If you somehow learn that you may be the target of a federal law enforcement investigation, the steps you handling this is of the utmost importance.
1. DO NOT SPEAK TO ANYONE ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION
First, absolutely do not speak to ANYONE about the investigation. This advice is especially important is for two reasons. First, if you speak to someone and whatever is said it construed to be in a manner where you are trying to obfuscate evidence, you could later be charged with obstruction of justice.
It is also not wise to speak to anyone about the possible investigation because that individual may end up being subpoenaed. Or perhaps – law enforcement officers could go and talk to them. If they are subpoenaed, if they are brought into a grand jury, then whatever you said to them can then come out in the grand jury and that can only be bad for you. So don’t talk to anyone else about the investigation.
2. DO NOT DESTROY DOCUMENTS
You should not do destroy ANY documents, regardless of if you think they will be incriminating to you. If there are documents that show something related to an investigation – DO NOT destroy them. In fact, it is a crime to do. Especially with computers, the Government is so good at finding out when electronic documents were destroyed and really using that against you. So, DO NOT destroy documents and/or ANY files
3. DO NOT LIE TO FEDERAL AGENTS
If you are going to talk to someone related to the government, DO NOT lie. Lying is the also a very crucial thing to realize is a terrible idea if you are under investigation by the federal government. If you talk to law enforcement or you talk to the grand jury and you lie, that can be a separate crime. Lying to federal agents is a crime, and that crime can get prosecuted. So if you are going to talk to the government, don’t lie.
The absolute most crucial thing one can do if under possible federal investigation is to please talk to an experienced criminal defense attorney before you decide how best to proceed.
