Legal Question in Business Law in California
Thank you for your reply. What I would like to know now is being a non-USA national but having a US business, if I did commit mail fraud could I be extradited to the USA due to having that USA based LLC.
I understand my questions may seem a bit iffy, however I'm starting a new forex business and wish to obtain USA clients. Thus being able to tell them I'm liable for the US mail and wire fraud act would help to show them this is a genuine business.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Whether you could be extradited will depend upon what treaties your country has signed. Of course, even if you can be extradited you might not be. Extraditing someone from overseas takes time, money and resources, which the authorities are willing to devote to larger cases but usually not to smaller ones.
As I said in my prior answer, the LLC has no bearing on whether you could be charged, convicted and punished. Your status as a non-citizen doesn't matter either. Your location overseas matters more -- not because it limits what prosecutors could charge you with, but because it might limit what they would actually do.
The nature and extent of the proposed business's involvement in the United States might make both the LLC and its owner(s) subject to the jurisdiction of United States federal or state laws, but the certainty of this cannot be predicted, nor would I recommend or even suggest using your susceptibility to punishment as advertising evidence that your business is legitimate. Most foreign-owned financial services businesses establish their credibility with U.S. customers by having adequate capital, full registration with U.S. regulatory agencies, and substantial presence in their U.S. subsidiaries of well-trained and experienced employees. I don't think too many U.S. investors will be thrilled to hear that the firm they're doing business with must be legit because the owner knows that if it weren't he could go to prison.
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