Denton Criminal Lawyer

White Collar Crimes

White collar crimes have been garnering national attention in the past few years with the prevalence of Ponzi schemes and insider trading on the stock market. It is estimated that this type of crime costs the United States $300 billion every year due to the fact that most of these crimes involve stealing large amounts of money from American citizens.

This type of crime was not widely recognized until 1939, when Edwin Sutherland pointed out a growing form of lawlessness perpetrated by respectable, high-standing members of society. He stated that this crime was committed by these high-ranking businessmen rather than regular working class citizens because the professionals had access to large amounts of personal and financial information.

Defining White Collar Crime

The reason why this type of crime is deemed “white collar” is because it is typically committed by business and government professionals rather than blue collar, working-class people. It is typically these professionals who have access to large amounts of funds and personal information necessary to complete one of these crimes.

Perhaps the increasing amount of white collar crimes correlates with our increasing reliance on computers to store information and complete financial transactions. Thus, because there is often little to no paper trail available, white collar crimes often go undetected.

Examples of White Collar Crime

There are many different types of white collar crimes, including:

• Embezzlement
• Bribery
• Insurance fraud (healthcare, insurance, bankruptcy, mortgage, etc.)
• Insider trading
• Money laundering
• Identity theft
• Forgery

Contact Us

If you have been charged with a white collar crime, you should speak to an experienced attorney about your legal options. For more information, contact the Denton criminal lawyers of Alexander & Associates today at 972-420-6560.