You probably already understand that there’s a distinction between the so-called “white-collar crimes” and violent offenses like robbery, assault, and murder. However, the distinction goes even farther than that, as certain kinds of nonviolent crime don’t qualify as white collar, either. So what exactly marks a crime as white collar?
Nonviolent
A white-collar crime cannot be violent or otherwise involve the use of force or the threat of its use. This means that obvious crimes like mugging a person or robbing a bank at gunpoint aren’t white collar even if nobody gets hurt, and it also means that threats of violence or intimidation don’t qualify, either.
Financial
Another category that doesn’t count as white collar is theft of material goods. This means that things like shoplifting and carjacking aren’t white collar because you have to reach the object you’re stealing and sneak it out while avoiding any security measures. As such, white-collar crimes are generally based around stealing money in some non-physical way, such as transferring funds from one account to another.
During Working Hours
Not every kind of nonviolent financial crime is necessarily going to be a white-collar crime, either. For instance, a con artist who tries to sell you a bridge is committing fraud, but it’s not a white collar fraud. Instead, it needs to be something the perpetrator can do while on the job, and the fact that it’s only an option to someone with an office job in a financial institution is where this category gets its name.
Career Ending
There’s a general perception that just because white-collar crimes are committed by wealthier members of society and the prison terms involved are often shorter than those for many kinds of assault and homicide it means that being convicted of such crimes is less of a problem.
However, a criminal record is still a criminal record, and a federal felony will still show up as such even if it only resulted in a few months of prison time. What’s even worse, however, is the fact that the crime was committed on the job, which means that no financial institution can possibly trust you to do the job you’re qualified to perform. So not only are you out of a job after such a conviction, you’ll never be able to work in the same industry again.
That’s why it’s so important to make sure you have a competent legal team like Naiburg, Obedin, and Weissman on your side if you wind up accused of a white-collar crime. The penalty you face may be light on paper, but the repercussions of a conviction will go on for the rest of your life.