In 1939, Professor Edwin Sutherland coined the term white-collar crime, and this term has become synonymous with all types of frauds committed by government and business professionals. This type of crime is defined as a crime committed by someone who has a high social status or is respected in the field of his or her occupation. With this older definition in mind, white-collar crime will intersect with corporate crime because there is such a high opportunity for fraud, embezzlement, forgery, insider trading, and computer crime for employees in white-collar jobs.

The modern definition for white-collar crime rejects this limitation and now divides the definition up by the type of offense, type of offender, and by organizational culture. The FBI has narrowly defined white-collar crime as illegal acts that are characterized by violation of trust, concealment, or deceit that doesn’t depend on the threat of physical violence.

Corporate fraud is a white-collar crime that deals with obstruction of justice, accounting schemes, and corporate executives who are self-dealing. The majority of these types of white-collar crime involve accounting schemes that are designed to deceive company investors, analysts, and auditors about the reality of the company’s financial condition. This type of fraud involves the manipulation of financial data to inflate the share price of a corporation. Corporate fraud not only leads to financial losses to investors, it also can lead to a lot of damage to the economy and investor confidence.

All health care programs are vulnerable to fraud. It is estimated that fraudulent billings to healthcare programs run between three and ten percent of total healthcare expenditures. This type of white-collar crime is found throughout the entire United States and isn’t centralized to one area of the country. These healthcare schemes not only target the programs themselves, but also the beneficiaries of those programs.

Mortgage fraud is a growing white-collar crime threat that can range from foreclosure frauds to subprime mischief. This type of crime hurts the homeowners, the national economy, and businesses. According to the FBI, this type of white-collar crime leads to an estimated annual loss of four billion to six billion dollars.

If you believe you have been cheated or victimized by white collar crime, then you need to report it to your local FBI office, report it to the FBI internet tip line, or visit the FBI’s victim assistance web site. You can find links to all of the above by visiting the FBI’s website.