MAIN Home Life Home Legal Guide White Collar Crimes

Hedge fund fraud? Corporate fraud? Securities & commodities fraud? Telemarketing fraud? Internet scams?

Accusations of white collar crimes are often difficult to prove because the line between manipulations that are unethical but legal and criminal acts is very fine. Internet scams may be easily identified as crimes, but accountants who arrange the numbers to make a weak company seem healthy are seldom charged with criminal activity if the executives can fix the problems and save the company from bankruptcy. If a business fails and an audit reveals that the accounting was not properly done, the people who were involved will probably face criminal charges.

Forgery and counterfeiting, embezzlement and fraud are all classified as white collar crimes. While some of these crimes are clearly intended to defraud, not all fit neatly into clear criminal intent. A lapse of ethics to prevent a business collapse is often well intentioned — but misguided... and illegal.

Internet fraud, identity theft and other well publicized cases, like Martha Stewart's insider trading trial or the Enron scandal, have increased awareness and launched white collar crimes into the mainstream media. The criminal laws that define when behavior crosses the line between questionable ethics and illegal behavior are put in place to protect the public from being victimized by unscrupulous business practices.

The list of white collar crimes also includes antitrust violations, credit card fraud, phone and telemarketing fraud, bankruptcy fraud, healthcare fraud, environmental law violations, insurance fraud, mail fraud, government fraud, tax evasion, financial fraud, securities fraud, bribery, kickbacks, public corruption, money laundering, economic espionage and trade secret theft.

Whether you find yourself accused of having committed a white collar crime or think you have been the target of fraud or other illegal activity, you'll need to find a lawyer who is familiar with these laws.

Find out more about the "white collar" area of the legal system and locate lawyers who can help fight to bring a criminal to justice — or defend you from charges you believe are unjust...

FBI White-Collar Crime - The FBI , with links to top spots on the Internet for more on how to avoid being cheated, what to do and how to report the criminals if you get caught in a white collar scam, news headlines, interesting cases, law and government resources and related resources.

White-collar crime Wikipedia - User edited info on the basics with interesting history, facts on what constitutes white collar crimes as opposed to blue collar or 'street' crimes and a bit of discussion on the different treatment white collar crimes received under the law..

White Collar Crime - Cornell University Law School - Clear overview of what the term white collar crime means and a long list of links to US Federal materials, laws, judicial decisions and more...

Office for Victims of Crime - White Collar Crime - US Department of Justice site with links to resources for anyone who has been harmed by any white collar crimes.

Criminal Justice Resources : White Collar Crime and Fraud - Michigan State University site with massive amount of links to resources on white collar crimes.

Australian Institute of Criminology - Corporate and high tech crime - Articles and links to resources targeted to Aussies but most are general enough to apply to any geographical area.

White Collar Crimes Overview - From Justia.com this site has an easy to understand collection of white collar crimes resources including a brief overview, a selection of articles, related web resources and the latest US laws relating to white collar crime on copyright, commerce and trade, IRS statutes and criminal procedures.

also see -> Internet Thieves Are Phishing - Don't Get Scammed

also see in Legal -> How To File Consumer Complaints,
Lemon Laws, Scams, Tips & Advice

Help for Crime Victims

The information provided on these pages is intended as reference
only and does not constitute professional legal advice.