Question

(a) Define white collar crime.

(b) What are the attributes of white collar crime offenders?

Answer 1

White-collar crime refers to financially motivated, nonviolent crime committed by business and government professionals.Within criminology, it was first defined by sociologist edwin sutherland in 1939 as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation". Typical white-collar crimes could include fraud, bribery, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, labor racketeering, embezzlement, cybercrime, copyright infringement, money laundering, identity theft, and forgery.

Attributes:

Non-violent — white collar crimes differ primarily from other types of crime in that they are non-violent offenses.

Deception — white collar crimes encompass activities that use deception to obtain money, property or some other advantage or to cover up other criminal activity.

Intent — criminal intent plays a key role in white collar crimes, as prosecutors must not only prove that a defendant’s actions led to the commission of a white collar offense but that the defendant intended for the criminal action to end with a specific benefit or result. For example, in health care fraud cases, it must be proven that invoices were intentionally falsified and not just the result of an accounting error. In political corruption cases, it must be proven that something of value was given in exchange for a specific desired outcome rather than just gifts between friends.

Grand jury — in most criminal cases, the investigative work is done by law enforcement officials. When it comes to white collar crimes, the prosecutor’s main investigative tool is the grand jury, which can issue subpoenas to compel testimony from reluctant witnesses and allow the prosecution to obtain documents from companies that don’t necessarily want to cooperate. In more complex white collar cases, a grand jury’s investigative work can stretch for many months or even years.

Multiple defendants — most white collar crimes involve multiple actors who conspire together to commit fraud. This presents the prosecution with the opportunity to offer plea deals for minor actors in exchange for testimony against the main players.