White collar crimes are a major problem in the Canadian legal system and shows how those who are in a certain financial bracket often have the ability to be above the law. Due to the many different aspects of the white-collar crime there is an inability to properly define it to meet all the roles that it necessarily plays (Sheptycki, 2003). With that in mind, white-collar crimes are often seen as including the aspects and roles of violations of securities, having employee fraud and the laundering of money (Nurse, 2002). One of the main reasons behind the hidden aspects and less published notion of white collar crimes is due to it being mostly hidden, and it often not seen as such an adrenaline rush as the belief of urban street gangs and Mafia …show more content…
Corporate crimes was not necessarily seen as a public issue until the nineties when it was no longer just an issue in North America but a global concern, and this type of crime became a high concern during this time for this offence (Sheptycki, 2003). The implications and findings of corporate crime are often well hidden in the past and often take forensic accountants, accountants that use investigation skills in order to find certain aspects of corporate crime, for the investigations (Nurse, 2002). One of the major aspects of corporate crime is that of workplace safety training and market fraud unlike regular crimes or law offences this type of white collar corporate crimes have that its legally handled by educational and administrative measures (Comack, 2014). Unsurprisingly the age of those who participated in these white-collar crimes are typically between the ages of forty and have a variety in the way of sentencing (Bergeon & McKelvine,
2 Companies are exposed to crimes either from the inside, or the outside. White-collar crime is a complication; harming companies in our society, which costs millions. An example of a white-collar crime would be the Ford Pinto case. When gas prices were rising in the United States, people started to search for economical cars.
In the Frontline documentary “The Madoff Affair”, it is revealed and painfully evident that the ability to predict, prevent, and prosecute white collar crime is flawed and highly complicated even for the government. Frontline takes a look at the first global Ponzi scheme in history and helps create a better understanding of the illegal conduct that led to the rise and fall of Bernie Madoff and those associated with his empire (Frontline, 2017). When the leadership at the top of any organization is founded on lies, secrecy, and empowered by the leaders within the industry, the corruption is deep and difficult to prosecute. The largest stock market fraud in history reinforces the need for better government regulations, enforcement of the regulations, and oversight, especially in it’s own backyard (Yang, 2014).
Organized crime in Canada has many faces. The people who engage in organized crime are as varied as the types of organized crimes they engage in. There are essentially four categories of organized crime in Canada. These four categories are: (A) Aboriginal organized crime groups, (B) Outlaw motorcycle gangs, (C) Traditional Italian Mafia crime groups, ethnic groups such as Asian Triads and Vietnamese gangs, (D) Colombian cartels and emerging crime groups from Russia and Nigeria (Beare 1996: 75). Any of these groups could potentially be linked to such illegal activity as: the trafficking of narcotics, extortion, loan-sharking, various types of frauds, smuggling of cigarettes, alcohol, weapons and people (illegal aliens), pornography, prostitution, murder, and gambling. It is true that any of the groups mentioned in the above categories could be involved in any of the crimes just mentioned. However each category tends to have certain crimes that it commits with regularity, crimes that, that particular group may specialize in.As well these groups tend to have certain crimes that they do not touch. Perhaps they stay away from a particular crime because it is the speciality of a stronger group. A look into which groups do which crimes will be helpful.
Most everyone goes home after a long day of work and watches the news. Think, what is usually reported? The weather, local activities, headline news, or daily criminal activity. Shootings, stabbings, homicides, etc. are all discussed by media anchors these days. This causes most everyone in our society to become familiar with crimes that are considered street crimes. What most people don’t hear about on the news is what is considered white-collar crime, sometimes known as corporate crime. White-collar crime not only is less reported in the media but also receives weaker punishments than street crime. This paper will first discuss the similarities between the two types of crime and then explain why their punishments are strongly different.
White-collar crime is the financially motivated illegal acts that are committed by the middle and upper class through their legitimate business or government activities. This form of crime was first coined by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as “a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” (Linden, 2016). Crime has often been associated with the lower class due to economic reasons. However, Sutherland stressed that the Criminal Justice System needed to acknowledge illegal business activity as crime due to the repercussions they caused and the damage they can cause to society (Linden, 2016). Crime was prevalently thought to only be
white-collar crime” (Shapiro, S. P.). It is no surprise to anyone that positions of trust regularly decentralize to corporations, occupations, and “white-collar” individuals. Nevertheless, the concept of “white-collar crime” involves a false relationship between role-specific norms and the characteristics of those who typically occupy these roles. Most of the time, it is the offender that is looked at more than the crime itself and assumptions about the individuals automatically come into play. It has be to acknowledged that “ class or organizational position are consequential and play a more complex role in creating opportunities for wrongdoing and in shaping and frustrating the social control process than traditional stereotypes have allowed” (Shapiro, S. P.). The opportunities to partake in white-collar crime and violate the trust in which ones position carries are more dependent upon the individuals place in society, not just the work place. The ways in which white-collar criminals establish and exploit trust are an important factor in truly exploring and defining the concept of white-collar crime.
