Business Law: White Collar Crime, White Collar Crime Business Law

State-corporate crimes of globalization

combiniation of government and corporate crime for financial gain.

Governmental WCC

committed by government employees, persons aspiring to be government employees, or government agencies

Contrepreneurial or professional WCC

crimes by individuals who see crime as a livelihood. They have highly developed skills are are successful at avoiding detection.

Corporate Crime

deals with crimes committed by corporate officials on behalf of their corporations

Organized WCC

infliltration or organized crime into legitimate businesses

Occupational WCC

motivated by money, committed by people of legitimate occupations

Whisteblowers

provide info that may lead to the detection and prosection of corporate or government crooks; most work for the company and then seek an outside venue to disclose the wrongdoings of the individuals

Criminology

scientific study of why people commit crime.

6 major types of white collar crime

1. Corporate 2. Occupational 3. Governmental 4. State-corporate crimes 5. Organized 6. Contrepreneurial

4 main reasons behind the social movement against WCC in the US

1. Dissillusionment with big businesses and government after the Vietnam war, the watergate scandal and the ford pinto incident. 2. Movements to protect civil rights 3. Movement to protect the environment 4. Moral entrepreneurs: individuals who condemn a form of behavior and are in a position to mobilize people and demand legal action. (Reporters, prosecutors, legislators)

4 major reasons for studying WCC

1. Harms everyone--doesn't discriminate. 2. More widespread 3. Costs more than street crime--financial, phyical, psychological 4. May inspire change/reform

2 key elements of crime

1. Illegal Act: commission or omission. 2. Intent

4 groups responsible for exposing WCC

1. Informers 2. Whistleblowers 3. Muckrakers 4. The new muckrakers--investigative journalists

3 stages of corporate deviance

1. Initiating deviance: the organization defines a situation as a problem which needs a solution. (initial actions may not be deviant) 2. Institutionalization: deviant behavior becomes learned and accepted as part of the organizational culture. 3. Reactions: the deviance continues until stopped either from inside or outside.

6 wasy corporate violence differs from street violence

1. It is usually indirect; results from policies and actions undertaken on behaf of the corporation, which results in the exposure of people to harmful conditions, products or substances. 2. The effects are seen after the fact--sometimes take years to manifest 3. Causal relationship is hard to prove. 4. A large number of individuals or groups acting collectively are usually the culprits. 5. Violence is usually motivated by greed and profit. Violence is not usually the specific outcome that is intended. 6. Corporate violence has seen a limited legal and justice system response.

3 reasons companies are capable of deviant acts

1. Large organizations are collections of positions with skills, power, rules and rewards. 2. People are replaceable. 3. Organizations influance work-related thoughts and actions.

3 ways large organizations encourage deviance

1. Limited individual responsibility. 2. Indirect encouragement by company elites (norms, policies, rewards, punishments that encourage deviant actions) 3. Power by elites to command deviant actions.

Profile of an average white collar criminal

1. Middle Aged 2. Middle to upper class 3. White 4. Male 5. College educated 6. Married 7. Strong ties to community 8. Gainfully employed

Why are Americans more concerned with street crime compared to WCC?

1. No blood, sex, violence 2. WCC is complex, boring, hard to understand, less visable 3. Lack of funding from corporate sponsors--ties to big businesses. 4. Investigative journalists do not receive support from their superiors. 5. Indirect ties to the government

4 basic harms resulting from WCC

1. Physical injury 2. Financial 3. Psychological 4. Moral

Crime Triangle

1. Target 2. Desire 3. Opportunity

3 reasons punishment of organizations is rare

1. They're rich and powerful--lots of resources to protect their assets and officials. 2. Investigating crimes is complex, costly and time consuming. 3. Punishment is difficult to assign

3 ways we measure crime in the US

1. Uniform Crime Report (UCR) 2. Victimization Survey 3. Self Report Studies

Profile of an average street criminal

1. Young adults 2. Lower class 3. Black 4. Male 5. Junior high level education 6. Single 7. Weak ties 8. Tends to be unemployed

2 Major sub categories of corporate crime

1. corporate violence 2. Corporate abuse of power.

Cyber Crime

A crime in which a computer is the object of the crime (hacking, phishing, spamming) or is used as a tool to commit an offence (child pornography, hate crimes).

Fraud by false representation

A person presents themselves in a dishonest way to make a gain for him or herself or another, or to cause loss or risk of loss to another.

Identity theft

Also known as identity fraud, is a crime in which an impostor obtains key pieces of personally identifiable information, such as driver's license or passport numbers, in order to impersonate someone else.

What is a crime

An act or omission prohibited by criminal law.

White collar crime

Criminal acts committed by middle class people in the course of their work

Tax Fraud

Essentially entails cheating on a tax return in an attempt to avoid paying the entire tax obligation.

Corporate WCC

Illegal and harmful acts committed by offenders or employees of a corporation to promote corporate or personal interests.

Current definition of WCC

Illegal or unethical acts that violate fiduciary responsibility of public trust committed by an individual or organization usually during the course of legit occupational activity by persons of high or respectable social status for personal or organizational gain.

Muckrakers

Jounalists who look to expose the wrongdoings of the powerful and privileged

Bribery

Offering, giving, receiving or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty.

Informers

Provide criminal justice personnell with crucial information that may lead to investigation, indictment, and construction of law violators

Culpability

Refers to weighing up the factors of the case to determine the offenders role and the extent to which the offending was planned and the sophistication with which the crime was carried out.

Forgery

The action of falsely making, altering, imitating or copying a document, signature, bank note or work of art to deceive others.

Fraud

The intentional deception of a person by another made for monetary or personal gain.

Money Laundering

The process of creating the appearance that large amounts of money obtained from criminal activity, such as drug trafficking or terrorist activity, originated from a legitimate source.

Embezzlement

To secretly take money that is in your care or that belongs to an organisation or business you work for.

Insider trading

Under the Criminal Justice Act 1993, dealing in securities on the basis of inside information, that is, information that is not yet publicly known and which would affect the price of the securities if it were made public

Benefit fraud

When someone obtains state benefit they are not entitled to or deliberately fails to report a change in their personal circumstances.