White Collar Crimes Notes Forensic Science

 Edwin H. Sutherland, 1939, introduced and popularized the term “white collar crimes” and according to him “it was a crime committed by persons of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation”. It could also be explained as financially motivated non-violent crimes committed by business and government professionals. 

The various types of white collar crimes include cybercrimes, forgery, copyright infringement, insider trading, money laundering, etc. 

White Collar Crime in Legal Profession

• With the increasing commercial relationship among the corporates, insurance and banking agencies, the nature of the capitalist economy started becoming complex with time.
•  Thus, the ever-growing complexities paved way for the typical legal convolutions related to property rights and other matters pertaining to the legal field and gave birth to a new class of professionals of advocates who in the name of providing justice started abetting in the wrong and thereby pursued their own narrow interest.
• There are very frequent instances of unscrupulous and unethical practices like that of fabricating false evidence, engaging professional witnesses, thereby violating ethical standards of legal profession and dilatory tactics in collusion with the ministerial staff of the courts.

White Collar Crime in Engineering  

• Today, engineers are also involved in white collar crimes. We often find cases of illegal dealings with suppliers, contractors, passing of sub-standard works and maintenance of bogus reports of labor works.
• Therefore, many of them, out of the greed of earning more and more, play dangerously with thousands of lives of the individuals. Best example is the collapsing of foot-over bridge, 12 days before the opening of Common wealth games in 2010

White Collar Crime in Medical  

• In India, the white collar crimes are so widespread that it does not confine itself in the legal arena. Similar unfortunate instances can be drawn from other professions too, like that of medical practitioners, engineers, educationist, businessmen, politicians and the list goes on.
• In the medical field, doctors are very often involved in the issuance of false certificates, selling out samples of medicines and drugs and even adulterated drugs and carrying out illegitimate abortions. 
• Dilatory tactics are often adopted by them in providing treatment to their patients with a menswear to extract huge amount of money, no matter the person has good practice.
• In the very famous Nithari Case, the peak level of brutal character was shown by the medical professionals who proved that how much they reach for making money. Misleading and fake advertisements claiming absolute cure is also one of the frequent malpractices being carried out in the medical profession.
• The NRHM scam in Uttar Pradesh is well known to all Indian citizens, in which top politicians and bureaucrats are alleged to have siphoned off a massive sum estimated at 100 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) from the National Rural Health Mission, a central government program meant to improve upon health care delivery in rural areas.

White Collar Crime in Education  

•  A nastier role is played by the private institutions that are least bothered in providing the education, but only concentrate on making business at the cost of the children„s future.
• Even rackets operate in these institutions for procuring students to appear in examinations on the basis of manipulated eligibility certificates, thereby damaging the standard of education in India.
• When it comes to the governmental institutions, the teachers and staffs of the institutions are often found to be involved in unscrupulous practices, one of the reasons could be that they receive less salary and are always in a financially tight situation. Teachers often drag students for private tuitions and even go to the extent of blackmailing them of ruining their future, if they deny doing so. 

White Collar Crime in Corporate 

• According to research it was observed that only handful instances of white collar crimes are reported in day to day life by certain number of peoples in the course of their profession.
• The major role in committing white collar crimes is played by business tycoons and politicians, whose greed and wants are perhaps endless. This greed makes them do nasty thing which comes under the focus of media, and in the major scandals during the thorough investigation the unlawful involvement of political parties are often highlighted.
• So far as the businessmen are concerned, their acts of white collar crimes go beyond count. They are termed as the corporate criminals who more often than not, are involved in illegal contracts, combination and conspiracies of trade restraints, unfair labour practices, selling adulterated foods and drugs, bribing public officials, so on and so forth. They take advantage of the corporate veil and indulge in a number of crimes.