White-collar, corporate, and organized crime Flashcards
What is white-collar crime?
a violation of the law committed by a person or group of persons in the course of an otherwise respected and legitimate occupation or business
What are occupational crimes? Give three examples
occupational crimes = crimes committed by individuals for themselves in the course of rendering a service
examples:
- medicare fraud
- misuses of client funds by lawyers and brokers
- substitution of inferior goods
What is insider trading?
the use of material, non-public, financial info to obtain an unfair advantage in trading securities
What is stock manipulation? Give an example of a company that did this and how they did it
stock manipulation = making misleading or even false statements to clients to give the impression that the price of the stock is about to rise and thus create an artificial demand for it
example = Bre-Ex Minerals Ltd: claimed to found a gold deposit that’d make millions of dollars for people
What happens when a bankruptcy petition is filed?
the person or corporation’s property and financial obligations are disposed of
What is bankruptcy fraud? Give an example
bankruptcy fraud = any scam designed to take advantage of loopholes in the bankruptcy laws
e.g. taking any money that the company might have and spending it, then claiming bankruptcy
Give some examples of fraud that involves the government
- collusion in bidding (purposely inflating the contract)
- payoffs and kickbacks to government officials (e.g. travel accounts)
- the hiring of friends (e.g. spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on their buddies to do “work” and just give their support to the gov)
Give some examples of consumer fraud
- home improvement fraud
- deceptive advertising
- telemarketing fraud
- business opportunity fraud
what is insurance fraud? give an example
insurance fraud = most often accomplished by the filing of false claims for life, fire, marine or casualty insurance
e.g. body repair shops that change more to consumers that have insurance than those without
what is tax fraud?
an attempt to evade or defeat a tax, non-payments of a tax or willful filing of a fraudulent tax return
What is the underground economy, where does it occur?
underground economy = cash economy
more likely to occur with blue-collar jobs
what is bribery, corruption, and political fraud?
the objective of such offences vary – favours, special privileges, services, business
What are corporate crimes? what does this include?
crimes committed by at least one employee of a corporation with the aim of furthering the interests of the corporations
includes illegal and unsafe working conditions
how does organizational structure/social organization of work explain corporate crime?
- positions of power carry freedom from control
- diffusion of responsibility due to pyramid structure
- “juristic person”: law treats corporations as people ( formally liable to the same laws as natural persons)
- “executive disengagement” - lower-level employees assume executives are best left uniformed; assumes execs cannot be legally expected to have complete control over their individual staff
how can corporate culture explain corporate crime?
- deviant and criminal behaviours may be encouraged
- norms promoting “win at all costs”
- “criminogenic market structure”: an economic market that’s structured in such a way that it tends to produce criminal behaviour
how can capitalism explain corporate crime?
- competitive
- tends to promote greed, selfishness and crime
What are the various costs of corporate crime?
- costs to consumers: price-fixing; unsafe products
- costs to employees: unsafe work conditions
- costs to the environment: immediate and long-lasting
Describe how the Ford Pinto case demonstrates costs to the consumer
An accident would cause the car to ignite because of the gas tank placement
they did a cost-benefit analyses and found that it was cheaper to settle civil lawsuits rather than recall all the vehicles to fix them
What are the federal efforts in Canada to deter corporate crime?
- canadian environmental protection act (CEPA): regulates toxic substances, the import of substances, and hazardous waste
- canadian environmental assessment act: applies to federal and private projects that involve federal government funds or lands
- canadian criminal code: allows for prosecution of organizations for “egregious environmental violations”
- criminal enforcement: rarely used; max fine = $10 mil/day; possible imprisonment
- civil actions: directors and officers of corporations can be held personally liable
- imprisonment: for causing or permitting damage to the environment regardless of whether their corporation has been prosecuted or convicted
give the broad definition of organized crime groups
a relatively structured hierarchical system, the goal of which is to provide consumers with goods for which there is a demand – includes drugs, weapons, prostitution, some kinds of pornography, and gambling
what are some general characteristics of organized crime groups?
- conspiratorial activity
- economic gain
- connection to legitimate activities (e.g. money laundering)
- predatory (use of violence between and within groups)
Why does organized crime exist?
- blocked opportunities
- demand for illicit goods
Describe the characteristics of the Italian-based mafia
- reliance on ethnicity, family loyalty, and a code of secrecy
- structured like a Sicilian family
Describe the characteristics of asian-based crime groups
- cell system (individuals and small groups can act independently within the group)
- marijuana cultivation and exportation is common
Describe the characteristics of eastern-european organized crime groups
- influences by change from communist to capitalist economy
- crimes range from street-level crime to fraud that requires sophisticated technological expertise
Describe the characteristics of Indigenous crime groups
- well-established in the prison population
- prison link used for recruitment and drug distribution
- linked to overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the CJS
Describe the characteristics of outlaw motorcycle gangs
- tightly knit, highly structures, violently control territory
- e.g. Hells Angels
What is “dirty money”?
profits made through organized crime
what is money laudering?
aimed at making illegally obtained funds seem legitimate, so that they can be sent or invested in the legitimate economy without arousing suspicion
What are some federal attempts to control organized crime?
- forfeit of proceeds of crime: criminal code provides the power to seize proceeds of crime, which can include anything purchased with those proceeds
- S. 345 of the criminal code: make it an offence to possess anything derived from an indictable offence
- Bill C-24: provided $200 mil over 5 years to give police new measures to fight organized crime
Why are international efforts being made to control organized crime?
- with globalization, organized crime is more efficient –> cracking down on these groups in highly challenging
- governments are corrupt and some of these groups are taking over the government
