securities fraud
the theft of money resulting from intentional manipulation of the value of equities, including stocks and bonds. Securities fraud also includes theft from securities accounts and wire fraud.
insider trading
a type of equity trading based on confidential information about important events that may affect the price of the issue being traded.
bank fraud
any fraud or embezzlement that occurs within or against financial institutions that are insured or regulated by the U.S. government. Fraud of financial institutions includes commercial loan fraud, check fraud, counterfeit negotiable instruments, mortgage
white collar crime
a violation of the criminal law committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his or her occupation.
occupational crime
an act punishable by law that is committed through opportunity created in the course of a legal occupation.
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.
corporate fraud
a type of organizational fraud, such as accounting schemes, self dealing by corporate executives, obstruction of justice, insider trading, kickbacks, and misuse of corporate property for personal use.
securities and commodities fraud
a crime involving investments, such as stock market manipulation, high yield investment fraud (ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, and prime bank schemes), advance fee fraud, hedge fund fraud, commodities fraud, foreign exchange fraud and broker embezzlement.
ponzi scheme
a form of high yield investment fraud that uses money collected from new investors, rather than profits from the purported underlying business venture, to pay high rates of return promised to earlier investors.
money laundering
the process of converting illegally earned assets from cash to one or more alternative forms to conceal factors such as illegal origin and true ownership.
environmental crime
a violation of the criminal law committed by businesses, business officials, organizational entities, and/or individuals that damages some protected or otherwise significant aspect of the natural environment.
organized crime
the unlawful activity of members of a highly organized association engaged in supplying illegal goods and services, including gambling, prostitution, loan sharking, narcotics, and racketeering.
mafia
a criminal organization of Sicilian origin; also called La Cosa Nostra
La Cosa Nostra
a criminal organization of Sicilian origin; also called the mafia. The term literally means "our thing".
ethnic succession
the continuing process whereby one immigrant or ethnic group succeeds another by assuming its position in society.
wickersham commission
a commission created by President Herbert Hoover in 1931 to improve justice system practices and to reinstate laws role in civilized governance (officially known as the Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement).
Kefauver Committee
the popular name for the Federal Special Committee to investigate organized crime in interstate commerce formed in 1951.
omerta
the informal unwritten code of organized crime, which demands silence and loyalty of family members (meaning "manliness").
criminal enterprise
a group of individuals with an identified hierarchy who are engaged in significant criminal activities.
transnational organized crime
an unlawful activity undertaken and supported by organized criminal groups operating across national boundaries.
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)
a statute that is part of the federal Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 whose goal is to combat criminal conspiracies.
asset forfeiture
the authorized seizure of money, negotiable instruments, securities, or other things of value. In federal antidrug laws, it is the authorization of judicial representatives to seize all monies, negotiable instruments, securities, and other things of value