White Collar Crimes

Defense of White Collar Crimes

Let Balestriere Lanza PLLC either defend you against or avoid accusations of white collar crime. For a consultation, contact Balestriere Lanza PLLC. We can help you with your white collar criminal issues. For more information, see our White Collar Criminal Defense page.

History of White Collar Crimes

The origin of the term white collar is derived from the white shirts that were generally worn by professions such as lawyers and doctors at the turn of the century. It is not clear who first coined the phrase, but it almost certainly came into being at the same time as the related phrase blue collar, which referred to the working class since they typically wore working shirts that were colored blue. The term white-collar crime may have been first coined by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 and referred to such crimes as embezzlement, bribery, and securities fraud. Today, white collar crimes, or business crimes as they are sometimes referred to, are generally categorized as those crimes that are most typically committed by white collar professionals and employees. It has expanded to include RICO act violations and computer related crimes. Although white collar individuals can in fact commit shoplifting, it is not considered a white collar crime.

For additional information, you can visit the white-collar entry on Wikipedia by clicking here.

White Collar Crimes Defined

There is no official list of white collar crimes, but you can generally assume that crimes which either involve organizations, require professional training or status, or are financial in nature are generally considered white collar crimes. Examples include general fraud, bankruptcy fraud, bribery, insider trading, embezzlement, computer crimes, medical crimes, public corruption, environmental crimes, pension fund crimes, RICO crimes, consumer fraud, occupational crimes, securities fraud, financial fraud, and forgery.

Prosecution of White Collar Crimes

It is generally assumed that a substantial portion of white collar crimes committed go undetected. Consequently, many white collar criminals do not get prosecuted. It is also true that, given the complexity of the crimes in general, the sometimes ambiguous law governing many activities, and the reliance on witnesses or the reliance on paper or electronic forensic evidence rather than traditional forensic evidence, it is possible to be unjustly accused. Furthermore, factors such as jurisdiction, judicial venue, public perception and public interest can have significan influence on not only the outcome of a trial but the gravity of the punishment.

White Collar Crime Costs

As with most statistics surrounding white collar crime, it is difficult to give precise figures as to the cost of white collar crimes to companies or the public. A recent paper by Karen Schnatterly at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota titled "Increasing firm value through detection and prevention of white-collar crime" estimates that the average cost to large corporations runs between 1 and 6 percent of annual sales.

Victims of White Collar Crime

A recent study on victims of white collar crimes ("Victims of fraud: comparing victims of white collar and violent crime.",Ganzini L, et. al) found that victims of white collar crimes often have similar symptomology of victims of violent crimes.