Realizing you’ve fallen victim to a scam is a truly unpleasant experience. Not only do you have to deal with the distress that your trust has been violated—but there is also the matter of the hoops you have to jump through just to regain your assets. This is especially true when dealing with more serious cases like investment scams, which often involve large sums of money.
If you’ve recently been scammed, you’ll want to give yourself the best chance to recoup your losses and attain the justice you deserve. One of the best ways to do this is by seeking legal aid. An experienced legal team uses what’s called a chain of custody to compile and protect the evidence needed to improve your chances of recouping your money.
Here is a breakdown of how a chain of custody strengthens your case in a civil court.
What is the chain of custody?
The chain of custody is essentially the thorough documentation of evidence. It records the nature of a piece of evidence, every action is done to or with it—such as how it was collected, stored, analyzed, or transferred—and who presided over each activity. Documenting your chain of custody is important because doing so provides all the pertinent information needed to prove that evidence was collected in the proper manner. As such, it’s less likely to be ruled false or invalid in court.
As an example, Duke University points out that in seeking justice for Ukraine, US courts aren’t able to try many Russian war criminals in court. One major reason for this is the chain of custody: with many people handling evidence and most witnesses being overseas, it’s challenging to authenticate chains of custody in the US. Ultimately, this proves that a chain of custody can make or break your case.
How does the chain of custody apply to cases of fraud?
The International Anti-Corruption Resource Center defines fraud as any act that willingly or recklessly aims to mislead others for many reasons, such as for financial gain or to avoid financial obligations. Most scams fall under this definition. Acts of fraud can be as simple as backdating a document or making misconstruing statements. As such, establishing a chain of custody is one of the basics of collecting evidence for fraud investigations. While very simple, the careful systemic filing of documents is crucial in the authentication of evidence, especially in proving that you have been deceived via false pretenses or certain particularities.
To prove an act of fraud, your legal team needs a few key pieces of evidence. First is proof that the person who scammed you made a representation, such as a contract or an invoice, that contained fabrications. The following piece of evidence must demonstrate that your scammer knew about these falsities and used them to intentionally mislead you. Finally, the team must prove the scammer’s motive to deceive you, such as financial gain.
How will your legal team use a chain of custody to strengthen your case?
Ideally, there will be numerous items of evidence that the legal team can use to build your case. Ultimately, your attorney will select the most significant items to submit to the court, and a major aspect of that is knowing which items are the most reliable through the chain of custody.
Your legal team will, in short, use your chain of custody to get your evidence admitted by providing salient information that proves the evidence is valid. Afterwards, they will utilize that evidence to build your case, using it to ask relevant questions, to demonstrate that you were cheated, and to urge that you receive compensation.
This wearisome but weighty task is but one of the many things a legal team does to present your case in the best possible light. Seeking legal assistance means you have qualified professionals on hand to assist you in the vital steps of filing a suit and working toward the goal of getting you the verdict you deserve.
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Brokers Complaint is a team of Fund Recovery Experts. We have helped scam victims recover millions of dollrs from Forex Scams, Cryptocurrency Scams, Bitcoin Scams, Investment Scams, Pet Scams, Tax Scams, Pension frauds, Dating/Romance Scams and all other scams.We have more than 10 years of experience in this field. We offer a Free Consultation when you file the complaint with us. SO you can throw your trust upon us.
