Addressing the Rise of White-Collar Crime- Insights and Solutions from Local Law Enforcement
Geographical information about your community, including crime rate of white-collar crime, population, and economic status
The population of Beverly Hills, CA, is made up of 34,627 people, with 43.3 and $100,630 being its median age and income, respectively, with 79.1% White, 5.65% Hispanic, and 9.4% Asian, where fifty-two percent of the Beverly Hills population does not speak English, and 89.6% are United States citizens (Beverly Hills, CA, 2018). It is a census place in Los Angeles County, California, bordering West Hollywood, CA, and Los Angeles, CA. Beverly Hills’ economy employs sixteen thousand seven hundred and eighteen individuals, and it specializes in Wholesale Trade, Real Estate, Rental and Leasing, and Information. The biggest industries in this place are Healthcare and Social Assistance, Retail Trade, Professional, Scientific, and Tech Services, and Retail Trade, while the industries that pay the highest include Finance and Insurance, Transportation and Warehousing, and Professional Scientific and Tech Services. The average household income in this locality is $100,630. The average income of males is 1.49 times higher compared to women’s average income, which is $68,467.
An increase or decrease in white-collar crime
Just like in general society, there have been increased cases of White Collar Crimes in Beverly Hills, CA, especially in modern society (UCI Irvine Lab for the Study of Space and Crime, 2018). Some of the significant factors contributing to the rise in such crimes include technological advances, information age growth by the use of the internet and computers, higher educational levels, and the great emphasis on power and money in contemporary society. Technological advancements coupled with higher educational levels and this age of the internet have made things easy for white-collar offenders to avoid being detected. Also, the mentioned factors tend to increase the opportunity of committing white-collar crimes and have enhanced the ability of offenders to develop improved and new ways of committing such crimes. While the majority of those factors are otherwise portrayed as positive enforcement, they affect positively in the context of white-collar crimes.
The most common types of white-collar crime committed in your community
Generally, White collar crimes are made up of a variety of crimes, but usually, each of them involves offending via deceit, and its primary motivation is financial gain (Price, 2009). The most common types of white-collar crimes committed in Beverly Hills are embezzlement, fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. Numerous kinds of frauds and scams fall into the white-collar crime bracket, including Ponzi schemes as well as security frauds like insider trading.
Fraud
Fraud is the most common type of white-collar crime reported in Beverly Hills. It involves deceit for financial gain, and securities fraud is the most common type of fraud around security trading, for instance, stocks (Price, 2009). Securities Fraud comes in multiple ways; however, the most common type of fraud is “insider trading,” where someone who possesses inside information about a particular corporation or investment trades on that specific information in obligation or duty violation. For instance, an executive can have confidential information about the earnings reports of an upcoming corporation and decide to sell a chunk of his stock in that company. This action is highly considered a security fraud, mainly insider trading. One more type of securities fraud takes place when an individual seeks to invest in a corporation by misstating the corporation’s prospects, finances, or health knowingly. When a company lures an investor into putting up money based on misleading or false information, the corporation, as well as the individuals within it, is guilty of committing securities fraud. Misleading or false statements in public reports from companies that are traded publicly also constitute securities fraud. For an act to be considered a securities fraud, individuals who speak on behalf of the relevant corporation must make misleading and false statements knowingly.
Other White Collar Frauds
Several kinds of fraudulent schemes including insurance fraud and mortgage frauds are among the common white collar crimes committed in the area (Price, 2009). They are as regular as individuals who tend to embark on insurance schemes to inappropriately collect on a policy of insurance upon lying on the materials of application. Also, they can extend to large systems of scale. Ponzi schemes and other scams related to business to fraudulently acquire cash from investors tend to be among the most popular types of white-collar crimes in Beverly Hills.
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of an individual improperly taking money from another from whom they owe some duty (Price, 2009). One typical example is when an employee of a company embezzles money from the corporation, for instance, by siphoning money from the company’s account to a personal account. Even the lawyers who misuse the funds of their clients are guilty of embezzlement so do advisors of investments that tend to misuse the funds of the clients.
Tax Evasion
Tax evasion is another common type of white-collar crime in the region where perpetrators attempt to evade taxes that they would otherwise owe (Price, 2009). Tax evasion ranges from to merely file forms of taxes with false details to transfer one’s properties illegally in order to avoid tax obligations. The perpetrators can either be individuals or corporations.
Money Laundering
Money laundering is known as the act of filtering money that is illegally obtained via a range of transactions tailored to make it look like it was legally acquired (Price, 2009). Three steps involved in the laundering of money include first depositing the cash normally into a financial institution such as a brokerage or bank. Then, the money is separated from its illegal origin by layers of complicated transactions, and this makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to trace the source of the money. Integration is the final step in which the “cleaned” cash is mixed with money that was legally obtained, often via the sale or purchase of assets.