Today, worldwide, there are several thousands of crimes being committed. Some don’t necessarily require a lethal weapon but are associated with various types of sophisticated fraud, this also known as a white-collar crime. These crimes involve a few different methods that take place within a business setting. While ethical business practices add money to the bottom line, unethical practices are ultimately leading to business failure and impacting the U.S. financially.
Why does white collar and corporate crime tend to go undetected, or if detected not prosecuted? White collar and corporate crimes are crimes that many people do not associate with criminal activity. Yet the cost to the country due to corporate and white collar crime far exceeds that of “street” crime and benefit fraud. White collar and corporate crimes refer to crimes that take place within a business or institution and include everything from tax fraud to health and safety breaches. Corporate crime is extremely difficult to detect for many reasons.
Marilyn Price and Donna Norris” (Perri, J.D., CFE, CPA, 2011, p. 23). Even though white collar crimes do not seem as violent as someone that commits murder there is still major damage done. For example, a fraud victim goes through a lot of hardship. They can be harassed, have their identity stolen, and lose everything. This, in many cases, can be looked at as a serious crime.
The foundation of our country, the keystone to our democratic system, is the integrity of social institutions that we not only assume we can trust but have come to rely on for most aspects in our daily lives. The integrity of these social institutions can only be achieved through building blocks such as internal controls and independent, verifiable information. White collar criminals build a sense of false integrity around them in order to gain the trust of their victims, ranging from the young to the very old. Friedrich’s (2010) Trusted Criminals defines the foundation to white collar crime, the level of trust we have for those in power. We trust those in charge, those with power, and those who represent the integrity of our social institutions.
In the twentieth century, White Collar and Organized Crimes have attracted the attention of the U.S. Criminal Justice System due to the greater cost to society than most normal street crime. Even with the new attention by the Criminal Justice System, both are still pretty unknown to the general public. Although we know it occurs, due to the lack of coverage and information, society does not realize the extent of these crimes or the impact. White Collar and Organized is generally crime committed by someone that is considered respectable and has a high social status. The crimes committed usually consist of fraud, insider trading, bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, identity theft or forgery. One person would not normally commit all of these but likely one or the other.
White collar crime was first defined by an American sociologist from Nebraska, Edwin Sutherland, in 1939. He defined it as “A crime committed by a person of respectability or of high social status in the course of his occupation”. Now days, it is defined as “A crime that is financially motivated non- violent and committed by business or government professionals.” White collar criminals do not use violence to obtain the money but instead they use deceit and concealment, they misuse their power and trust. It is often seen as a less serious crime although we hear about these types of crime in the news all the time. The most common types of white collar crime are embezzlement, tax evasion, money laundering.
Vancouver is located in British Colombia right along the coast of the pacific island. Stanley park is not only a very environmentally friendly place to be but also has many things you can do to have fun and exercise. British Columbia is home to a few of our world's mountains and forests that have many natural resources. Vancouver has many amazing neighborhoods and areas that are great to live in for employment and safe places for children to live. Vancouver is an amazing place to live lets dig deeper and see why.
Fraud and white-collar crime are common forms of crimes that people commit in various aspects and positions in the corporate world. Fraud and white-collar crimes have similar meaning as they refer to the non-violent crimes that people commit with the basic objective of gaining money using illegal means. The cases of white-collar crimes have been increasing exponentially in the 21st century due to the advent of technology because fraudsters apply technological tools in cheating, swindling, embezzling, and defrauding people or organizations. White-collar crime is a complex issue in society because its occurrence is dependent on many factors such as organizational structure, organization culture, and personality traits. Thus, the literature review examines how organizational structure, organizational culture, and personality traits contribute to the occurrence of white-collar crimes.
The past scandals that failed the ethics test were characterized by lack proper disclosures on financial records. This paper will reveal the dubious accounting practices that contributed to the failure of some of the companies. According to (Anderson and Orsagh, 2004) not all failures were attributed to corporate ethical issues however most of the scandals involved conflict of interest among directors, excessive compensation though stock options, greed and lack of enforcement of the laws put in place to protect shareholders. As stated by (Paul S. Adler), the legal community appears to not protect shareholders as “white- color” crime is treated far more leniently than “street” crime even though its economic and social costs are greater. This perception has made public perception of white-color crime to be one that is casual