White-collar crimes are committed by people holding responsible positions in corporates. These individuals are different from blue-collar employees who perform labor-related activities.
White-collar crimes are those committed to avoid loss of property, money, or services, or to gain a personal or business advantage. The characteristics of white-collar crimes include deceit, breach of trust, and concealment.
Some typical examples of white-collar crimes are:
Securities fraud: It is also known as stock or investment fraud. Securities fraud is an illegal activity involving assets or the securities market. It entails misrepresentation of information that mislead investors in making investment decisions. This type of crime can be committed by stockbrokers, brokerage firms, corporations, or investment bankers.
Security frauds are committed in one of the following ways:
- Providing false information
- Offering bad advice
- Withholding vital information
- Acting on inside information
- One of the latest ways of committing securities fraud is through the internet. In this case, people use chatrooms or forums to spread fake information regarding stocks to cause an increase in stock prices.
Some common types of securities fraud are:
- Manipulating stock prices
- Lying about SEC filings
- Accounting frauds
Embezzlement: Embezzlement is when a criminal uses the assets of a company for his personal purpose. These crimes are typically committed when an individual is entrusted the responsibility of assets like money or property and dishonestly appropriates the asset for his personal use. Embezzlement falls under the purview of a felony.
Cash Skimming is the most common way in which embezzlement is committed. Cash skimming is when employees who directly handle cash such as cashiers, bartenders, etc., pocket the cash by manipulating transaction records.
Corporate Fraud: This crime is perpetrated by an individual or a company. It entails illegal activities conducted dishonestly. Examples of corporate fraud are a misrepresentation of products or services or falsified accounting. Corporate fraud frequently occurs in companies by taking advantage of confidential information or accessing sensitive information for personal gain. Another way in which corporate fraud is committed is by misrepresenting a product or service. In this case, the company disguises the flaws and defects of its product or service and sells it to consumers.
If an individual or a company claims to put its funds into investments that are expected to appreciate and in reality, the funds have been diverted elsewhere, it is considered corporate fraud.
Money Laundering: It refers to financial transactions in which the identity, source, and destination of illegally obtained money are intentionally concealed. Some examples of money laundering are tax evasion and false accounting. Money laundering is usually facilitated by shell companies, holding companies, and offshore accounts.
Ways in which money laundering is committed are:
- Smurfing
- Using foreign exchange
- Foreign bank accounts
- Counterfeiting
- Gambling
- Buying and selling real estate discreetly
- Cash smuggling, wire transfers
- Online banking
- Business email compromise
- Fake identities
- Virtual currencies
- Anonymous online payments, etc.
These are some of how white-collar crimes are committed. One of the most classic examples of white-collar crime is the Enron scam. In case you are accused of committing a white-collar crime, you will need experienced criminal lawyers to defend you. Autrey Law Firm has expert criminal lawyers who have successfully represented clients in different types of criminal cases.
