The Ultimate Bailout

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, also know as the bailout of the U.S financial system. This was a law that was set in place in response to the crashing mortgage crisis. The law allowed the United States Secretary of the Treasury to spend $700 billion to bailout banks through the purchase of distressed assets, like mortgage-backed securities, and the disbursement of cash directly to the banks. These funds benefited both domestic and foreign banks. The act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008. (Wiki) Many question this move by the government and feel like Wall Street should be held responsible for their actions (driving this country into a great recession), instead of being bailed out for the crisis they created.

The reason why this bailout was a crucial period in this country is because of the amount of jobs that were lost, homes taken away, and many hard working Americans left wondering why things continued to get worse in their lives while the privileged class continued to rise in prosperity. A strong argument that Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses very loudly. The corruption that takes place behind the movements of wall street bankers does not go undetected, in fact it is very clear what goes on on wall street. The biggest effect this bailout had was on the working class. "with the poor paying more and the rich paying less"(CNBC) In America the people the worst off (poorest 20 percent) pay about 11 percent of their income to taxes, the middle 20 percent pay about 9 percent and the top 1 percent (the wealthy) pay only 5 percent of their income on taxes. (CNBC) This is the upside down tax system that we have in America.

There are a variety of white collar crimes that go through wall street. Some of the biggest frauds on wall street are known through the main stream media. From the scandals of Bernard Madoff, where Mr. Madoff ironically "made off" with up to $18 billion of his investors money (many celebrities were caught up in the this drama as well losing money), or the shadiness Jordan Belfort, where his greed and sneaky ways finally found him spending the light sentence of two years in prison for his crime. These are the types of people that run wall street. The amount of greed that is resonates on wall street is real and it comes a time where these big corporations need to be held accountable for their action.


All of these white collar crimes rarely receives the attention of the media. And many of us question
why? White collar crime is the silent killer in this country. And the punishments for these crimes
aren't strong enough to deter these crimes. The slap on the wrist type of punishment that is given to these destructive criminals. They don’t show us the effects of white collar crime so we think nothing of it, without the spread of the word and knowledge of these crimes, the drama will continue. And behind closed doors they pull the strings in this play of life while we just ride along.

                                                                Work Cited
"Do the Rich Pay Lower Taxes than the Middle Class?" CNBC. N.p., 15 Jan. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.
"Secrets and Lies of the Bailout." Rolling Stone. N.p., 04 Jan. 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.
"Biggest Frauds on Wall Street | The Gentlemans Journal | The Latest in Style and Grooming, Food and Drink, Business, Lifestyle, Culture, Sports, Restaurants, Nightlife, Travel and Power." The Gentlemans Journal. N.p., 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

Tax Evasion

This week I will be exploring the white collar crime we know as tax evasion. Tax evasion is the illegal evasion of taxes by individuals, corporations, and trusts. These actions normally take place when taxpayers purposely lie about their information to tax authorities to reduce their tax liabilities. These activities include actions “such as declaring less income, profits or gains than the amounts actually earned, or overstating deductions.”(Wiki) When it comes to tax evasion a common act is the informal economy association. One stem of the problem would be the amount of unreported income, this is the difference between the amount of income that people are supposed to report to the tax authorities and the actual amount that people report. This is a very complex crimes of in my terms is like a person attempting to outsmart the system and run away with the dirty money they cheated to get. I will explain each aspect of this crime and show the effects it has on the system along with the economy.

With there being many different avenues or levels in a sense with this crime the penalties for such a crime also range like the different levels of the crime. In the seven titles of penalties for the crime the general punishment looks to be any fine ranging from $100,000 to $500,000(usually for corporations) and or a prison sentence ranging from 1 to 5 years. Aside from the prison time a person may have to endure following up after the crime, the amount of money a suspect is fined is to act as the aggressor of the penalty. Taking money out of the pockets of the government is something that won’t stay under their eye of detection for too long without being interfered. But some would argue someone needs to police the government because what they take away from people but to think from the perception of a person on the outside looking in it just might seem that we all just have our hands in each other’s pocket waiting for the right time to take while no one will notice.

