White-Collar Criminal Defense | Nuremberg Lawyers

Rudolph Rechtsanwälte defends entrepreneurs, managing directors, board members, authorized signatories and employees in Nuremberg and throughout Germany who personally face allegations of white-collar crime. We know what to do when an investigation becomes known, a search has taken place, individuals are accused, or the interests of the company and the people involved diverge.

You have learned of a criminal investigation

A managing director may learn about proceedings through an invitation to comment as a suspect, an enquiry from a bank, a request for information sent to the tax adviser or an employee being summoned as a witness. Much can be decided at this stage. Investigators examine contracts, payment routes, responsibilities and often the way an entire company operates. Commercial failure is not a crime, while customary industry practice does not automatically make conduct lawful. What counts is the specific allegation and the evidence.

The first step is therefore to avoid making a statement about the matter before the case file is known. As defense lawyers, we apply for access to the file, establish which acts and periods are under investigation, and determine whether the proceedings are being conducted by the public prosecutor’s office, tax investigators, customs authorities or a specialist prosecution office for economic crime. We then decide with you whether remaining silent, submitting a written statement or speaking to the investigators is the appropriate course. Many proceedings can be narrowed or brought to an end at this stage.

A search has taken place or documents have been seized

During a search of business premises, the immediate priorities are to safeguard rights, keep the measure within the judicial warrant’s scope and maintain business operations. As a suspect, you are not obliged to disclose passwords, answer questions about the allegation or actively locate documents. Ask to see the warrant and request an inventory of the items seized. Have your objection to their removal recorded and, where appropriate, seek judicial review of the seizure. For employees, it must first be established whether they are being treated as witnesses or suspects; their duties to give evidence or produce material, and any rights to refuse, depend on that status.

The detailed work begins after the search: what data has been secured, which servers and mailboxes are affected, and which documents does the company now lack for its day-to-day business? We examine the legality of the measure, request the return of documents that are not needed and assist during the review of seized data. Internal and external communications with employees, business partners, banks and, where appropriate, the press should also be coordinated at this stage.

Directors or employees face personal allegations

A person’s position as managing director, board member or head of department does not by itself establish a criminal offense. It is necessary to determine who made which decision, received which information and breached which duties. Delegation, the allocation of responsibilities, checks and specific warning signs may be decisive. In larger companies, knowledge and the ability to act are spread across many individuals. The defense must identify personal responsibility rather than accept an undifferentiated assessment of the company as a whole.

The allegations we regularly deal with include fraud and subsidy fraud, breach of trust, delayed insolvency filings and bankruptcy offenses, giving and accepting bribes in business, withholding social security contributions in cases of bogus self-employment, and money laundering. Each offense has its own requirements. Breach of trust under § 266 of the German Criminal Code (StGB) requires a duty to safeguard another’s financial interests and financial detriment; it is not a catch-all offense for every management decision that appears questionable in hindsight. Insolvency offenses turn on when inability to pay or over-indebtedness arose and on the deadlines in § 15a of the Insolvency Code (InsO). In money laundering cases, the defense must examine whether a predicate offense and the necessary knowledge or recklessness can be proved at all.

Connections with criminal tax law

In complex cases, economic crime proceedings and tax crime proceedings are rarely separable. A tax audit can develop into a criminal tax investigation, a fraud allegation may raise VAT or income tax questions, and asset recovery and additional tax demands frequently concern the same amount. All lawyers at the firm practice criminal law; Dr. Tobias Rudolph, Franziska Fladerer and Christian Krauße are each specialist lawyers for both criminal law and tax law. This allows us to consider the tax consequences of a defense strategy, such as a statement or a negotiated resolution, from the outset.

Keeping the interests of the company and the individual separate

A company can itself be affected by criminal proceedings, for example through a fine under § 30 of the Act on Regulatory Offenses (OWiG), confiscation of assets or a breach of supervisory duties under § 130 OWiG. It may also be the injured party. The accused individual, meanwhile, must defend their own liberty, assets and professional future. Those interests do not always point in the same direction: a solution that allows the company to dispose of the matter quickly may entail an admission by an individual that they should not make in that form.

