Beginner’s Guide to White-Collar Crimes – Have you Committed a Crime?
White-collar crimes are non-violent crimes and involve some type of fraud or corruption. Some of the more common forms of white-collar crime include money laundering, wire fraud, securities fraud, health care fraud, insider trading, and public corruption. The perpetrators of these crimes tend to be business or government professionals.
White-Collar Crimes in a Professional Setting
Because many white-collar crimes involve fraud and deceptive practices, individuals and entire families experience devastation by the effects of these crimes. For example, a family may have complete savings accounts wiped out after becoming roped into a Ponzi scheme. Moreover, another person may lose significant amounts of money through investment fraud by trusting someone who turned out to be committing a white-collar crime.
Business owners and investors may also commit these types of crimes and lose their businesses and investment money as a result.
White-collar crimes are not uncommon. In fact, many times business or high-ranking officials are unknowingly committing a crime. This happens for many reasons like simply not knowing, to being an involuntary actor. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has a particular division that focuses on complex white-collar crimes. The FBI tends to investigate those crimes that involve large-scale organized criminal activities.
Many types of attorneys handle criminal cases. If you believe you participated in a white-collar crime, you may want to speak with a criminal defense attorney in San Diego, California. They help you understand your rights and guide you on moving forward in the event charges occur with such a crime.
Types of Defendants in the Court of Law
Accused persons of these types of crimes tend to fall into two main categories.
The first category involves voluntary actors. While the doer is not exactly volunteering for the crime, the phrasing used is to indicate that there was an optional aspect to their participation. The optional element here is generally the person’s agreement to sign up or participate in a business opportunity or investment of some kind to make money fast. These individuals get caught up in fraudulent business schemes under the guise of an easy money-making venture. In these cases, the person typically knows the perpetrator and trusted in them.
The second group is sometimes known as unintentional committers. Similarly, these people get indirectly involved in these crimes through the exploitation of commercial transactions involving regular professional and economic activities. Involuntary people are employees, customers, or creditors of the perpetrator of the crime. Usually, in these cases, the person is unknown and anonymous to the perpetrator.
Regulating These Types of Criminal Offenses
The federal government has the power to control white-collar crime under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. In addition to the FBI, other federal agencies involved with legislative enforcement, such as the U.S. Secret Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission, regulate these crimes. Additionally, most states also have agencies that enforce these laws at the state level.
If you are currently seeking defense for a white-collar crime or have pending charges in the San Diego area, we recommend getting in touch with a criminal defense attorney to discuss your case. An attorney will properly advise you on the best course of action for your case. At Griffin Law Office, our skilled and passionate team works tirelessly to represent you in the best possible manner. Not only have we successfully won a wide range of cases in the courtroom, we have done so in a legitimate way.