What are Federal White Collar Crimes?

Whitecollar crimes are nonviolent crimes and refer to crimes committed by people who wear “white collar” shirts such as businessmen. This means that a wide variety of crimes are deemed “whitecollar”. The crimes are financial in nature.

According to the FBI;

“the term “white-collar crime” was reportedly coined in 1939 and has since become synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals. White-collar crime is generally non-violent in nature and includes public corruption, health care fraud, mortgage fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering, to name a few. White-collar scams can destroy a company, devastate families by wiping out their life savings, or cost investors billions of dollars (or even all three).” (FBI Website)

A list of crimes commonly deemed “white collar” are antitrust violations, bankruptcy fraud, bribery, computer and internet fraud, counterfeiting, credit card fraud, economic espionage and trade secret theft, embezzlement, environmental law violations, financial institution fraud, government fraud, healthcare fraud, insider trading, insurance fraud, intellectual property theft/piracy, kickbacks, mail fraud, money laundering, securities fraud, tax evasion, phone and telemarketing fraud, and public corruption.

Some of the federal white collar crime statutes are:

18 U.S. Code § 1341: This statute criminalizes mail fraud, which involves the use of the U.S. Postal Service or other mail carriers to defraud someone.

18 U.S. Code § 1343: This statute criminalizes wire fraud, which involves the use of electronic communications to defraud someone.

18 U.S. Code § 1344: This statute criminalizes bank fraud, which involves the use of fraudulent means to obtain money or assets from a financial institution.

18 U.S. Code § 1349: This statute criminalizes any attempt or conspiracy to commit any of the above-mentioned fraud offenses.

18 U.S. Code § 1956: This statute criminalizes money laundering related to white-collar crimes.

18 U.S. Code § 1957: This statute criminalizes engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, including white-collar crimes.