{"id":6948,"date":"2026-08-06T15:04:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T19:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanmiguel.law\/en\/?page_id=6948"},"modified":"2026-08-06T15:04:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T19:04:23","slug":"commercial-fraud-attorney","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sanmiguel.law\/en\/services\/commercial-fraud-attorney\/","title":{"rendered":"Commercial Fraud Attorney"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"greater-houston-commercial-fraud-attorney\">Greater Houston Commercial Fraud Attorney<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two Legal Systems, One Team Protecting What You&#8217;re Owed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commercial fraud rarely remains within a single legal system when a business has partners, suppliers, or customers on both sides of the border. San Miguel Attorneys is a bicultural Greater Houston commercial litigation attorney team, dual-licensed in Texas and Mexico, representing businesses that have been defrauded by a partner, vendor, buyer, or investor in either country. Texas and Mexico define and pursue fraud in genuinely different ways, and a claim that crosses the border usually has to work through both systems, not just one. Knowing which path applies, and when, is most of the battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"why-business-owners-choose-san-miguel-attorneys-for-fraud-matters\">Why Business Owners Choose San Miguel Attorneys for Fraud Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Protect what you&#8217;ve built. <\/strong>Fraud cases move fast once assets start disappearing. We help you act by the right deadline in the right jurisdiction, instead of wasting time figuring out where to start.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cross-border reach. <\/strong>Few Houston firms are licensed to advise on both a Texas civil fraud claim and a Mexican fraud claim based on the same underlying facts. We are.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Partnership, not a meter running. <\/strong>Businesses with recurring cross-border contracts can build fraud prevention into routine contract review through our Chief Legal Officer Program, rather than only calling a lawyer after money is already gone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-texas-law-defines-commercial-fraud\">How Texas Law Defines Commercial Fraud<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Texas recognizes fraud through several overlapping legal paths, and which one applies depends on the facts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Common law fraud generally requires a false statement of material fact, known to be false, made to induce reliance, that the other party reasonably relied on to their harm.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/statutes.capitol.texas.gov\/Docs\/BC\/htm\/BC.27.htm\">Statutory fraud under Texas Business and Commerce Code Chapter 27<\/a> applies specifically to real estate and stock transactions and does not require proving the defendant knew the statement was false to recover actual damages, which makes it easier to prove in the transactions it covers.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both paths generally must be brought within four years of when the fraud occurred, or when it reasonably should have been discovered, under the Texas discovery rule. That deadline moves faster than most business owners expect once litigation is actually underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-mexican-law-defines-commercial-fraud\">How Mexican Law Defines Commercial Fraud\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mexican law addresses fraud on two separate tracks that often run concurrently. On the civil side, deceit that induces someone to enter a contract is treated as a defect in consent under the Federal Civil Code that can void the contract and support a claim for damages. On the criminal side, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diputados.gob.mx\/LeyesBiblio\/pdf_mov\/Codigo_Penal_Federal.pdf\">fraud is defined under Article 386 of the Federal Penal Code<\/a> as deceiving someone, or taking advantage of an existing mistake, to unlawfully obtain something or an undue profit, with penalties that scale with the amount defrauded.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most fraud cases in Mexico are prosecuted under state, not federal, penal codes, since ordinary crimes fall under state jurisdiction unless a specific federal interest is involved, and nearly all versions require the victim to file a formal complaint before prosecution can proceed. Which state&#8217;s code applies and whether the civil or criminal path (or both) makes sense for your situation depend heavily on where the fraud occurred and who was involved, which is worth discussing directly with an attorney licensed in the relevant state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"why-cross-border-fraud-cases-are-especially-complex\">Why Cross-Border Fraud Cases Are Especially Complex<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Different legal traditions. <\/strong>Texas fraud claims are built around common-law and statutory causes of action pursued in civil cases. Mexican fraud often runs through the criminal system first, with a required victim complaint, alongside a separate civil path for damages.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Different deadlines. <\/strong>Texas gives you roughly four years under the discovery rule. Mexican civil and criminal deadlines are calculated differently, and a criminal complaint may need to proceed more quickly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Enforcing a judgment across the border. <\/strong>Winning a case in one country doesn&#8217;t automatically let you collect assets in the other. A Mexican civil judgment generally has to be recognized under the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, codified in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 36A, before it can be enforced against assets in Texas, and the reverse process for enforcing a Texas judgment in Mexico depends on the Mexican state where enforcement is sought.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-to-do-if-you-believe-youve-been-defrauded\">What to Do If You Believe You&#8217;ve Been Defrauded<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Preserve every contract, invoice, communication, and payment record connected to the transaction before anything is deleted or lost. Then get a clear read on where the money and the responsible party actually are, since that usually determines whether Texas, Mexico, or both are the right venue. Fraud cases weaken every month that passes, both because evidence and witness memory fade and because Texas&#8217;s four-year window and Mexico&#8217;s own deadlines are both running whether or not you&#8217;ve decided how to proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Talk to an International Fraud Attorney Before the Trail Goes Cold<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether the fraud happened in Houston, Monterrey, or somewhere in between, contact San Miguel Attorneys today to talk with our team about your options in both legal systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"frequently-asked-questions\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s the difference between civil fraud and criminal fraud in Mexico?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Civil fraud lets you ask a court to void the contract and award damages for what you lost. Criminal fraud is prosecuted by the state through a formal complaint filed by the victim and can result in restitution as part of a criminal sentence, in addition to potential jail time or fines for the person responsible. The two tracks can run alongside each other, and which one (or both) makes sense depends on your goals and the facts of the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How long do I have to sue for fraud in Texas?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Generally, four years from when the fraud occurred, or from when you discovered it or reasonably should have discovered it, under Texas&#8217;s discovery rule. Because that discovery point is often disputed, it&#8217;s worth talking to an attorney as soon as you suspect fraud rather than waiting until you&#8217;re certain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can I enforce a Texas judgment against someone in Mexico, or a Mexican judgment against someone in Texas?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s possible, but neither happens automatically. A Mexican money judgment generally needs to be recognized under Texas&#8217;s Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act before Texas courts will enforce it against assets here, and enforcing a Texas judgment in Mexico depends on the recognition process in the relevant Mexican state. Confirming where the responsible party&#8217;s collectible assets actually are should shape your strategy from the start, not after you&#8217;ve already won a judgment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Greater Houston Commercial Fraud Attorney Two Legal Systems, One Team Protecting What You&#8217;re Owed Commercial fraud rarely remains within a single legal system when a business has partners, suppliers, or customers on both sides of the border. San Miguel Attorneys is a bicultural Greater Houston commercial litigation attorney team, dual-licensed in Texas and Mexico, representing&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":6834,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6948","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Greater Houston Commercial Fraud Attorney | San Miguel Attorneys<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"San Miguel Attorneys represents businesses in commercial fraud disputes spanning Texas and Mexico, from contract fraud to cross-border judgment enforcement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanmiguel.law\/en\/services\/commercial-fraud-attorney\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Greater Houston Commercial Fraud Attorney | San Miguel Attorneys\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"San Miguel Attorneys represents businesses in commercial fraud disputes spanning Texas and Mexico, from contract fraud to cross-border judgment enforcement.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sanmiguel.law\/en\/services\/commercial-fraud-attorney\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"San Miguel Attorneys P.C. 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