The most common types of white collar crime

Being accused and formally charged with a white collar crime can be devastating for an individual’s reputation and career. These crimes typically involve accusations of deceit for the purposes of financial gain. Most white collar crimes fall under the following categories: embezzlement, fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. Let’s take a look at these categories in more detail.

Embezzlement

Embezzlement accusations relate to the illegal taking of money in secret, usually from an employer or employing organization. These cases usually involve an employee being accused of stealing money from his or her employer by secretly diverting money from a company or organizational account into his or her own personal bank accounts. These types of cases might involve an accountant who is accused of stealing from one’s company, an investment advisor who is accused of misusing a client’s money, or other allegations.

Fraud

Most white collar crimes involve some kind of fraud allegation. Fraud in the context of white collar crime usually involves one person deceiving another for the purpose of financial gain. One of the most common types of fraud relates to securities fraud, committed in the context of buying and selling investments.

Insider trading is one form of securities fraud that happens when an investor uses inside information concerning a company in order to gain on financial trades. Another kind of securities fraud relates to the way investments are offered and sold to investors. If a broker or investment advisor misrepresents important facts about an investment when offering and selling it to an investor, this is considered securities fraud.

Money laundering

Money laundering is the process of hiding illegally obtained money (perhaps money obtained through drug sales, or other illegal transactions). Money laundering involves a number of transactions, including purchases and sales of assets, that make the money look like it was legitimately obtained.

Tax evasion

Tax evasion is the process of illegally avoiding taxes that, under state or federal tax laws, an individual or business is legally obliged to pay. Tax evasion might involve filling out a tax form inappropriately, the illegal transference of property and other tactics. Both individuals and businesses can be accused of the white collar crime of tax evasion.

Other categories of white collar crimes

White collar crime is a general category of criminal violation that can include a lot of different criminal acts, usually done by businessmen and other individuals. Insurance fraud, for example, is another common type of white collar crime, which involves an individual trying to collect insurance compensation by lying about how an insurance-related incident occurred.

Mortgage fraud may also occur when individuals lie about one ‘s financial circumstances when applying for a mortgage loan, perhaps with the intent of taking the loan money and never paying it back.

Getting help with white collar crimes defense

There are numerous Texas business people, accountants and other professionals serving prison time right now in state and federal prisons for white collar crimes convictions. If you have been charged with a white collar crime, it is important to take the allegations seriously.

By retaining the services of a white collar crimes defense attorney, you can formulate your criminal defense strategy and try to reduce the chances and/or severity of punishment relating to the crimes you have been accused of.

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