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Five Most Common Types of White Collar Crimes

Posted on by JACK MKHITARIAN

Criminal Defense Attorneys for White Collar Crimes in New Mexico

White Collar CrimesWhite collar crime is a category of crimes that typically involves deceit for a person or company’s financial gain. There are dozens of crimes that fall into this category, but there are five that are most commonly prosecuted in the United States.

What Five White Collar Crimes Are the Most Common in the United States?

  1. Securities Fraud – Insider trading is one of the more common securities fraud crimes committed. In this instance, an individual working for a company shares inside information on investments or trades that violates their duty to the company.
  2. Embezzlement – This occurs when someone takes money from another whom they owe a duty to. For example, an accountant slowly siphons off funds from client accounts into their own. They owe a duty to manage their client’s money appropriately, but breached that duty and abused their power in order to gain financially.
  3. Tax Evasion – Tax evasion is also a common white collar crime in the U.S. When you purposely avoid filing your tax returns or paying taxes you owe, you are committing tax evasion. This is not only a state crime, but a federal crime with serious penalties.
  4. Credit Card Fraud – Check fraud used to be a popular white collar crime, but as technology evolved, more fraud crimes centered toward the use of credit cards. Credit card fraud occurs when one uses a credit card illegally to obtain goods of value. This can include stealing credit card information and making purchases online, selling credit card numbers to others, and using stolen cards in stores.
  5. Money Laundering – Surprisingly, money laundering is still a common crime in the United States. When money is illegally obtained or created, the “dirty” money is then filtered through a series of transactions (purchasing legal items) to clean the money. This makes it more difficult for the dirty funds to be tracked.

White Collar Crimes Carry Significant Punishments

White collar crimes not only carry harsh state penalties, but they often include federal charges. If you are arrested for a white-collar crime, it is imperative that you seek legal representation as soon as possible.

Some white-collar crimes are charged as misdemeanors, but others are charged as felonies. If you are convicted, you could spend several years in prison, lose your right to carry a gun, and possibly lose access to government assistance.

Schedule a consultation now with New Mexico Criminal Law Offices by calling 505-375-4672 or requesting your free consultation online.