If people believe that lying on their taxes and fixing their income for economic increase doesn’t affect our economy then they should do their research. “According to "The Guardian" newspaper, the U.S. economy lost an estimated $337 billion in 2014 as a result of illegal tax avoidance, or tax evasion.”(eHow) That is a huge dent on our economy, and just imagine where all of those dollars could have gone. And with this number seeming to appear higher in other studies, it just leaves me in a place of uncertainty on why people commit these crimes. “The taxes commonly evaded include federal and state income taxes and state and regional sales and real estate taxes.”(eHow) These are important factors and important money that is being taken from the government. Tax evasions rob the government of money that is needed to carry out laws and create a better environment for the country. This also reduces how effective our government is and hurts our economic status. “If $450 billion in revenue is lost to the federal government because of income tax evasion, then $450 billion in federal programs cannot be funded or, if funded, will have a negative effective on the national debt, which will grow by the same amount.”(example provided by Patrick Gleeson) I don’t think there is any more of an explanation needed to make the claim that this criminal action has an extreme negative effect on the economy.

Growing older and experiencing different things, I have to admit that I am more aware of the problems we have around us. Studying criminology has gave me an even insight on the crimes seen and unseen around us. All of white collar crime has a negative effect on the economy and each of them have their different levels on which they affect the system. Tax evasion is something I hear about all the time and my parents always stress to me the importance of doing all thing the right way so you won’t have to deal with the problems in the long run.

Work Cited

"Types and Schemesof White Collar Crime." TYPES OF WHITE COLLAR CRIME AND SCHEMES. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

Patrick Gleeson, Ph. D., Registered Investment Adv. "How Does Tax Evasion Affect the Economy?" EHow. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

Extortion

Under the tree of white collar crime, there is a branch known as extortion. "Extortion is a criminal offense of obtaining money, property or services from a person, entity, individual or institution, through coercion." In other words extortion is when you forcefully (or by threat) get something, in most cases money, extortion is also known as blackmailing, "shakedown", and or exaction. This action is run by various organized crime groups. And the underlying truth that some don't know about the crime is the fact that the obtainment of the money is not the only thing it takes to make the case offensive, threatening someone or any action parallel to violence with the requirement of payment to put an end to or halt the violence threaten towards a person can also be labeled as a form of extortion. Making the demands for payment, creating an uncomfortable setting for an individual until a payment is made, all forms of extortion.

Extortion and robbery are like brother and sister, with on being more complex than aggressive. With robbery ("The taking of money or goods in the possession of another, from his or her person or immediate presence, by force or intimidation."), whether armed or not, the offender uses immediate force and fear tactics to take a victim's property, whereas in extortion the presence of violence hoovers over the victim through the pressures of the offender until the proper payment is reached. Extortion for the most part takes place in high end businesses, on the corporate side of thing. And these organized crime groups' targets are usually smaller businesses, organizations, and or groups of people (even single individuals) that have little or no power to fight against the personal trap placed upon them. Blackmailing is another avenue in the extortion business, this is where the offender threatens to leak out information about a victim. This information is usually very personal to an individual, sometimes incriminating, and even socially damaging. And similar to all extortion the only way to end the threats and violence is the issuing of the required payments.

Some popular extortion cases to the media are one of Michael Jordan and one of Michael Bloomberg. In Jordan's case it was an amount of five million dollars demanded from his ex-wife and she claimed that if he did not pay should reveal the shocking truth about an affair during their relationship. It was reported that Jordan did issue his ex-wife two hundred and fifty thousand dollars during the claims to keep her quite, but that amount was no good whereas she later still threaten Jordan for the remainder of the funds. Now in Bloomberg's case his business was hacked into and the offenders of the crime threatened with two hundred thousand the price. The men were taken care of when attempting to make a pick up for the funds.

