White Collar Crime: A Crime under Invisibility Cloak

INTRODUCTION:

White-collar crime is invisible in many different respects. Offenses are typically concealed within occupational and organizational routines, are difficult to detect by victims, observers, or law enforcers, and few offenders are tried and sentenced in open court. It is also absent from public and academic discussions of ‘crime’ and criminal justice policy. A major theme in research and literature has therefore been to expose the extent, impact, and failure to fully criminalize the crimes of ‘the powerful’[1]. The concept of white-collar crime was firstly introduced by E.H. Sutherland. His work in the field of this area attracted the attention of criminologists. He said that there are anti-social activities that are being carried by the persons of upper strata besides traditional crimes such as robbery, dacoit, murder, theft, rape, kidnapping, etc[2]. These kinds of activities were been conducted by the professionals or the high-status person and there was a complaint that if a person wants to file a complaint against such activities, it was remained to be unheard.

WHAT IS WHILE COLLAR CRIME?

White-Collar Crime is a nonviolent crime which is committed by a person of high status for financial gains. The motive behind whiter collar crime is to obtain or avoid losing the money, property, services, or to secure the business[3]. Examples of white-collar crime include- tax evasion, fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and corporate fraud.

FACTORS THAT CAN LEAD TOWARDS WHITE COLLAR CRIME:

Many people who commit white-collar crimes are employees who are known for their hard work ethic and success. That’s part of what makes white-collar crime so difficult to predict. How do these people get wrapped up in illegal activities? Here are a few factors that can lead someone down that path:

• Using ill-considered job incentives
• No emphasis on ethics
• An industry-wide reputation
• Greed
• Corruption
• Lack of Awareness
• competition
• The idea of victimless crime

Moreover, under the 29th report of the Law Commission, it was observed that the modernization and technological developments and monopolistic trends in the business world are the major factors in white-collar crimes[4].

HOW THE WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES DIFFERENT FROM OTHER CRIMES?

The major keyword to differentiate between white-collar crimes and other crimes is ‘invisibility’ ‘trust’ ’insider’ ‘knowledge’ ‘expertise’[5].

TYPES OF WHITE COLLAR CRIME:

• Fraud
• Security and Bank Fraud
• Cyber Crime
• Bribery
• Property Crime
• Money Laundering

Some of the examples of white-collar crime:

The Times of India reported that two men were arrested for creating a fake website of State Bank of India and running a racket therein. They have been able to defraud people for rupees 1 crore. The two men were Sahil Verma and Monu from Haryana. They were alleged to have cheated against any people and made fraudulent use of computer resources. [6]

The times now news had published news asking people to beware of fake emails being said to them in the name of RBI (Reserve Bank of India) lottery. The email contained the logo of RBI along with the address of its head office in Delhi. Although RBI had circulated a warning against it, the id again came into circulation taking into its grip many innocent citizens[7].

Abdul Karim Telgi was accused in the stamp paper case in India where he appointed 350 fake agents to spread the scam around 12 States. This business included selling stamp papers to banks, insurance companies, and those firms which dealt in stock brokerage. He was able to club around 200 billion rupees[8].

WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES IN CERTAIN PROFESSIONS:

There are also some professions which provide sufficient opportunities for the white-collar crime[9]:

Medical profession

The making of false medical certificates, helping illegal abortions, manufacturing of fake drugs, etc. comes under the white-collar crimes.

Engineering

The passing of the substandard work and maintenance of bogus records of work-charged labor are examples of white-collar crimes.

Legal Profession

The instances of fabricating false evidence, professional witnesses, etc. are examples of white-collar crimes.

Judicial Response

Section 197 of the CrPC 1973 provides an umbrella for the corrupt public officers who were accused of any offense alleged to them while acting in the discharge of their official duty.

CONCLUSION:

White-collar crimes have two surprising features, first, that they are non-violent crimes, though the criminals have the tendency to gain control or have a sense of entitlement, and, second, that they are committed by people in the higher profession[10]. The government must make laws that are strict enough to reduce the commission of such crimes. And the system should be such that not only there exist laws giving strict punishment to the accused but also dispose of maximum cases in a short while. If not done so then people will soon lose complete faith in the system, as these crimes are committed by people who should act as role models for society. The media has a key role to play in reducing the rate of increasing white-collar crimes. It has been noted that most of the white-collar crimes go unreported. So, if the media becomes more active towards publishing frauds and scams at higher levels and revealing how do the people at a higher position in a company use their powers arbitrarily, and also make efforts in making people aware about the white-collar crimes, and avoid corrupt practices, then this would definitely help in reducing the rate at which the white-collar crimes are being committed[11].

Remedial Measures

In India where large scale starvation and illiteracy, is very crucial problems for the administration of criminal justice. However, there are some remedial measures which should be used against the white-collar crimes-

• Creating public awareness through the media, press, or other audio-video aids against white-collar crimes.
• Constitution of special tribunals with powers to award the sentence in the cases of white-collar crimes.
• There should be drastic punishment for these crimes.
• A separate chapter should be added for white-collar crime in the Indian Penal Code.
• The punishment for white-collar crimes should be prescribed keeping in view the gravity of the injury caused to the society because of these crimes.

This article is authored by Tanzim Surani, a 4th-year student pursuing a 5-year law course [BA LLB (Hons.)] at the GLS Law College, Gujarat University.

Disclaimer: The article is an original submission of the Author. Niti Manthan does not hold any liability arising out of this article. Kindly refer to our terms of use or write to us in case of any concerns.

[1] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-27641-7_2, Last accessed on 04/07/2020

[2]Criminology, By Mrs. Glory Nirmala, Available on web URL, http://docshare.tips/criminology_5748277db6d87f21198b4571.html, last accessed on, 03/07/2020

[3] WHIT COLLAR OR CORPORATE CRIME, https://www.lawyersnjurists.com/article/white-collar-crime/, Last accessed on, 04/07/2020

[4] 29th Law Commission Report, 1972 lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports.html, last accessed on, 04/07/2020

[5] https://legalstudymaterial.com/white-collar-crime/

[6] Times Of India, May 30 2020, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/haryana-three-wanted-criminals-arrested-in-palwal/articleshow/76111759.cms, last accessed on, 04/07/2020

[7] www.timesnownews.com

[8] https://blog.ipleaders.in/white-collar-crimes/, last accessed on, 04/07/2020

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.