There are many different crimes in the world today. Some of the overlooked crimes fall into the white collar crime category. This category is made up of crimes that do not necessarily “hurt” someone. They often happen in professional settings and include things such as embezzlement, pyramid schemes, and fraud. Many times when people see some sort of corporate scandal on the news, it is about a white collar crime. It has been found that the public as a whole is more willing to forgive people who commit these crimes. It is important to remember that they can result in just as much jail time as any other type of illegal activity.

A white collar crime is many times defined as a non-violent crime involving deception and/or trickery, typically committed by a business person, public official, or someone of high stature, trust, or authority. Evidence in a white collar crime usually involves a paper trail of evidence that investigators use to prosecute the case. Although this definition may be true, it is hotly contested within the community of experts that try to define “White-Collar Crime”. Many experts feel there are three main characteristics that categorize a white-collar criminal. Some experts believe that white-collar crime should be defined by the high socioeconomic status and/or occupation of trust that the offender has. Others believe that white-collar crime should be defined by the type of offense committed i.e., fraud, counterfeiting, forgery, embezzlement, bribery, larceny, price fixing, racketeering, computer fraud, obstruction of justice, and perjury.

Occupational, organizational, and corporate transactions are often under a great deal of scrutiny, for these are the positions in which individuals are more likely to commit a white collar offense. However, classification in this category is dependent on more than the nature of your job (i.e. what you do on a daily basis) and the social class under which you fall. Therefore, accusations, arrests, and criminal proceedings must be based upon more than simply the aspects of your career and the socioeconomic status of your being. Unlawful behaviors of embezzlement, money laundering, and the like are ones which could be committed under your name without you being aware of the totality of what is happening. Therefore, they are ones that must be strictly monitored and vehemently defended when you have been accused of any action such as those described above. The best way to do this is by obtaining a Hamilton criminal lawyer who can defend your rights and freedoms in the face of the incriminating accusations that have been made in your name.

Most white-collar offenders are ordinary people who got into financial difficulty and who saw their way out of it through illegal and fraudulent measures. Unfortunately, it used to be only the small fish that get caught and sentenced to a long federal prison term of incarceration, not the big fish that got away. The big fish used to be able to insulate themselves from the crime. There are so many people working at the small fish level that upper management can structure and direct the company so that the small fish are actually the individuals receiving the pressure to break the law, many times unknowingly.