There are plenty of fish in the sea of white-collar crime, ranging in size from small to whoppers, but it’s not always that easy to catch the big ones.
It used to be that white-collar crime was an occasional, rather unusual kind of event, that people found shameful. Now, with the advent of the computer and other high tech software, programs, etc., the whole landscape of white-collar crime has changed. Computers have made things much easier for those with a criminal mind to fiddle with the books and other things.
Despite the fact that white-collar crime seems to be easier to commit, those who commit it are, by law, entitled to a well thought out criminal defense. They must be accorded that benefit of the doubt, as it is a very basic law of the Constitution that those who stand accused of crimes must be considered to be innocent until they are proven guilty.
White-collar crimes are mostly non-violent and usually involve the use of deception or trickery by a person who is in a position of trust and authority. What usually makes a white-collar crime slightly easier to track is the presence of a paper trail, or an electronic trail that investigators follow to the eventual “end” with the smoking gun. The problem is that just because a certain smoking gun may be an executive’s computer, it does not prove it was “that” executive who committed the trickery.
Further controversy swirls around the actual definition of white-collar crime, with many advocating that it should be defined by the status or occupation of trust the offender has. On the other hand, there is another school of thought that feels white-collar crime needs to be delineated by the offense committed – e.g. racketeering, perjury, computer fraud, etc. Actually, the bottom line would not be the definition of the crime, but whether or not the accused has access to a good criminal defense lawyer.
White-collar crime has nowhere to go but up, thanks to the Internet, which has created a whole new playground for economic crimes to be perpetrated. Apprehension in these instances is usually quite difficult, and proving a particular person is guilty becomes a whole different proposition. If you feel you have been wrongly accused of a white-collar crime, or are about to be charged with one, contact a criminal defense lawyer with experience in this area. That one phone call may keep you out of jail.
Daniel Wannamaker is a board certified criminal law specialist and has 24 years of criminal trial experience with proven results as a Dallas criminal defense lawyer practicing in Austin criminal defense and Houston Texas. To learn more about Dallas criminal defense lawyer, Houston criminal defense lawyer, Austin criminal defense lawyer, visit Wannamakerlaw.com.
