Reportedly coined in 1939, the term white-collar crime is now synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals. These crimes are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and are not dependent on the application or threat of physical force or violence.
Examples of white-collar crimes include securities fraud, embezzlement, corporate fraud, and money laundering. In addition to the FBI, entities that investigate white-collar crime include the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), and state authorities.
Who Investigates White Collar Crime? In addition to its investigations of criminal activities such as public corruption, money laundering, corporate fraud, securities and commodities fraud, mortgage fraud, financial institution fraud, bank fraud and embezzlement, the FBI also works on white-collar crime.
And although they are not violent, they can destroy someone's life more irremediably than a gunshot wound would. Many people who have been affected by these white-collar crimes have ended up losing all their life savings, which has led to ruining their families and ultimately pushing them to commit suicide.
The most common white collar crimesCorporate Fraud. Also referred to as “business fraud,” corporate fraud entails crimes that are committed by organizations or individuals or groups within organizations in order for financial gain or protection. ... Embezzlement. ... Extortion.
White malesWhite males between the ages of 41-50 are the most common demographic that commits a white-collar crime. Males commit at least 75% of white-collar crimes, and crimes like bribery are overwhelmingly committed by white individuals (84.9%).
White-collar crime is commonly subdivided into two broad, general categories:Individual crimes. Individual crimes are financial crimes committed by an individual or a group of individuals. ... Corporate crimes. Some white-collar crime occurs on a corporate level.
White-collar crimes get their name from the fact that they are usually committed by white-collar workers taking advantage of their position within a company or government agency to extract some financial gain.
The penalties for white-collar offenses include fines, home detention, community confinement, paying the cost of prosecution, forfeitures, restitution, supervised release, and imprisonment. Federal Sentencing Guidelines suggest longer prison sentence whenever at least one victim suffered substantial financial harm.
In contrast, most research on perceived crime seriousness suggests that the public generally ranks white-collar violations as serious, especially embezzlement and activities which result in death or injury to individuals.
White-collar crime has the potential to be considerably more severe than street crime. Even though street crime is far more violent than white-collar crime, white-collar crime has a more significant economic impact.
Typically, white collar crimes are committed by citizens that are in a “higher” social class, whereas blue-collar crimes are committed by people from a “lower” social class. Some examples of blue collar crimes may include: Drug-related crimes. Armed robbery.