White Collar Crime Essay

White-collar crime is a financially motivated nonviolent crime committed by business and government professionals. The term “white-collar crime” was first used by criminologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 for the various nonviolent crimes usually committed in commercial areas for financial gain. White-collar crimes are classified as fraud, bribery, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, labor racketeering, embezzlement, cybercrime, copyright infringement, money laundering, identity theft, and forgery. Even though these crimes are committed without the use of weapons or threats of physical violence, it does not mean that they don’t create victims as they might destroy a person life or a company’s life cycle. The most famous type of white-collar crime is the Ponzi scheme. Ponzi schemes are run by a central operator, who uses the money from new, incoming investors to pay off the promised returns to older ones. This makes the operation seem profitable and legitimate, even though no actual profit is being made. Meanwhile, the person behind the scheme pockets the extra money or uses it to expand the operation. Ponzi schemes aren't usually very sustainable. In the

Embezzlement is an example of a white-collar crime that can be done by anyone. Embezzlement is improperly taking money from someone to whom you owe some type of duty. The most common example of this is when a company employee that embezzles money from his employer for example by taking out money into a personal account. Embezzlement can take many forms, however. Lawyers who improperly use client funds commit embezzlement. So do investment advisers who improperly use client funds they have been entrusted to protect. Embezzlement is one of the rarest forms of white-collar crime, accounting for just 6.5 arrests per 100,000 people (Bureau of Justice