White Collar Crime

It is a nonviolent crime committed for financial gain. White collar crime was defined in 1939 by Edwin Sutherland as one “committed by the person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation”. Because of the complexity and the seductively of white collar accusations, prosecutors often make mistakes. But it takes an experienced Houston criminal defense attorney, with expertise in white collar cases, to uncover these problems.

Examples of white collar crime

• Fraud
• Bribery
• Identity Theft
• Black Mail
• Embezzlement
• Counterfeiting
• Money Laundring
• Computer Crimes
• Perjury
• Forgery

One of the common crimes committed by the white collar workers is embezzlement. This type of offense happens when the particular person dishonestly handles the company money for his or her use. For example: A particular employee takes the money from the bank for his or her personal use.

Causes of white collar crime

Greed and bad economy is one of the main causes of white collar crime because many criminals make good money and that does not stop them from making more. These peoples do not use weapons to pull off their crime. They use their wit. Some get away with it for years without getting caught and some may never get caught. People become much afraid of the future because of the poor economy people decide to take measures to financially protect themselves in illegal ways.

Effects

Financial cost: According to the Cornell Legal Information Institute, it was estimated in 2010 that white collar crime cost the U.S. $300 billion.

Jobs: When the dishonest person gains huge profits from the sales of shares the company will be pushed in to the job loses, where many of these employees will lose the savings from the company

If you found that you are under the investigation of a white collar crime, then it is necessary to hire a Houston criminal lawyer. Keep in mind that you should not talk about the offenses before consulting with the white collar attorney in Houston TX. 

Allen Stanford defrauded investors out of $ 7billion

Former board of directors chairman of Stanford International Bank (SIB), Allen Stanford has been sentenced to a total of 110 years in prison for orchestrating a 20-year investment fraud scheme in which he misappropriated $7 billion from SIB to finance his personal businesses.

The sentencing was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas; FBI Assistant Director Kevin Perkins of the Criminal Investigative Division; Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration Phyllis C. Borzi; Chief Postal Inspector Guy J. Cottrell; and Chief Richard Weber, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI).

Stanford, 62, was convicted on 13 of 14 counts by a federal jury following a six-week trial before U.S. District Judge David Hittner and approximately three days of deliberation. The jury also found that 29 financial accounts located abroad and worth approximately $330 million were proceeds of Stanford’s fraud and should be forfeited.

Speaking on behalf of the victims in the case during the sentencing hearing today were Angie Shaw, the director and founder of the Stanford Victims Coalition, and Jaime Escalona, who represents Stanford victims from Latin America.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Hittner remarked that “this is one of the most egregious frauds ever presented to a trial jury in federal court.”

After considering all the evidence, including more than 350 victim impact letters that were sent to the court, Judge Hittner sentenced Stanford to 20 years for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud; 20 years on each of the four counts of wire fraud, as well as five years for conspiring to obstruct a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation; and five years for obstruction of an SEC investigation. Those sentences will all run consecutively. He also received 20 years for each of the five counts of mail fraud and 20 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering, which will run concurrent to the other sentences imposed today, for a total sentence of 110 years.

For more details regarding this case you may log onto: http://www.fbi.gov/houston/press-releases/2012/allen-stanford-gets-110-years-for-orchestrating-7-billion-investment-fraud-scheme