white collar crimes Flashcards
white collar defendants
- well-educated
- good social skills
- abuse of position of trust
- eye toward ‘vulnerable’ victims
white collar ‘victim’
- don’t apear as victims to the jury
- vulnerability characteristics: age, marital status, susceptible to ‘too-good-to-be-true’ offenders
fraud
definition
definition of fraud is based on the manipuation of information that ultimately misleads or falsifies
types of fraud
mail, wire, bank, securities
WCO penalties & SOL
- penalties are based on the amount of money lost
- minimum mandatory sentences for certain offenses
WCO mega-fraud
computer scams
- shoulder surfing
- dumpster diving
- skimming
- phishing
- pharming
- computer hacking
advanced fee fraud scheme
or
Nigerian 419 scam
person recieves shady email promising $ → gives scammer access to account → base rate to recieve $ → scammer sends multiple emails asking for $
Sam Bankman-Fried & FTX
stock/wire fraud
- founded crypto exchange & promoted it as a safe platform
- false promises under false pretenses, money used for personal gains
- indictment: conspiracy to commit wire fraud & wire fraud (substantive offense)
Ponzi Schemes
2 key elements
- paying later investors back with early investors’ money (looks legit)
- rate of return is always unrealistic
other investment scams
Henry Kyle
- ponzis scheme
- promised a stated rate of return
Dawn Bennett
- false promises & ROR
Fyre Festival
- Billy McFarland’s big setup & bigger letdown
Bernie Madoff
- 15% promsied ROR
- $65B loss
- got 150 subsequent years (wire fraud max. is 5)
modern forms of fraud
- crypto scams
- emergency scams
- romance fraud
Federal Sentencing Guidelines Chart
- fraud starts at OL6 which has to get a 8/11 level increase to get to zone D (prison ensured)
FSGC movement
OL moves up if guns used, children involved, vulnerable victims, etc.
OL moves down if cooperation, accepting responsibility, etc.
cooperation
definition
substantial assistance in the investigation & prosecution of others
fraud loss table for federal sentencing
jail guaranteed starts at $40,000
