White Collar Crimes (Privilege Class Deviation)

White Collar Crimes (Privilege Class Deviation)

Introduction

The concept of white-collar crime (WCC) found its place in criminology for the first time in 1941 when Sutherland first published his research paper on white-collar criminality in the American sociological review. He defined white-collar crime as a crime committed by persons of high social status in course of their occupation. e.g. -misrepresentation through fraudulent advertisement, infringement of patents, copyrights, and trade-marks, a publication of fabricated balance sheets and profit and loss account of business, etc. “White-collar crimes are committed by persons of status, not for need but for greed” sir Walter reckless Sutherland further pointed out that white-collar crime is more harmful to society than ordinary crimes because the financial loss to the society from white-collar crime is far greater than the financial loss from burglaries, robberies, larcenies, etc. James Cameron, an eminent journalist in the following words:- “it is denied by nobody indeed, the totality and persuasiveness of India, corruption is almost a matter of National pride”. It is described as wholly widespread and spectacular. State v Bharat Chandra Raul, 1975 CR, L.J. 2417 (ORISSA)

Nature of WCC 

The chief criterion for a crime to be "white-collar" is that it occurs as a part of or a deviation from, the violator's occupational role. These crimes are usually violations of trust, either "duplicities" or "misrepresentations,” placed in the person (or the corporation, for that matter) by virtue of his occupational norms and high position in the society. These violations of trust must also be violations of law, and not merely unethical practices or noncriminal deviations from informal conduct norms within a business or profession. The term white-collar crime served to focus attention on the social position of the perpetrators and added a bite to commentaries about the illegal acts of businessmen, professionals, and politicians that is notably absent in the blander designations, such as “occupational crime” and “economic crime,” that sometimes are employed to refer to the same kinds of lawbreaking.

Types of White Collar Crime in India

Following are some of the types of White Collar Crime Bank Fraud: To engage in an act or pattern of activity where the purpose is to defraud a bank of funds. Blackmail: A demand for money or other consideration under threat to do bodily harm, to injure property, to accuse of a crime, or to expose secrets. Bribery: When money, goods, services, information or anything else of value is offered with intent to influence the actions, opinions, or decisions of the taker. You may be charged with bribery whether you offer the bribe or accept it. Cellular Phone Fraud: The unauthorized use, tampering, or manipulation of a cellular phone or service. This can be accomplished by either use of a stolen phone, or where an actor signs up for service under false identification or where the actor clones a valid electronic serial number (ESN) by using an ESN reader and reprograms another cellular phone with a valid ESN number. Computer fraud: Where computer hackers steal information sources contained on computers such as: bank information, credit cards, and proprietary information. Counterfeiting: Occurs when someone copies or imitates an item without having been authorized to do so and passes the copy off for the genuine or original item. Counterfeiting is most often associated with money however can also be associated with designer clothing, handbags and watches. Credit Card Fraud: The unauthorized use of a credit card to obtain goods of value. Currency Schemes: The practice of speculating on the future value of currencies. Educational Institutions: Yet another field where collar criminals operate with impunity are the privately run educational institutional in this country. The governing bodies of those institutions manage to secure large sums by way of government grants of financial aid by submitting fictitious and fake details about their institutions. The teachers and other staff working in these institutions receive a meager salary far less than what they actually sign for, thus allowing a big margin for the management to grab huge amount in this illegal manner. Embezz1ement: When a person who has been entrusted with money or property appropriates it for his or her own use and benefit. Environmental Schemes: The overbilling and fraudulent practices exercised by corporations which purport to clean up the environment. Extortion: Occurs when one person illegally obtains property from another by actual or threatened force, fear, or violence, or under cover of official right. Engineering: In the engineering profession underhand dealing with contractors and suppliers, passing of sub-standard works and materials and maintenance of bogus records of work-charged labour are some of the common examples of white collar crime. Scandals of this kind are reported in newspapers and magazines almost every day in our country. Fake Employment Placement Rackets: A number of cheating cases are reported in various parts of the country by the so called manpower consultancies and employment placement agencies which deceive the youth with false promises of providing them white collar jobs on payment of huge amount ranging from 50 thousands to two lakhs of rupees. Forgery: When a person passes a false or worthless instrument such as a check or counterfeit security with the intent to defraud or injure the recipient. Health Care Fraud: Where an unlicensed health care provider provides services under the guise of being licensed and obtains monetary benefit for the service. The white collar crimes which are common to Indian trade and business world are hoardings, profiteering and black marketing. Violation of foreign exchange regulations and import and export laws are frequently resorted to for the sake of huge profits. That apart, adulteration of foodstuffs, edibles and drugs which causes irreparable danger to public health is yet another white collar crime common in India.