The term fraud may be defined as an intentional perversion of the truth. In some way, the truth was presented in a way that was untrue or misleading. It was not matter of fact. In some way, this lack of providing the truth resulted in a criminal act or crime either on the part of the person presenting the facts as truth or on the acts of those who were the ones to receive the information. Fraud is often linked to misuse or misrepresentation of facts based on corporate earnings or other financial data that is not provided in an accurate manner. As a crime punishable under state and federal laws, criminal fraud is a serious offense in most situations.