The sequence of occupational and avocational crime; compare the two sequences
Clinard and Quinney (1973) defined occupational crime as the act of violating legal codes in the activity course in a legit occupation (FRIEDRICHS, 2002). Occupational crime is widely thought of as being harmless, whereas it is not. In the attempt of comparing and contrasting occupational crime with Avocational crime, they are not anywhere close to being in similar categories as many people would put them. Fredrich defines Avocational crime as the occasional economic crimes that are often committed by members of the society that are considered respectable outside an occupational context. Where these two crimes are considered similar is the fact that avocational crimes like violation of traffic and things of that nature might be committed in the process of performing their occupation. Not necessarily committing crimes that hurt their workplace (FRIEDRICHS, 2002). The case of occupational crime is a bit different in the sense that this crime is a direct violation of the ethical code that a company entrusts the employee with: employee theft of property, practices of illegal pricing, and deceptive advertisements. On the other hand, avocational crimes pertain only to the employee involved. If the workplace decides to dismiss the employee engaged in an avocational offense, they are right to do so, but it does not in any way affect the business.
Investigative methods applied
Investigation of white-collar crimes is different from investigating other types of crimes since it does not start with an arrest (Hefendehl, 2013). Cases of white-collar crimes begin with an investigation instead. This means that some of the law enforcement agencies will be tipped or will acquire information that will lead them into thinking that there is something illegal involved in a company or an individual, and then investigations will begin. The agency would subpoena the company’s documents, and then all e-mails will be checked. A search warrant would be obtained, as well as approval for a wiretap or electronic intercept. This way, investigations will be built and eventually, it would culminate with an arrest or an investigation letter issued to the targeted offender.
Task Forces
There exist many agencies involved in the investigation of white collar crimes. The IRS and FBI are potentially involved (Hefendehl, 2013)d. The FDA is responsible for the investigation of alleged violations. The Homeland Security Department and different offices of the Inspector General are also involved in investigating white-collar crimes.
Preventing white-collar crimes
Implementing Verification Systems
A business should not allow a single employee to handle every business contract, fiscal management, or financial transaction (Henry, 2016). Implementation of a verification or balance and checks system helps in preventing white collar crimes within businesses. No one person in a company should be given too much power or access that would enable them to commit crimes. Even if they attempt to perform a suspicious transaction, a thorough transaction verification could catch the culprit involved.
Working with an Attorney
Small businesses should consider hiring a white-collar crime attorney (Henry, 2016). Such legal practitioners advise businesses on actions to take upon suspicions of illegal businesses being conducted. They inform business owners about their rights including the steps to make when it comes to pressing charges against white collar crimes.
Invest in Information Technology
The use of the Internet and computers has made operations in businesses more convenient (Hefendehl, 2013). Nonetheless, owners of companies should always be alert since currently, crooks have become cunning. Also, high-tech tools are used to steal information or items. For example, hackers can easily acquire personal or financial information, and this information can be used for their own personal gain. Many a time, such hackers obtain information clandestinely, and the business owner would only find out about the theft when things are already out of hand. Lots of money and legal assistance are customarily required to fix the damages that might have severely affected the reputation of the business or the person. To avoid being a victim of white-collar crime, companies are mandated to invest in Information Technology Security. A reliable professional in that field can assist in suggesting ways that would protect the business better, such as by damaging computer viruses, malware, and hackers.
References
Beverly Hills, CA. (2018). Retrieved from datausa.io: https://datausa.io/profile/geo/beverly-hills-ca/#category_wages
FRIEDRICHS, D. O. (2002). Occupational crime, occupational deviance, and workplace crime: Sorting out the difference. Criminal Justice, 2 (3), 243–256.
Hefendehl, R. (2013, January 16th). Addressing White Collar Crime on a Domestic Level. Retrieved from unique.hr: https://www.pravo.unizg.hr/_download/repository/Addressing_white_collar_crime_Hefendehl.full%5B1%5D.pdf
Henry, D. M. (2016, December 12th). White Collar Crime. Retrieved from researchgate.net: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269518044_White_Collar_Crime
Price, D. M. (2009). White-Collar Crime: Corporate and Securities and Commodities Fraud. Retrieved from semanticscholar.org: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/92bd/7303eb57146e673c00e3a95c2cda428cb12f.pdf
UCI Irvine Lab for the Study of Space and Crime. (2018, January). Southern California Crime Report. Retrieved from uci.edu: https://ilssc.soceco.uci.edu/files/2018/02/ILSSC_SoCal_Crime_Report_
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Question 
Week 7 – Assignment: Explore White-Collar Crime in Your Neighborhood
Instructions
White-collar crime is reported to local law enforcement. Most law enforcement agencies maintain an economic crimes unit that investigates white-collar crimes. You have been asked to attend and speak during a meeting of local business professionals who are concerned about the steady growth of white-collar crime in the area.
Addressing the Rise of White-Collar Crime- Insights and Solutions from Local Law Enforcement
Begin by contacting your local law enforcement agency and asking to interview an economic crime investigator. Prior to the interview, develop five research questions, including but not limited to the increase or decrease of cases in your community, the method of Operandi of white-collar criminals, the investigative method, and the preventive steps for the community.
If you are unable to schedule an interview with an economic crime investigator, research the UCR database, maintained by the FBI. Research the website of your local law enforcement agency and search for the annual report listing the total number of crimes and arrests within the jurisdiction. Another valuable resource is the state police agency of your state, which maintains databases with crime statistics. The website of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (www.fbi.gov) provides excellent information about the investigative methods and techniques applied to white-collar crimes.
Once you have completed your interview, prepare a PowerPoint presentation for your audience of small business owners as well as managers representing locally-based corporations who wish to become more educated about white-collar crime.