What are white collar crimes?

On Behalf of | Aug 7, 2020 | Firm News |

At times, accused individuals and others may make the mistake of thinking that white collar crimes are not serious criminal charges. The reality is that all criminal charges should be taken seriously and it helps for the accused individual to be familiar with what are considered white collar crimes and their criminal defense rights.

The criminal justice process can be intimidating but it includes important criminal defense rights for anyone who has been accused of a crime. There are a variety of white collar crimes individuals may find themselves accused of and each may result in serious penalties and consequences for the accused individual. White collar crimes are typically fraud crimes. They are crimes in which deceit is commonly used for personal gain, usually monetary gain.

Examples of white collar crimes

One example of a white collar crime is securities fraud and a type of securities fraud is insider trading. Insider trading occurs when inside information that has not been made public is used to make investment decisions. Insider trading usually occurs when an employee on the inside of a company uses information only available within the company to make investment trades. Another example of a white collar crime is embezzlement. Embezzlement occurs when someone legally in possession of property, commonly money, misappropriates it. A common an example is an employee who misappropriates their employer’s funds.

Help for individuals accused of white collar crimes

Other examples of white collar crimes include tax evasion, money laundering, ponzi schemes and some other types of fraud crimes. Accused individuals can face serious penalties and consequences associated with white collar crimes which is why they should act promptly to develop a criminal defense strategy to defend themselves against the charges they are facing.