Even in their pent house apartments, far above the general working class, executives of large corporations from Wall Street in New York to the Dallas-Forth Worth (DFW) area of Texas seem to be far from living a “sin-free” life. And more and more big name executives, like Bernie Madoff, are finding themselves behind bars.
While it is unlikely that they will ransack a local 7-11 in hopes of collecting a few hundreds of dollars to add to their already million-dollar bank accounts, the crimes that high level executives commit take more planning, more sneaking and more tact. As a white collar defense attorney in DFW for The Wade Law Firm, Henry Wade has helped win cases for defendants of these types of crimes.
As Wade explains, the term “white collar” is generally associated with a crime related to business and is applied to men in suits, instead of “blue collar” workers in uniforms.
What are white collar crimes:
- Fraud: There are numerous types of fraud including bank, insurance, and credit card, but it generally refers to intentionally deceiving an entity in order to make a gain for yourself, or cause harm to another individual.
- Bribery: Offering a valuable incentive to persuade someone else to work in your favor.
- Counterfeiting: Making a false duplicate of something in hopes of passing it off as genuine. This usually applies to money, checks and stock certificates.
- Money Laundering: The practice of creating the appearance that large amounts of money obtained illegally really originated from a legitimate source.
- Embezzlement: This is a form of financial fraud that involves secretly extracting money from an account entrusted to you. For example, a financial adviser may siphon money from his clients’ accounts without their knowledge.
- Extortion: Gaining property, services or money from a person or company through intimidation or an abuse of power.
- Tax Evasion: An attempt to avoid paying part of your taxes through illegal means.
While many people probably don’t realize it, white collar crime is often prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law, explains Wade. This is why he feels that if you are charged with any of the above crimes, or suspect that you are under investigation, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Dallas, TX, or in your home state, to handle your case.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Neither publication of this article nor your receipt of this article create an attorney-client relationship.
