PROTECT YOURSELF
Updated: Jan 26, 2022
It is crucial that you only provide accurate and verifiable information about your company to D&B and other agencies.
Conspiring to knowingly provide false or misleading information to a federally insured bank for the purpose of obtaining lines of credit or bank loans is an offense punishable by fines up to $1,000,000 and prison terms up to 30 years.
You can visit the FBI's website and view the Financial Crimes Report to the Public (Fiscal Years 2010-2011), and you will see that FBI investigators elicit the assistance of many federal agencies, task forces, and even third party providers when gathering the information needed to punish those who break the law.
Below is the final paragraph from that report. This is public information.
The FBI has also worked with numerous organizations in the private industry to increase public awareness about combating corporate fraud, including the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. These organizations have been able to provide referrals for expert witnesses and other technical assistance regarding accounting and securities issues. In addition, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and Dun & Bradstreet have been able to provide significant background information on subject individuals and/or subject companies to further investigative efforts.
Your understanding of the law regarding bank and credit card transactions is crucial, even more so if you are being advised that something is perfectly legal when, in fact, it is not. If you knowingly participate in providing false information to a bank or other financial organization, even if you are not the one who actually completes the activity, you can be charged and ultimately convicted of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Per the U.S. Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 63, Subsection 1349 -- Any person who attempts or conspires to commit any offense under this chapter shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the attempt or conspiracy.
It is imperative that you provide only accurate information about your business that can be verified by D&B and other agencies, not only because it helps to insulate you from having to wear the expensive jewelry in the photo above, but because it paints a cleaner picture of your business and its activities and history. Your ability to build a strong, comprehensive, credible business credit profile is dependent on your willingness to work toward that ultimate goal, and deception in practice or action should not be a part of any good business owner's Standard Operating Procedure.
In my own business, I demand transparency and accountability for all data that I process to a client's account. I work very hard to assist you in building an accurate and complete profile to get you to your goal, which includes verification of any data that sent to D&B about your business. It is for this reason that I research the Secretary of State filings for my clients, pull comprehensive information about you, and review detailed reports about your current business credit profile.
LESSON: If you are providing data about your business to any creditor, vendor, bureau or agency, be sure you can back it up with detailed verification, because you may actually need to do so if there is ever a question about your business history.
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