White Collar Crimes

 Posted on July 06, 2013 in Uncategorized

Often times, when thinking of crimes, things like theft, arson, and destruction of property come to mind. There is, however, an entire category of crime that does not involve any violence, called white collar crime. Typically, these crimes involve dishonesty on a large scale often in business. Entrepreneurs and other business professionals are usually the types of people who commit white collar crimes. Because of the broad range of crimes that fall under white collar crime, it is hard to define what it is, but most states have laws that cover all white collar crime so that criminals cannot get around the law. One type of white collar crime that is more commonly heard of is securities fraud. There is a statute that covers all behaviors involving securities fraud, so long as the illegal behavior can be proven. If someone is accused of securities fraud, it must be proven that they acted willfully, not under order of someone else that may have forced them to break the law. The penalties for this could potentially be criminal and also civil. When someone commits securities fraud, there are two categories that the crime can fall under.

1. One form is when someone sells securities to investors for an amount that is substantially higher than the true value, such as shares of a company for a much higher price than what the company is worth. This can be discovered rather easily because prices can be easily compared online, over the phone or in person.
2. The other category is selling legitimate securities for an illegal purpose. This can occur if a broker sells a stock, but does not disclose to the buyer information concerning the relationship between the brokerage company and the broker.

Each of these categories of securities fraud are illegal under the Securities and Exchange Commission. If you find yourself in a situation where you have been accused of a white collar crime such as securities fraud, contact a Chicago criminal attorney to assist in your case. Attorneys from the Law Office of Hal M Garfinkel can help you in your white collar criminal case in Chicago today.