A Strong Team Of Legal Advocates

The basics of white-collar crime

On Behalf of | Sep 12, 2022 | Criminal Defense |

White-collar crime is not a legal term, but it usually refers to a specific type of violation. In New Jersey, white-collar crime generally involves business, wealth, finance and similar topics.

What constitutes white-collar crime?

A white-collar crime is an offence that does not involve violence or force. Instead, the crime might involve financial deception, like fraud or a Ponzi scheme. White-collar crime could also refer to a financial misdeed, like a violation of securities law. White-collar crime usually involves fraud or some kind of concealment whether it is lying to investors or falsifying accounting documents. There are a variety of federal, state and local authorities that have the power to enforce the regulations and laws that are associated with white-collar crime. This kind of crime usually does not result in injury or death, but the financial harm can be devastating.

The designation of white-collar crime refers to the idea that the criminals in these cases tend to be more highly educated, politically connected or economically wealthy than violent criminals. However, the criminal defense strategy for this type of crime works the same as it does for other criminal cases. The penalties for being found guilty of white-collar crime are occasionally lighter than those for violent crimes, although this can change if the scale of the crime is large and if the case is a high-profile one.

Many people don’t realize that the term “white-collar crime” is just a common-language description, not a legal definition, that sets a certain kind of crime apart from other types of violations. Sometimes, an egregious white-collar crime might involve multiple investigations from different levels of law enforcement or across state lines.

FindLaw Network