t speak English and who, it was argued, didn’t realize a sticker can’t be purchased from a notary.  We used all these circumstances to remove Lizbeth several steps away from direct complicity in the offense.  We prepard our defenses prior to our first court hearing; these included obtaining certain photographic evidence, Affidavits and other documentation that we advise in these cases for optimum chances of a speedy Dismissal.  Despite the fact that Lizbeth did admit to police at the scene that she had been the exclusive driver of the vehicle for quite some time, we obtained a Dismissal on the first setting.  Lizbeth was especially grateful for our quick good work as, while in jail prior to posting bond, another woman had gotten deported for the same offense.�

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSPECTION STICKER
Case No. 1433129 – Brian M.
DISMISSED
Our client was stopped for by a DPS officer when the officer noticed his inspection sticker. The State claimed our client knew the sticker was fictitious. Using statements and other methods Mr. Haggard was able to obtain a Dismissal.

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSPECTION STICKER
Case No. 1405771- Jeremy F.
DISMISSED
Our client was stopped for speeding and the officer noted the sticker peeling off the windshield; it was fraudulent. Our client had bought it from a friend but did not want to turn in his friend to exonerate himself, however. Mr. Haggard was able to get his case dismissed without our client’s having to turn in his friend.

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSPECTION STICKER
Case No. 1405125 – Matthew E.
DISMISSED
Our client, a Home Depot manager, did not realize it was a crime to tamper with an inspection sticker. When his vehicle needed repairs, he had to drive his older vehicle for which he could not locate the title in order to get it registered. Therefore, he peeled the sticker from a car at the junkyard (while searching for parts to repair his newer vehicle) and then cut out the month number he needed from another sticker and glued it over the one he had peeled. In his mind, it was a quick fix until he could find the title necessary to get his car registered. Despite the fact that ignorance of the law is not a defense, Mr. Haggard was able to get it dismissed.

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSPECTION STICKER
Case No. 1397867- Cindy H.
REDUCED TO CLASS C MISDEMEANOR
Our client could not afford the repairs necessary for her vehicle to pass inspection yet needed to drive to work. She was given a fictitious inspection sticker which was so obvious as to cause her to be stopped. Mr. Haggard was not able to get this case dismissed but he was able to get it reduced to a Class C Misdemeanor.

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSPECTION STICKER
Case No. 1381502 – Pam S.
DISMISSED BY HLF’S FIRST COURT APPEARANCE
Our client purchased a car at a dealer auction and the sticker turned out to be fraudulent.

Mr. Haggard told me exactly what I should do and what I needed to have for court. He knows what he is doing and works for the people.
~Pam S.

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSPECTION STICKER
Case No. 1375791 – David R.
DISMISSED
Our client had recently purchased a truck from an individual and was entirely unaware the inspection sticker was fraudulent. Mr. Haggard was able to prove this sufficiently to the prosecutors and get the case dismissed.

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSPECTION STICKER
Case No. 1319137 – Stanley G.
DISMISSED BY HLF’S FIRST COURT APPEARANCE
Our client had obtained what he thought was a legal inspection sticker from a mechanic at a service station, but it was a forgery. He also had a very long criminal record.

I was sure I was going to jail because of my record, but Mr. Haggard did not let me down. He got right to work on our first setting and the D.A. seemed to have a lot of respect for him. Then Mr. Haggard and the D.A. talked my case over with the Judge. After Mr. Haggard’s presentation the D.A. dismissed the case.
~ Stanley G.

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSPECTION STICKER
Case No. 1258761 – Adeleke O.
DISMISSED BY HLF’S FIRST COURT APPEARANCE
Our client went to pick up his car from a repair shop and found his inspection sticker missing, so he took one off a wrecked car, as a temporary fix, to drive his car to be inspected and to obtain a valid inspection sticker. Of course, luck would have it that he was stopped by police before he could do this.

This is an experienced and efficient lawyer who got my case dismissed on the first setting to my great appreciation and also to the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a lawyer I will recommend for anybody who really needs a good lawyer.
~Adeleke O.

FICTITIOUS / COUNTERFEIT INSPECTION STICKER
Case No. 9925127 – Michael B.
DISMISSED

SECOND WELFARE FRAUD OF OVER $5,000
Case No. 1077149 – Inez L.
This was our client’s second theft by fraud case of over $5,000. Prosecutors offered 1 year state jail; the Judge could have given her pen time. Mr. Haggard got her a WEEKEND IN JAIL after our client paid restitution to the Complainant.

We truly believe you are a very good person that really wants to help someone where there is a “fair reason”. Not to mention how impressed we are with your attention and your success in getting such a fair plea bargain agreement; it seems just a little less than a miracle.
~Inez L.

$100,000 Bank Embezzlement
Federal Case No.4:94-cr-00044; USA v. Lisa T.
Lisa worked for a large bank and embezzled $100,000 for personal use over a period of some years. Using his years of experience with white collar crime cases, Mr. Haggard advised her to, “Sell the boat, sell the Mercedes, sell your oldest child into slavery…” – i.e., do whatever it takes to borrow or scrape together a lump sum restitution payment. We also advised her on how to portray and document her sincere remorse to best advantage. HLF was able to keep her out of jail except for some initial weekend time. After Mr. Haggard’s final arguments in the case, Federal Court Judge Lynn Hughes commented from the bench that he had NEVER seen anyone pay such a large amount of restitution in one lump sum like that; it turned the tide in the case and kept it off her record.

THEFT/EMBEZZLEMENT
Case No. – [HLF successfully prevented charges from being filed - no case number.] – Tony Y.
When a well-qualified criminal defense attorney is brought on board early in a case, he may be successful in preventing charges from being filed. In a recent case, our client Tony Y. [no case number is available as charges were never brought] was accused of embezzling a large sum of money from his employer, a large, well-known fast food franchise. Mr. Y’s family retained Mr. Haggard before charges had been filed. Mr. Haggard, a trained, certified mediator, ascertained that the company did not want adverse publicity that it had been victimized. He then was able to negotiate with law enforcement and our client’s employers to obtain an agreement that allowed Mr. Y. to make restitution after which Mr. Haggard prepared a Release binding Mr. Y’s employers not to come after Mr. Y either criminally or civilly. Had the family not retained Mr. Haggard at this early juncture of the investigation, charges would definitely have been brought against out client.