White collar crimes usually involve illegal financial dealings. Several big companies and corporations have shut down because of financial crime allegations. Generally, these allegations are proven to be true, but there are several cases where a business could be wrongly accused of one. In such cases, it is essential to know your rights as a business owner and all the laws which are involved in white collar crimes.
Let us take a look at the common ones.
Money Laundering
Money laundering is one of the more common white collar crimes that people are familiar with. Acquiring money through illegal practices and disguising it as authentic is quite popular among many businesses. This procedure involves multiple steps which are well thought out and planned by the offender to prevent suspicion and maintain a clean record.
Money laundering can be difficult to detect at the later stages because the offender might have spread a huge amount of money across multiple transactions and untraceable bank accounts. It is possible for business owners to be unaware of money laundering practices in their own companies which is why it is important to implement money laundering regulations. Make sure you have a team who investigates third-party financial dealings and goes through all the financial activities to verify their authenticity.
Bribery
Bribing your sibling to gain something might be innocent but it is a different matter when it comes to businesses. One day you will be running a successful company and on the next day it might come crumbling down because of one false bribery accusation. Every business owner should know how to protect themselves from false bribery accusations.
It can get quite difficult if you don’t have the relevant documents or witness testimonies from a person who was present when the alleged ‘bribe’ was committed. In such cases, hiring a criminal defense attorney will be your best bet. He will help you prepare your defense and potentially save your business from getting a bad name.
Embezzlement
Imagine giving your friend a hundred-dollar bill for safekeeping and they use it for their own purposes. Not a great feeling right?
Embezzlement works in a similar way. If a person in charge of safeguarding a certain amount of money or assets uses it for generating more money or for other purposes, they will be guilty of committing embezzlement. This can happen at any level of management but executives and managers at the higher levels are more likely to be charged with it.
If you are a business manager and were wrongly accused of embezzlement, you should take all the necessary measures to protect your identity and prove your innocence. This applies to other managers or executives in your company who are wrongly accused of this crime. The accusations can also be made by an external organization or individual who holds authority.
Securities Fraud
Securities fraud is often used as a collective term for illegal practices like insider trading and Ponzi schemes. It usually involves company stocks and the investor is affected because of wrong information or omission of important investment policies. Security fraud allegations are usually made when the investor doesn’t get a sufficient return on their investment or feels like they are not being alerted of important developments. Many businesses suffer because of security fraud allegations and end up closing down because of inadequate defense preparation.
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