Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Maryland
if the owner of my company is knowningly charging credit card twice, sometime in amount well over 5k and sometimes up to 30k, is that fraud. This is done in many cases to make payroll, pay a debt, or pay a business transaction that is coming up within 3 days. It is common knowledge at the office that he does this and has probably done this 20 times since Ive been there. ive only worked 1 yr and hes been around for 10 so Im guessing he done this more than I can imagine. My questions is because I know this process happens and now know there is a pattern, is it possible if I were to come forward to protect consumers that I could be prosecuted. I am very fearful cause all most all these transactions have happened over state lines, so I am not sure if that makes it Federal, and I am worried that my knowledge and then lyng to client to smooth things over could be an issue. The owner oof the company from what I know does eventually refund the double charge, but he definatly waits to see how the client responds to the issue to see what type of client hes dealing with, he never refunds right away usually months before they get the refund back, and Im guessing that if all the transactions were serious looked into there are some of the corporate clients or clients that just dont really pay attention to that he didnt refund at all.
I really need to know if I can go to the authorities without fear of prosecution. I am also wondering because in many case we had to lie to our clients cause we have enough common sense to know whats going due to the patteren, can I sue him civily for placing me in that possition as a boss? Everyone had a fear of losing there job if you didnt cover for the owners, credit card processing women, and the owner.
The last thing I want to say is these are pretty large credit card transaction with huge dollar amounts for credit card charges. And there is also the possibility that not only did he double charge personal and corporate clients, but its very possible he did the same to the government. The company hools a GSA contract, so government is worked with alot in our office. Anyway thanks for you time and I look forward to hearing from you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
The fact pattern you describe certainly could involve criminal charges (including fraud, possibly theft, conversion, etc.) It also suggests civil fraud, misrepresentation, etc. not to mention generally unethical business practices.
While I understand your fear, continuing along the same pattern will not protect you from criminal or civil liability.
Certain statutes protect "whistleblowers" who report wrongdoing of their employer. Maryland law may offer additional protection as a matter of public policy. No one can predict exactly who might be a current or future target of investigation though in some cases a cooperating party can get some assurance that they will not be prosecuted.
An online post cannot fully address every question you raise and the general legal information I've offered doesn't substitute for legal advice but I do hope that it helps.
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