Economic offenses in India fall into three categories:
- Traditional Economic Crimes – e.g., corruption, smuggling, bogus imports.
- Emerging Technological Economic Crimes – e.g., credit card frauds, cybercrimes.
- Crimes Involving Proceeds of Transnational Organized Crime – e.g., money laundering.
Key Laws for Economic Offenses in India
- Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to economic crimes include:
- Section 255 – Counterfeiting government stamp.
- Section 405 – Criminal breach of trust.
- Section 415 – Cheating.
- Section 420 – Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.
- Section 463-465 – Forgery and punishments.
- Section 477 – Falsification of accounts.
- Section 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act – Deals with corruption among public servants.
- Section 135 of the Customs Act, 1962 – Customs violations.
- Section 276-C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 – Willful attempt to evade tax.
- Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976.
Economic Crimes and Penalties
- Criminal Breach of Trust (Section 405 IPC):
Misappropriation or conversion of property entrusted to a person, which could result in criminal breach of trust.
- Cheating (Sections 415-416 IPC):
Deceptive practices leading to fraudulent inducement or harm to another person.
Our Expertise in Economic Offences
Our law firm specializes in defending clients involved in economic offences, working across a range of agencies, including the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB), and Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO). We handle cases from the initial stages to bail, trial, charge, and appeal.
Our team includes A.K Singh, a top criminal lawyer specializing in economic offences.