What is White-Collar Crime?

White-collar crimes are typically defined as nonviolent crimes of a financially motivated nature. Government officials, organizations, and individuals can be charged with committing white-collar crimes. Examples of white-collar crimes include:

• Fraud crimes such as credit card, insurance, healthcare, tax, and securities fraud are severely penalized on both the state and federal levels. Defendants of fraud crimes are usually accused of withholding critical information or using false information to profit financially at the expense of other individuals or organizations.
• Embezzlement requires using funds or property for unauthorized reasons. Funds or property embezzled may be under the jurisdiction of an entrusted individual who breaches a contract by misusing the funds. A common example of embezzlement is the misuse of public funds, where assets are transferred to a person or group for private financial gain.
• If an individual receives, gives, or asks for money or something of financial value to influence an authority figure’s behavior, that is a bribery crime. Bribery can involve individuals in corporate management, employees, and government officials.
• Forgery crimes can involve tampering or falsifying legal official files, checks, identity papers, and other types of documentation.
• Money laundering. Money laundering involves seeking money that was illegally obtained and trying to move it through different economic avenues to make the funds appear to be earned legally. Money laundering crimes may be associated with criminal activities, such as terrorist funding or drug trafficking.
• Ponzi schemes. Ponzi scheme crimes involve the payment of original investor dividends or earnings with investment funds from new investors. Ponzi schemes constantly require new investors and have the potential to be volatile and collapse, financially harming the investors involved.
• Insider trading. When a person bases a securities or stocks trade on confidential information that is not readily available to the public, this is known as insider trading. Insider trading practices can threaten the integrity of financial markets.
• Identity theft. Identity theft involves taking another individual’s personal information, such as their Social Security card or credit card information, to commit criminal acts. An example of identity theft is opening a bank account or credit card using another person’s personal information.

If you have been charged with a white-collar crime in Michigan, it is critical to get experienced and compassionate legal support as soon as possible so that you can fight back against your charges. A white-collar crime defense lawyer can ensure your rights are protected throughout the defense process, deeply investigating your case and designing and implementing an optimal defense strategy.