06 May What is a White Collar Crime?

Not all crimes involve violence, drugs, traffic offenses or traditional definitions of theft. White collar crimes are generally understood to be nonviolent illegal actions that result in personal financial gain. White collar crimes generally involve office workers, accountants, managers, stock brokers, fund managers or business owners. There are many different forms of white collar crimes. We’ve gathered some basic definitions for some white collar crimes below.

Bank Fraud – When an employee commits a crime with the use of their employer’s bank accounts or actively defrauds a bank of funds.

Telecommunications Fraud – The theft of telecommunication services like phones, cable or computers or the committing of other types of fraud using a telecommunication service.

Credit Card Fraud – A type of identity theft involving the unauthorized use of another’s physical credit card or credit card information to charge purchases to the account or take funds from it.

Embezzlement – Where the accused misappropriated the financial assets entrusted to him or her. Unlike traditional theft, in these crimes the assets are obtained lawfully but are used for unintended, unstated purposes.

Extortion – Obtaining financial assets from someone with the use of force or threats.

Insider Trading – The trading of a public company’s securities, stocks or bonds by people who have privileged, nonpublic information about the company.

Racketeering – Often associated with organized crime, racketeering is when a person or group offers to solve a problem that wouldn’t otherwise exist without the organization offering the service.

If you are being charged with a white collar crime in Arizona, or are in the pre-charge investigation stage, contact certified criminal law specialist Todd Coolidge immediately. 480-264-5111

*The information in this blog is for general information purposes only. This blog post should not be taken to constitute a formal recommendation or professional advice. We exclude all representations, warranties, legal liability or responsibility relating to its content.

Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (4/29/2016) Myfuture.com (Flickr)