What is the difference between bank robbery and mortgage fraud? According to the New York Times piece, “Prosecutions Lag as N.Y. Foreclosure Frauds Surge,” bank robbers average less than 2K with a 75 percent risk of being caught and prosecuted while mortgage fraud personnel walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars and run little risk of being caught. This illustrates the allure of white collar crime.
The term white collar crime was coined by sociologist, Edwin Sutherland in 1939 and explained as “crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” According to Sutherland, this kind of crime is the most dangerous type to face the modern world. Although it cannot always be proven, white collar crime appears to be a root of today's economic trouble. The reason why this cannot be tested is that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) only holds data that is reported to the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). Many corporations are: not aware of, do not prosecute, or report offenses making it hard to have accurate documentation.
Today we have multiple definitions for this term, but they all fit into the FBI commonly prosecuted fraud. Although the theory behind this classification of crime has not changed the basic orientationsof white collar crime: “...white-collar crime by the type of offender (e.g., high socio-economic status and/or occupation of trust); those that define it in terms of the type of offense (e.g., economic crime); and...the organizational culture rather than the offender or offense”. Currently, the FBI prosecutes according to the type of offense. They have chosen to redefine Sutherland’s theory as, “…those illegal acts which are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and which are not dependent upon the application or threat of physical force or violence”.
According to the FBI’s report on white collar crime they believe that “individuals and organizations commit these acts to obtain money, property or services; to avoid the payment or loss of money or services; or to secure personal or business advantage”. As a society, we are seeing more of this type of crime publicized. This is in part, due to the fact that we are seeing more and more educated people as victims of white collar crimes. These crimes go unnoticed until they reach a multitude of people and at that point they become a kind of robbery that has been redefined as white collar crime.
Works Cited
Barnett, C. (1999). The Measurement of White Collar Crime Using Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Data. Retrieved June 15, 2010, from Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division : http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/whitecollarforweb.pdf
LII/ Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2010, from Cornell University Law School: http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/white-collar_crime
Powell, M. (2010, May 30). Blacks in Memphis Lose Decades of Economic Gains. Retrieved June 15, 2010, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/business/economy/31memphis.html?pagewanted=1
Powell, M. (2009, April 14). Prosecutions Lag as N.Y. Foreclosure Frauds Surge . Retrieved June 14, 2010, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/nyregion/15prosecutors.html?_r=2&fta=y
I thought this was very interesting, I learned a lot that I did not know! Can't wait to see more.
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