Blog 4 - White Collar Crime

  

I think its absolutely essential for professionals and business owners to have a sound understanding of what white collar crime is, and how severely they can affect a business. White Collar Crimes can be described as crimes that are usually done discreetly, like fraud or money laundering. They are distinguished from regular crimes because they are non violent, however this doesn't mean they still can't do a heap of damage to an individual or business.

After browsing online, I found Australia is an absolute paradise for criminals that commit white collar crime, states Greg Medcraft, Commission chairman for ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission), (Mitchell, 2014).

This got me thinking, why? Is it because the punishment of corporate offences is just too lenient? Or is it because business owners don't have a proper understanding of these crimes, and subsequently don't know how to prevent it?

It seems to me like White Collar Crimes are somewhat swept under the rug in many businesses. It doesn't help that when businesses are victims of white collar crime, many of them don't report it, out of either fear of bad publicity, or the embarrassment of being a victim to a so called "honest" employee (Payne, 2012).

It's evident that if you know about these crimes and how they occur in organizations, you could prevent the loss of millions. Additionally, if you take out the "opportunity" side of the fraud triangle, perhaps by implementing strong internal controls, you will no doubt lower the risk of White-Collar Crime.


References

Mitchell, S. (2014). Australia 'paradise' for white-collar criminals, says ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/business/australia-paradise-for-whitecollar-criminals-says-asic-chairman-greg-medcraft-20141021-119d99.html


Payne, B.K. (2012). Understanding White-Collar Crime. Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/43839_2.pdf