Abstract

White-collar crimes, though rarely the focus of public discourse, are pervasive in society and often encountered through media or people in our immediate vicinity. These offenses are committed by persons of trust and confidence against an organization, violating established standards of business conduct, practices, or regulations. As American criminologist Edwin Sutherland said in 1939 in his book White Collar Crime, this form of criminal activity is not typically compared to the street crimes in terms of methodical complexity, tactics ingenuity, or degree of sophistication. While these crimes may not be particularly violent in nature, they do have consequences that victimize individuals and organizations alike. White-collar crimes can undermine the integrity of an organization’s structure and make a company or an institution a victim. They have the power to bankrupt an organization, deplete individual life savings as well as cost investors significant amounts of money while completely eroding public confidence in systems. This paper will examine the different categories of white-collar crime and analyze the elaborate legal frameworks and regulatory agencies that have been established to counter and prevent such offences.

Keywords