Asset Forfeiture
The authorized seizure of money, negotiable instruments, securities, or other things of value. In federal antidrug laws, the authorization of judicial representatives to seize all monies, negotiable instruments, securities, or other things of value furnis
Bank Fraud
Fraud or embezzlement that occurs within or against financial institutions that are insured or regulated by the U.S. government. Financial institution fraud includes commercial loan fraud, check fraud, counterfeit negotiable instruments, mortgage fraud, c
Corporate Crime
A violation of a criminal statute either by a corporate entity or by its executives, employees or agents acting on behalf of and for the benefit of the corporation, partnership, or other form of business entity.
Cosa Nostra
Literally, "our thing." A criminal organization of Silian origin. Also call the Mafia, the Outfit, the Mob, the syndicate or simply the organization.
Environmental Crime
A violation of the criminal law that, although typically committed by businesses or by business officials, may also be committed by other people or by organizational entities and that damages some protected or otherwise significant aspect of the natural e
Ethnic Succession
The continuing process whereby one imigrant or ethnic group succeeds another by assuming its position in society.
Insider Trading
Equity trading based on confidential information about important events that may affect the price of the issue being traded.
Kefauver Committee
The popular name for the federal Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, formed in 1951.
Mafia
Also known as Cosa Nostra.
Money Laundering
The process of converting illegally earned assets, originating as cash, to one or more alternative forms to conceal such incriminating factors as illegal origin and true ownership.
Occupational Crime
Any act punishable by law that is committed through opportunity created in the course of an occupation that is legal.
Omerta
The informal, unwritten code of organized crime, which demands silence and loyalty, among other things, of family members.
Organized Crime
The unlawful activities of the members of a highly organized, disciplined association engaged in supplying illegal goods and services, including gambling, prostitution, loan-sharking, narcotics and labor racketeering.
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)
A statute that was part of the federal Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 and that is intended to combat criminal conspiracies.
Securities Fraud
The theft of money resulting from intentional manipulation of the value of equities, including stocks and bonds. Also includes theft from securities accounts and wire fraud.
Transnational Organized Crime
Unlawful activity undertaken and supported by organized criminal groups operating across national boundries.
White- Collar Crime
Violations of the criminal law committed by persons of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation.
Edwin H. Sutherland
Famed criminologist in 1939. Stated that many criminologists do not properly understand crime because they fail to recognize that the secretive violations of public and corporate trust by those in positions of authority are , in fact, just as criminal as
Gary S. Green
Created one of the best recent typologies of occupational crime and contains four categories. They are Organizational occupational crime, State authority occupational crime, professional occupational crime and individual occupational crime.
Gilbert Geis
An early writer that defined white-collar crime as "upperworld crime" which is "a label designed to call attention to the violation of a variety of criminal statutes by persons who at the moment are generally not considered, in connection with such violat
Herbert Edelhertz
An early investigator that defined white-collar crime as any "illegal act or series of illegal acts committed by nonphysical means and by concealment or guile, to obtain money or property, to avoid the payment or loss of money or property, or to obtain bu
James William Coleman
Wrote a book entitled "The Criminal Elite: The Sociology if White-Collar Crime". In this book he states four areas that white-collar crime may be effectively addressed; ethical, enforcement, structural and political.
John Braithwaite
An Australian criminologist who states that "white -collar criminals are frequently motivated by a disparity between corporate goals and the limited opportunities available to businesspeople through conventional business practices.
Michael Gottfredson
Along with Travis Hirschi concluded that "nothing is unusual about the idea of white-collar crime other than the fact that many people are loath to admit that high-status individuals commit crimes just as do those of lower status.
Travis Hirschi
Along with Michael Gottfredson analyzed white-collar crime as focusing mainly on the development of the concept itself.