White-Color-crimes

This post will try to detail about White-Collar-crimes, criminal offenses indulged by the skilled and educated professionals. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice when specifically addressing white-collar crimes used the following definition:

“those illegal acts which are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and which are not dependent upon the application or threat of physical force or violence. Individuals and organizations commit these acts to obtain money, property, or services; to avoid the payment or loss of money or services, or to secure personal or business advantage”

In the year 1996, another discussion on the topic “White-Collar Crime” definition by a Group of experts came up with the following definition:-

“illegal or unethical acts that violate fiduciary responsibility of public trust, committed by an individual or organization, usually during the course of legitimate occupational activity, by persons of high or respectable social status for personal or organizational gain.”

Between these above two different definitions, each other are projecting the white-Collar crime quite differently. In the first case, it says it doesn’t have physical force, but crimes which done for monetary gains for self. Whereas, in the latter case gives a different opinion that illegal or unethical acts during the legitimate occupation by a person of high or respectable social status for personal gain.

In my opinion, the later definition is very precise, especially because the motive behind financial gain is only possible by persons, who has an opportunity to play with stack holders, between whom the money flows from to point. Naturally, the persons of high or respectable social status have access to such networks and use the opportunities to White-Collar Crimes.

Based on the above definitions, types and category of WhiteCollar crimes can be listed as follows:-

Types:

Bribery
Extortion
Fraud ( identity theft, advance fee frauds, mortgage fraud, financial abuse of elders, online and telemarketing scam complaints, money laundering, Ponzi schemes)
Embezzlement(theft or misappropriation of funds placed in one’s trust or belonging to one’s employer.)
Cyber Crime
Infringement(intellectual property crime, Trademark, Copyright, Patent )

Categories:

Financial crimes
Nonphysical (or abstract) crimes (That is, crimes that “occur” on a form, balance book, or computer)
Crime by or targeting corporations
Crimes typically committed by the rich
Criminal businesses or organizations (Including, for some, organized crime and terrorist organizations)
Corporate or professional malfeasance (For some, this crime can include acts that are immoral but that are not specifically prohibited by law)
Anything that’s against the law that the average beat cop won’t handle (Essentially, everything but street crime.

The question arises, what differentiation can be made from the unskilled and skilled, i.e Blue-Collar and WhiteCollar criminals. The indication show that many white-collar crimes require significantly higher levels of education than street crimes, or specialized technical skills. All of these skills are becoming more available in our society as we witness a widespread increase in literacy rates, computer use, and educational attainment.

What are the provisions that could penalize the whiteCollar criminals in India:-

Legislation against the White Collar Crimes in India:

Government has made various legislation for identifying white-collar crime. These legislations contain provisions for white-Collar crimes.
# Companies Act, 1960.
# Income Tax Act, 1961.
# Indian Penal Code, 1860.
# Commodities Act, 1955.
# Prevention of corruption Act, 1988.
# Negotiable Instrument Act,
# Prevention of money laundering Act, 2002.
# IT Act, 2005.
# Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1950.
# Trademarks Act 1999
#Copyright Act 1956
#Patent Act 1970
#Insolvency Bankruptcy Code, IBC Code 2016
#Companies Act 2013
# Essential Commodities Act 1955,
# the Industrial (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951.,
#The Import and Exports (Control) Act, 1947,
#the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 1974,

Famous cases of White Collar Crime:

Aricel Maxis
INC Media
NDTV
ICICI Bank – Videocon Loan
PNG Bank – Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi Loan
Flipkart, misconduct of chief executive Binny Bansal
Cognizant Technologies Solutions
HDFC Bank, employment scam with forged documents
Sahara v. SEBI
Harshad Mehta Scam Case
Bihar Fodder Scam
Satyam Scam , 2009
2G Spectrum Scam Case
Colgate coal Scam

Conclusion: Blue Collar crime and White-Collar-crimes, the core difference is using the mind, knowledge and the attitude to cheat others. It doesn’t matter, whether an individual is affected, society is affected or the nation is affected. The White-Color-crimes will continue to evolve to make easy and illegal money. As such, the legislation has brought in some revolutionary law provisions to attack the White-Color Crimes. As such the point remains is, how soon the legal fraternity will understand these different type and categories of white-color offenses, and bring before the judiciary, to landmark judgments against the white-color crimes with punishments. Especially protect the public money from the corporate and government’s money meant for the public from the corrupt politicians.

Sources :

Devaski

White-Collar-Crimes, criminal offences by the skilled and educated professionals!

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