Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
April Wesley
What is white collar crime exactly? People in this country do not speak of white
collar criminals as “criminals”, yet they have committed very serious crimes. The
majority of white collar criminals do not look like the stereotypical street criminal,
and they do not bring about fear in those who see them. An affluent man, well in
his 50’s, is often carried out of his building in handcuffs after committing his white
collar crime, but that type of criminal does not look scary, so we do not see them so
much as criminals. People see them as a reflection of us. Many white collar
offenders are ordinary people who get into financial difficulty and think they have
found an easy way to get themselves out of that financial crisis. Still, to the average
person, that may seem like a small, harmless crime with no victim. However, these
crimes have much more serious repercussions than the average citizen could
imagine.
respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation (Floyd, 2009).
However, the United States Department of Justice gave a much more detailed
definition for it in 1981: “nonviolent crime for financial gain committed by means
opportunities; also, nonviolent crime for financial gain utilizing deception and
Therefore, a banker who uses his “inside intelligence” to steal small sums of money
from bank funds over a period of years is committing a white collar crime because
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he is using his position to deceive the bank for his own financial gain. That is one
What crimes are considered white collar crimes? Some crimes can be
surrounding the crime. Conspiracy, extortion, and obstruction of justice are crimes
that fall into that “iffy” category. Some of the more common white collar offenses
used in Enron, and bank fraud. In addition, there is blackmail, bribery, cellular
fraud, computer fraud, counterfeiting, credit card fraud, forgery, insider trading,
many others (National Check Fraud Center, 2006). This listing of typical white
collar crimes could go on for several pages. However, it needs to be made clear that
all court cases relating to white collar crimes are actually criminal cases (Strader,
2002). People may wonder why some of these crimes even get prosecuted since
they are seen as “victimless” in many cases, but even though there is not one clear
cut victim as there is in a single homicide, there are still victims who lose
everything they have ever worked for, and some who even get hurt or lose their
The most expensive crime in financial terms is white collar crime (Conklin,
1986). In January of 1977, the New York Times reported that the Joint Economic
Committee of Congress estimated that one third of all financial costs of crime in
the United States could be contributed to white collar crime (Conklin, 1986). Now
that it is twenty-three years later, it is probably safe to guess that their number has
tripled. That is truly scary. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
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annual cost of white collar crime these days is more than $300 billion (Floyd,
2009). Who pays for these costs? The victimless crime now seems to obtain
unknowing victims. When companies have been robbed from the inside, the
consumers pay higher prices for their products from that company. All the
companies pass their losses to the consumers in the form of rising product prices
(Conklin, 1986). If a construction firm bribes a city inspector to pass their new high
rise apartment building, then the price of rent for the tenants can ease the
foreman’s pocket (Conklin, 1986). There are also many individuals who lose their
retirement, their pensions, their insurance, and everything. Many people who have
worked for a company for ten or more years have all of their investments tied up in
that company, so they are ruined when that company falls. Where is the victimless
crime now?
Physical harm can also result from white collar crime. When a company sells
counterfeit merchandise that has had no safety inspection, they are putting
automobile plant, and he never bothered to check the actual illegal working
conditions, employees could die or get injured from his negligence. A person does
not have to pull a trigger in order to kill someone. In some cases, people involved in
white collar crimes have even lost their lives trying to keep secrets for their
executives, or because they were going to blow the whistle on them. Either way,
white collar crimes can go as far as to leave a body count. Whether these crimes
result in body counts, financial ruin, or just putting a black mark on the country’s
business world and the consumers’ trust in it, there are certainly victims who need
to be vindicated.
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References
Floyd, J.T. (2009). White-Collar Crime: an Overview. John T. Floyd Web Site.
lawyer.com.
Keel, R.O. (2008). White Collar Crime: Crimes committed by the affluent in the
http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/200/wcolcrim.html.
National Check Fraud Center. (n.d.). Types and Schemes of White Collar Crime.