TTC Video – White Collar Criminal Law Explained

White collar crime is, by all accounts, a booming industry. Even pop culture crams its movies and television shows with stories of fraud, insider trading, and political corruption. We are fascinated by—and seemingly surrounded by—white collar crime and white collar criminals.

Consider the rash of white collar crimes we are experiencing today, with

• Titans of Wall Street prosecuted for insider trading and securities fraud;
• Parents and coaches indicted for bribery in connection with college admissions; and
• Senior government officials charged with political corruption.

Located at the intersection of law, business, and politics, white collar crime is a critical area of criminal law in the United States. Yet despite how prevalent it is, one of the most surprising aspects of white collar crime is just how legally uncertain its boundaries are. Unlike more clear-cut crimes such as robbery, burglary, or homicide, white collar crimes often raise difficult issues about where to draw the lines between conduct that is merely sleazy or unethical and conduct that is truly criminal. A lot of actions may look like white collar crimes, but are not prosecuted because they are, in fact, not crimes at all. This constant process of definition—and redefinition—is one thing that makes white collar criminal law so fascinating and challenging for prosecutors, defense attorneys, law students, and even laypeople just trying to make sense of major criminal cases in the media.

In White Collar Criminal Law Explained, join former federal prosecutor and law professor Randall D. Eliason of The George Washington University Law School for an in-depth investigation of how federal white collar crime prosecutions work—and why they sometimes don’t. Over 24 lessons, you’ll consider the characteristics of white collar crime that set it apart from other areas of criminal law. You will also study the federal criminal justice system, the federal grand jury, and the tools prosecutors use to pursue these cases. Along the way, examine leading white collar criminal statutes such as mail and wire fraud, bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and money laundering; and go inside landmark cases involving infamous figures such as financial fraudster Bernie Madoff and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. Accessible, insightful, and eye-opening, this course is a first-rate legal education into an area of criminal law that reveals uncomfortable truths about human nature.

The Nature of White Collar Crime

Search the US Criminal Code for a section titled “white collar crimes,” and you’ll come up empty. If you look there for a definition of white collar crime, you won’t have any luck either. So, what exactly is it?

One of the first things Professor Eliason tells students in his classes is that the term “white collar crime” is something of a misnomer. While it sounds like it refers to the nature of the offender (a “white collar” executive of high social status), its focus actually is on the nature of the offense. White collar crime refers to a category of criminal offenses that share certain characteristics.

While there’s no “official” definition of a white collar crime, legal experts tend to define it as a non-violent illegal activity that principally uses deceit, fraud, deception, or misrepresentation to obtain money, property, or some other advantage, or to conceal other wrongdoing. The central issue is frequently intent: What was going on in the minds of the actors at the time of the alleged crime. Criminal intent may transform many otherwise lawful acts into white collar crimes.

Get Detailed Looks at White Collar Investigations

So how does a federal criminal prosecution begin and how is it conducted? How does a particular case work its way through the federal criminal justice system and what are the roles of the different players involved?

White collar Criminal Law Explained offers a detailed look at the legal proceedings involved in the very same cases that capture national—and sometimes international—attention. Early lessons offer you a foundational understanding of the nature and tools of federal white collar prosecutions, including:

• Federal Prosecutors, who, unlike most lawyers, aren’t working just to “win” but have a higher obligation to seek justice, embodied in the maxim that the “United States wins its point whenever justice is done its citizens in the courts”;
• Federal Grand Juries, which operate in secrecy, and whose role is to determine whether probable cause exists to justify criminal charges—in other words, not to determine how a criminal story ends but whether the story should be told at all;
• Subpoenas and Search Warrants, powerful investigative tools that allow the government to compel the production of evidence from corporations and individuals who won’t voluntarily surrender it;
• Federal Criminal Justice System, including the structure of the federal courts, the Department of Justice, and how a white collar case proceeds through that system.

Examine Major Types of White Collar Crimes

Federal prosecutors of white collar crime have a vast array of federal criminal statutes at their disposal. At the heart of White Collar Criminal Law Explained are in-depth lessons that cover the leading white collar statutes, what it takes for the government to prove a violation, and the legal issues they raise—all brought to life by the stories behind the leading cases interpreting those laws.

What are the major types of white collar crimes? You’ll explore these and others:

• Mail and Wire Fraud: Two of the most important white collar statutes are also two of the simplest: mail and wire fraud. They require only proof of a scheme to defraud and the use of the U.S. Postal Service or private carriers or a wired or wireless transmission in furtherance of the scheme. Although the crimes may seem straightforward, it turns out that what constitutes fraud is not always clear, and a lot of conduct that may appear criminal is not.
• Conspiracy: Conspiracies—partnerships in crime—are prosecuted to deter and punish joint criminal activity; criminals who pool resources can be more dangerous than those who don’t. A conspiracy may be prosecuted even if it never succeeds—and, indeed, even if it were impossible for it to succeed. The breadth of the statute raises concerns about the need for individual criminal liability and the danger of prosecuting “thought crimes.”
• Bribery and Extortion: Much of white collar crime is concerned with public corruption; bribery is the quintessential public corruption offense. Bribery occurs when someone gives a public official anything of value to influence the performance of an official act. A related theory under a statute called the Hobbs Act is known as “extortion under color of official right.” But recent Supreme Court decisions have dramatically limited the laws against public corruption, making prosecuting such cases extremely difficult.
• Obstruction of Justice: White collar criminal statutes on this subject protect the justice system itself by prohibiting efforts to obstruct the due administration of justice in official proceedings. Obstruction can include acts such as witness tampering and destruction of evidence. Like so much of white collar crime, this is an area where an otherwise perfectly lawful act—such as destroying your own files—can become a crime if carried out with the requisite corrupt intent.

Learn from a Razor-Sharp Legal Mind

Professor Eliason’s legal expertise in the area of white collar criminal law, combined with his background as an Assistant US Attorney for the District of Columbia, transforms White collar Criminal Law Explained from what would, in lesser hands, be dry legal lectures into eye-opening investigations into some of the most egregious crimes in the white collar field.

Professor Eliason holds an insider’s view on how the criminal justice system responds—and sometimes doesn’t respond—to powerful individuals and institutions that cross legal lines. Crafted with deep insight into the complexities of the law, these 24 lessons will leave you with a profound understanding of and appreciation for the legal and moral complexities of a field of law like no other.