CASE STUDY: MARTIN FRANKEL
Many people in society are unsure on what white collar crime actually is. There are different opinions on what white collar crime should be defined as. A strong definition would be any violation of criminal, civil or regulatory laws or unethical actions committed in the course of one’s occupation. These individuals are usually very respectable in society and have “high-status”. White collar crime is much larger than your traditional street crime: It harms a larger pool of people and can go on for many years under the radar d. Mr. Martin Frankel is a prime example of career white collar criminal. He piloted a series of investment frauds during the late 20th century causing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
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This scandal result in losses of $200 million. According to a nytimes article in 1999, insurance experts said that the damages could continue to spread while more evidence comes forward. Even insurance companies that had nothing to do with Martin Frankel suffered financially. These companies are victims because some of them were forced into bankruptcy. Even the companies that were not directly hurt by the fraud suffered losses just from being in the market. Once the public heard about this major scandal, no one wanted to invest in the …show more content…
Frankel pleaded guilty to 24 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, racketeering and racketeering conspiracy. John Hackney was sentenced for four years in prison in 2000 for his involvement in the fraud. It was originally a 16 year sentence but since he was providing substantial information that helped convict Frankel he received a reduction. He was charged with racketeering conspiracy and money laundering. Sonia Schulte was charged with racketeering and money-laundering. Frankel’s bodyguard, David Rosse, was also charged along with many of his other
Most people, when they hear the word “crime,” think about street crime or violent crime such as murder, rape, theft, or drugs. However, there is another type of crime that has cost people their life savings, investors’ billions of dollars, and has had significant impacts of multiple lives; it is called white collar crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines white collar crime as
What is a White Collar crime? It’s a crime that is committed in high business positions, but it can be
White collar crime, as a rule, is less visible than conventional crime. A white collar crime, by definition, is a non-violent act involving deception, typically committed by a business person or public official. lawyershop.com
A white-collar crime by definition is a crime that is committed by individuals of higher status. It is not necessarily a violent crime, but could be depending on the situation. An individual who works in a professional environment, such as the government or corporation tend to take advantage of employees and manipulate them into thinking their practices are legitimate. Some examples, of white-collar crimes include fraud, embezzlement, insider trading, and other various crimes. However, individuals who involve them selves in drugs or stealing someone’s personal possessions commit street crime. For example, it tends to be violent depending on the situation and it usually happens in a public place or
White-collar crime is defined as the financial motivations of non-violent crimes that are committed by professionals of business and those of the government. In the field of criminology, Edwin Suthelan (1939), a socialist who was the first person to define white-collar crime as a crime that respectable and those people of higher social status commit. The crimes include those associated with fraud, bribery, embezzlement, cybercrime, money laundering, theft of the identity and many more crimes that are nonviolent. For the white collar crimes, the offenses committed should produce some gains financially. The crimes are thereby committed by those persons holding various positions in businesses or organizations, and it is because of this position they can gain access to amounts of huge money that they get from the people like customers with whom they serve. The criminals involved are not caught in activities that are violent, involved in drug issues or illegal activities.
