White Collar Crimes

Name

Institution

White collar crimes

Edwin Sutherland first termed white collar crimes as "a crime committed by a person of a high social status". Although many years have passed, the term would still retain its meaning, but would eventually be defined: as a non-violent crime committed by businessmen or public officials for financial gain. It's difficult to prosecute most white collar crimes for those who practice it know how to cover up their tracks. Here we discuss white collar crimes participated by certain individuals from New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Jason Williams, a former New York criminal defense attorney, was sentenced to sixteen years in a conspiracy involving getting money from clients for bribes that were not handed out (Graham, 2015). The prosecutor, Attorney James Adams said that the accused was convicted of three counts; money laundering, conspiracy and failure to file his tax returns. The victims, in this case, are his clients, where one of his clients recently paid him $120,000 to see her son released from jail. It is reported that she got ripped off since the attorney didn't bother to try to lift a finger to help take the matter to court to reduce the son's sentence. The client, however, brought forward the matter in court, where the prosecutor found out that he had also embezzled funds from his previous clients. Evidence was piled up and he eventually he confessed to stealing $1 million from his clients throughout his career. A forensic report of his bank accounts revealed that he transferred some of the money to his personal bank account and the rest he used it for his business expenses.

The case was categorized as a criminal offense and he was given a sentence of sixteen years in jail. He also received sanctions that saw him returning the money and also he was not to practice law again. The matter was addressed by James Adams, US prosecutor, who brought forward incriminating evidence of Jason's heinous acts. However, the case was not resolved properly because still many lawyers practice this kind of fraud. Lawyers are trusted by their clients, it serves as a close comparison to an employer who trusts that his sales person would represent him well and come out with the best deals in his business. Clients, therefore, trust their lawyers when they represent them in various legal proceedings, but most of them seize the opportunity to rip them off. The case of Jason is a clear example of a white collar crime since it shows that he used his position for financial gain. The sentence of Jason was not enough to punish him for what he did for his clients. I believe that tougher sanctions and sentences should be placed in such scenarios to prevent lawyers from taking advantage of their clients.

The crime of Jason affects the society since this is a perfect example of embezzlement, which is considered as a disease in this era. Many individuals in high positions take advantage of others in order to benefit themselves. Kirsten Tjosaas has a similar case of Jason where she embezzled $5.7 million to buy lavish houses, cars, and sailboats. It means that every member of society believes in "it's every man for himself" therefore, the law should ensure such acts are dealt with properly.

Martin Skrtel, a Baltimore County resident, pleaded guilty for his role in a stealing $90,000 from elderly people, according to the US Attorney's office (Margaret, 2016). They would hoax elderly people in the United States that they should deposit their money in a proven way for money to double. They would use fake adverts to prove it was real and they were clever in choosing their target audience. Martin also had co-conspirators based in Montgomery who would help them search for potential victims who would fall prey to their hoax. They would pay hundreds of dollars and direct them to where to send the money, thus categorizing this as a white collar crime. He received a total of ten wire transfers from the victims who were overjoyed of their "lucky fortune".

The case was categorized as a criminal offense where he pleaded guilty to the scheme which bore $90,000 and was jailed for 18 years. His conspirator, Joseph Jaglowitz is currently in court where he is charged with ten counts of wired fraud which would see him facing a twenty-five-year maximum sentence. The prosecutor leading the case addressed this matter as a heinous act which should be met with the full weight of the law to prevent such frauds from ever occurring.

The matter is resolved perfectly since Martin was jailed for 18 years and also fined $100, 000 for his crime. Such crimes affect the society in that it causes a lasting psychological effect on its victims. In this case, the victims are elderly people and this would cause them to have health complications due to the psychological unrest experienced. Frauds are a major cause of huge financial losses to certain individuals, the type of loss they find hard of getting out of.

Jacob Daniels, a lawyer based in Hackensack was charged with theft of thousands of dollars from his clients (Vincet, 2015). A court report showed that he obtained $300,000 from clients who he hoaxed that he was settling their cases; instead, he was pocketing their money. It is recorded that he embezzled the funds to his private businesses and personal bank accounts. He, therefore, faced criminal litigation; although many preferred it to be a civil case; where Jacob pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft. He was sentenced to sentenced twelve months for wire fraud and an additional eighteen months for identity theft. The victims, however, weren't happy with the ruling; to them, they lost more than $500,000 from the lawyer and said that the prosecutor lacked the will to dig in for more evidence. I agree with them since I don't believe the matter was solved appropriately. Tough sanctions like being forced to pay back $400,000 would be fair since he stole more than that and I believe he was doing this act throughout his career. Long sentences should also be given to the accused, for the victims believe the law is on their side and also invoke fear of other people who would try to embezzle funds.

The case of Jacob fits the category of a white collar crime since he used his positions for financial gain. Psychological unrest is also exhibited here as an effect of embezzlement and fraud to the society. Such effect can change a person's social status where their trust of others would be greatly diminished. They would get the mentality that it's a "dog eat dog" world and would also try to participate in similar crimes since they would follow the example who ripped them off. It, thus, brings up a culture of embezzlement, fraud, and corruption which greatly affects the society.

White collar crimes continue to be rampant in businesses and other organizations, where the bigger person comes out on top. Several crimes take place, but they are cleverly covered up since the individuals have a profound knowledge of their occupation. Such crimes are, therefore, proving to be problematic to the business and to society as a whole. The legal system has a duty to curb such acts by giving tougher sanctions and sentences in order to invoke fear of those who practice it. Transparency can also help solve white collar crimes since the clarity of how finances are dealt with in a business can boost trust and development.

References

Graham, B. (2015, December 22). A lawyer who got away with $1million throughout his career. The Daily Gazette, pp D3.

Margaret, P. (2016, January 16). Baltimore man sentenced for fraud. The Capital, pp C2.

Vincent, L. (2015, November 11). Lawyer embezzles 300K from clients. Daily Targum, p 8.