The company’s lawyer is not automatically defense counsel for its management. Whether both mandates can be accepted depends on the company’s procedural status, statutory restrictions on representation and potential conflicts of interest. Under section 146 StPO, one defense lawyer cannot simultaneously defend several people accused of the same offense, or several defendants accused of different offenses in the same proceedings. Sections 428 and 444 StPO must also be considered where the company is formally participating in the criminal proceedings. Separate representatives are required where joint representation is prohibited or interests conflict. A coordinated overall strategy is possible within these limits and is often useful. For advice to companies on preventing and investigating crime, whistleblowing systems and the role of an external ombudsman, see our page on criminal law advice for companies.

Considering the wider consequences

In addition to a fine or imprisonment, white-collar criminal proceedings can have consequences that affect individuals more severely than the sentence itself: confiscation of criminal proceeds, personal liability, exclusion from public contracts, register entries and restrictions on serving as a company director. A person finally convicted of certain economic offenses may, under the conditions set out in § 6(2) of the Limited Liability Companies Act (GmbHG), be unable to act as a managing director of a GmbH for five years. Account freezes, asset attachment and negative reporting can exert substantial pressure even during the investigation. We consider these consequences in every procedural decision, whether the aim is discontinuation, a narrowing of the allegations or a decision at trial.

What you can expect from us

We defend clients during investigations and at trial, assist witnesses, represent clients in administrative offense proceedings and advise on searches, asset attachment and recovery. We work as a team on larger proceedings involving several suspects, with each suspect having their own defense lawyer. The firm was founded in 2003 and specializes in criminal defense, tax crime and white-collar crime. Its founder, Dr. Tobias Rudolph, is a specialist lawyer for criminal law and tax law, a certified adviser in criminal tax law (DAA), a member of the White Collar Crime Association (WisteV), and an author on economic and criminal tax law.

Frequently asked questions

I have received an invitation to comment as a suspect. Must I respond?

No. You have the right to remain silent, and your silence must not be used against you. A statement should only be made after access to the file has been obtained and the allegation and evidence are known. Deadlines stated in such letters are not statutory deadlines after which you lose the right to respond.

Can our company’s lawyer also defend me as managing director?

That depends on the company’s procedural status, statutory restrictions on representation and potential conflicts of interest. In addition to the prohibition on multiple defense under section 146 StPO, sections 428 and 444 StPO must be considered where the company is formally participating in the proceedings. Separate representatives are required where joint representation is prohibited or interests conflict. A coordinated strategy is possible within those limits.

Does a commercially unsuccessful decision automatically amount to criminal breach of trust?

No. Breach of trust under § 266 StGB requires a duty to safeguard another’s financial interests, a serious breach of that duty and financial detriment. Business decisions taken within the bounds of permissible risk are not criminal even if they later turn out to have been mistaken.

When must a managing director file for insolvency?

Under § 15a InsO, an application must be filed without culpable delay, and at the latest three weeks after the company becomes unable to pay its debts and six weeks after it becomes over-indebted. A director who misses the deadline risks criminal proceedings for delayed filing and personal liability. Whether and when inability to pay arose is the decisive issue in many cases.

Can the company be penalised if I am convicted as its managing director?

Germany has no general system of corporate criminal liability. However, a fine may be imposed on a company under the conditions of § 30 OWiG. For an intentional criminal offense committed by a person in a managerial position, the basic upper limit is ten million euros; economic benefits may be recovered beyond that amount.

What does defense in a white-collar criminal case cost?

White-collar criminal cases are generally handled under a fee agreement based on time spent, because statutory fees do not reflect the volume of work. We discuss the framework before you instruct us. Whether legal expenses insurance provides cover depends on the allegation and the policy terms.

Contact

If you or your employees are under investigation, a search has taken place, or you have received a letter from the public prosecutor’s office, tax investigators or customs authorities, contact us before making a statement. You can reach our Nuremberg office on (+49) 911 999 396-0, by e-mail at kanzlei@rudolph-recht.de or through the contact page. If a search is in progress, use the mobile number on the defense counsel emergency call page.

White-collar criminal law: defense for entrepreneurs and company directors