White collar crime in Georgia is fairly common, and it typically refers to a committed crime that has a financial gain. While there are numerous scams and types of fraud that constitute white collar crimes, there are some common types and all of them have associated penalties.
According to the FBI, financial reasons are what motivates the people who commit these crimes. The reasons include making money, obtaining property and avoiding financial loss to gain an advantage either personally or for a business. One of the most common types of this nature is corporate fraud. This activity not only affects investors but it also can cause irreputable harm to the United States economy.
The main areas of corporate fraud investigation include:
- Insider trading such as self-dealing and kickbacks
- Financial information falsification such as fraudulent trades
- Fraud related to mutual hedge funds like late trading and net value assets falsification
Other types that the FBI has a large focus on are securities and commodities fraud and money laundering. Examples of these include healthcare fraud, narcotics trafficking, international public corruption, Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, broker embezzlement, promissory note fraud and market manipulation.
According to King University, these nonviolent commercial crimes can cost the country around $300 billion dollars every year. They also can cause financial ruin for individuals and families who lose their entire life savings. As a result, the consequences for a white collar crime conviction can be severe, depending on the specific case. Penalties may include imprisonment, house arrest, fines, restitution and forfeitures.