Criminology Unit 5

White Collar Crime:

  • In 1939, Edwin Sutherland defined white collar crime as:

 -Violations of the criminal law committed by persons of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation.


Definitional Evolution of White Collar Crime:

  • Original definition focused on the violator not the offense

  • Concept has changed to a focus on the nature of the crime instead of the persons or occupations involved

  • Occupational crime

-Any crime committed through opportunity created in the course of a legal occupation. 


Corporate Crime:

  • A violation of a criminal statute either by a corporate entity or by its executives, employees, or agents acting on behalf of or for the benefit of the corporation or other form of business entity.

  • Can result in civil suits against the corporation as well as possible criminal prosecutions.


Corporate Fraud: 

  • Includes accounting schemes, self-dealing by corporate executives, obstruction of justice, insider trading, kickbacks, and misuse of corporate property for personal gain.


Securities and Commodities fraud:

  • Stock market manipulation, high-yield investment fraud, advance-fee fraud, commodities fraud, foreign exchange fraud, broker embezzlement. 


Healthcare fraud:

  • Particularly target Medicare and Medicaid but all health-care programs are subject to fraud.

  • Not limited to any particular geographical area, can target large healthcare programs and beneficiaries, becoming more complex and sophisticated.

  • Now being committed by organized crime groups.


Mortgage Fraud:

  • Involves material misstatements, misrepresentation, and/or omissions related to the property or potential mortgage relied on by an underwriter or lender to fund, purchase or insure a loan. 


Insurance Fraud:

  • Insurance industry size makes it a prime target for criminal activity.

  • Insurance fraud involving arson related to the mortgage crisis

  • Worker’s compensation fraud increased greatly with the economic downturn.


Mass-Marketing Fraud:

  • Fraud connected with communications media (telemarketing, mass mailings, internet, etc…)

  • Key Schemes

-Nigerian letter fraud

-Foreign lottery/sweepstakes fraud

-Overpayment fraud


Welfare Fraud:

  • The use of deceitful statements, practices, or devices to unlawfully obtain public assistance benefits.


Money Laundering:

  • The process by which illegal gains are disguised as legal income

  • Process of converting illegally earned assets, originating as cash, to one or more alternative forms to conceal incriminating factors like illegal origin and true ownership.



Environmental Crimes:

  • Violations of the criminal law that damage some protected or otherwise significant aspect of the natural environment. 


Terrorism and White Collar Crime:

  • Terrorist activity frequently involves some form of white collar crime because terrorists need money for daily living expenses.

  • Terrorist groups also frequently send a portion of the money acquired from illegal activities back to their home country or pass it along to those higher up in the chain of command. 


Causes of White-Collar Crime:

  • White collar criminality is learned

  • White collar criminals are motivated by the same forces driving other criminals

  • White collar criminals are motivated by corporate goals and limited conventional opportunities. 


Reducing White Collar Crime:

  • White collar crimes are often difficult to investigate and prosecute.

   -Offenders are generally better educated.

   -Evidence is often only understandable to financial or legal experts and can be difficult for jurors to understand.

   -Offenders can hire excellent defense attorneys. 


Organized crime:

  • Unlawful activities of a highly organized group engaged in supplying illegal goods/services. 

  • Ethnic succession: Continuing process of one immigrant or ethnic group succeeding another by assuming its position in society. 


Prohibition and Official Corruption:

  • Prohibition was the running/sale of contraband liquor

  • Huge profits led to wholesale bribery of government officials, quick corruption of many law enforcement officers. 


Other Organized Criminal Groups:

  • Criminal Enterprise

-Group of individuals with an identifiable hierarchy, and extensive supporting networks, engaged in significant criminal activity. 


Transnational Organized Crime:

  • Unlawful activity undertaken and supported by organized criminal groups operating across national boundaries. 

  • Globalization of crime requires international coordination of law enforcement efforts

  • U.S law enforcement activities must expand beyond national borders. 


Policy Issues: The control of organized crime

  • Increase the resources available to law enforcement agencies

  • Increase law enforcement authority

  • Make legitimate opportunities more readily available

  • Decriminalization or legalization to decrease opportunity. 


Ponzi Scheme: A form of high-yield investment fraud that uses money collected from new investors, rather than profits from the purported underlying business venture, to pay high rates of return promised to earlier investors. 


Employee Theft: Pilferage and Embezzlement

  • Pilferage: Theft of merchandise, tools, etc…

  • Embezzlement: Theft of cash and misuse of funds.