In today’s society crime occurs everyday across all aspects of life. One particular crime is that of white collar and corporate level crime. It is important that we as a society study this type of crime in depth because many individuals believe that white collar and corporate level crimes are victimless crimes when in reality they have the potential to destroy major corporations and economies all with one single case. The news or media rarely talk about this type of crime because it is often difficult to understand and individuals typically lack interest in these types of cases. One particular case is that of Jordan Belfort. Dubbed the infamous “Wolf of Wall Street” Jordan Belfort is a former stockbroker who robbed investors of over $200 million dollars to create his wealth through “pump and dump” schemes, insider trading, money laundering securities fraud, and stock-market manipulation. As an attempt to further understand these complex cases I will break down Belfort’s case as far as the methods and means as to how he got started, his use of “pump and dump” schemes and other means as to how he acquired his wealth. In addition to this I will discuss the sanctions and disciplinary action that Jordan Belfort was given, how the case affected society and what new regulations were
The First Amendment is the first section of the Bill of Rights and is often considered the most important part of the U.S Constitution because it guarantees the citizens of United States the essential personal freedoms of religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly and the freedom to petition the Government. Thanks to the rights granted by the First Amendment, Americans are able to live in a country where they can freely express themselves, speak their mind, pray without interference, protest in peace and where their opinions are taken into consideration, which is something not many other nationalities have the fortune of saying. The Founding Fathers were the framers of the Constitution of the U.S., and the responsible for the
White-collar crimes are just as prevalent today as ordinary street crimes. Studies show that criminal acts committed by white-collar criminals continue to increase due to unforeseen opportunities presented in the corporate world, but these crimes are often overlooked or minimally publicized in reference to criminal acts on the street. Many street crimes are viewed as unnecessary, horrendous crimes because they are committed by lower class citizens, whereas white collar crimes are illegal acts committed by seemingly respectable people whose occupational roles are considered successful and often admired by many (Piquero, 2014). These views often allow white collar crimes to “slip through the cracks” and carry lesser charges or punishment.
Edward H. Sutherland coined white-collar crime in 1939. To which he defined it as a “crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” (Payne, 2013). He had multiple different definitions of what white-collar crime was. Sutherland had three significant classifications of who committed white-collar crimes, as well as what type o white-collar crimes they committed. He stated that white-collar crimes were committed by people that were very respected. These individuals that are committing these crimes typically commit these crimes while they're executing the duties of their jobs and their jobs and how they perform their job roles help to assist them in the execution of their criminal activities. Finally, the jobs that they are in are typically jobs that others view/see as very professional/legitimate occupations.
In this paper the exciting criminal phenomenon known as white-collar crime will be discussed. Corporate Crime and Computer Crime will be discussed in detail. Crime preventative agencies such as the NCPC (National Crime Prevention Council) will also be researched. White Collar Crime The late Professor Edwin Sutherland coined the term white-collar crime about 1941. Sutherland defined white-collar crime as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" (Siegel 337) White-collar crime includes, by way of example, such acts as promulgating false or misleading advertising, illegal exploitation of employees, mislabeling of goods, violation of weights and measures statutes, conspiring to
The media portrays crime as something the general public should be worried about. When the media portrays crime they focus on violent acts of crime. However, there are more harmful ways that people are breaking the law without even touching anyone. White collar crimes are crimes that are financially motivated and are committed by people who already possess money and, in most cases, power. The type of people who commit white collar crimes are not college students or gang affiliated minorities, but business professionals and people who hold significant political power. We rarely see white collar crime in the news because these professionals have access to concealment and bail money. White collar crimes are legitimate crimes and can possibly be worse than violent crimes done in the streets.
In this paper the exciting criminal phenomenon known as white-collar crime will be discussed. Corporate Crime and Computer Crime will be discussed in detail. Crime preventative agencies such as the NCPC (National Crime Prevention Council) will also be researched. White Collar Crime The late Professor Edwin Sutherland coined the term white-collar crime about 1941. Sutherland defined white-collar crime as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" (Siegel 337) White-collar crime includes, by way of example, such acts as promulgating false or misleading advertising, illegal exploitation of employees, mislabeling of goods, violation of weights and measures statutes, conspiring to
White collar crime has been recognized as something that is an issue since 1939 when it was brought up in a political meeting by Edwin Sutherland. Sutherland was interested in the fact that people of the working class were not being noticed for the crimes that some of them are involved in. The concern was that the criminal activity that was being addressed during this time were predominantly trivial crimes. While they were getting all the attention while corporate criminals were going virtually undetected. The definition Sutherland attached to these criminals was centered on the varieties of crimes that they committed. White Collar crime is defined as a criminal act perpetrated
Some of famous people argue white collar crime. For example,
Quinney (1964), “Because the validity of white collar crime as a form of crime has been a subject of severe controversy, the question of conceptual clarity has largely been ignored. Today, as a result, the meaning of the concept is not always clear” (p208).