All of the crimes under the umbrella of extortion, this includes bribery, blackmail, and ransom are all in most cases considered felony crimes, and felony crimes are met with serious consequences. The punishment for extortion can result in fines or imprisonment, and even sometimes both. "Under federal and state laws, extortion carries up to a 20-year prison sentence. The punishment of extortion depends on whether force was used in extorting money or other property." So the results of heavy fines, prison sentencing, probation and/or parole, and restitution for the victims are all the ending outcome of extortion crimes. The unfortunate truth to this is that like the other white collar crimes committed it just seems to slide under the radar of the public. Leaving many in fear of their life and others with the power to control the peace of other's lives. These white collar crimes go so unnoticed that little impact is done to stop it but when the offenders are caught all charges must apply. There should be no window of opportunity for any criminal rich or poor.

"What Are Some Examples Of Extortion ?" What Are Some Examples Of Extortion. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

"Punishments." Extortion Punishments Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.                                                  

Health Care Fruad

There are many different avenues of white collar crime. One of the biggest criminal organizations is shockingly the health care industry. Health care fraud is committed by dishonest health care providers and even by the health care plan holders, meaning we the people. Crime by the providers can stem from a lot of different things. Giving a false diagnosis to justify tests and procedures that are unnecessary, billing for medical procedures that were not really performed or that were not really needed, waiving member co-pays and over-billing the insurance provider instead, misrepresenting non-covered procedures as covered ones. These are a chuck of the many sneaky crimes committed by these companies. And the worst part about it is that in most scenarios the victim of the crime has no idea of the unfair treatment and always lack the knowledge about the health care industry to even point out something as crafty as a bill for a treatment never done.

But health care plan holders are not free from the evil works some of them commit. Unfortunately we live in a society where if there is a window for people to get away with an act, almost 50 percent of the time people will take that opportunity. But all acts committed in dark must come to light, right?
So here are the ways we tend to do our own doing of white collar crime. Altering health care bills or forging them to get health care reimbursements; Filing claims for medical procedures and/or prescription medication that you did not receive, using someone else's insurance card or allowing someone else to use yours. These are some of the type crimes people attempt to get away with, but when caught it not only hurts the person but also the industry as a whole.

Although white collar crimes seem to go undetected and when detected, little is done to the criminals committing the act, there are consequences. Federal law provides civil and criminal penalties for health care fraud. The penalties that one can face if convicted of health care fraud could include,   lengthy jail or prison time, fine of up to $250,000, restitution for any amount that the defendant profited, probation, and loss of professional license are some of the punishments for these action.

The bulk of health care fraud is done by a small group of dishonest providers. No matter the size of the group, their crime make an impact on the industry. Unfortunately when these actions are committed it ruins the reputation of our health care industry, but this is the world we live in. The amount of money taken out of people's pockets is unheard of, the fact that these crimes find their way of sliding under the radar, and the results that leave many people being robbed by the industries set in place to protect them.

Health care fraud is something that is even hard to report being that there is a lack of knowledge amongst the people the crimes are being done to. But this why we need more people speaking out on these white collar crimes because it is not violence that is causing the most deaths, money spent or hardships, it is actually white collar crime if people just did the back work instead of being side tracked.

Introduction

White collar crime is crimes involving commercial fraud, cheating consumers, swindles, insider trading on the stock market, embezzlement and other forms of dishonest business schemes. The term comes from the out of date assumption that business executives wear white shirts and ties. It also theoretically distinguishes these crimes and criminals from physical crimes, supposedly likely to be committed by "blue collar" workers. (Free Dictionary) Through Edwin Sutherland’s studies of 70 of America’s large corporations, he found that these companies had violated antitrust, false advertising, bribery, and other laws 980 times, or 14 on average. (Barkan) With such a highlight on the street crimes throughout the urban areas of America, it seems the public turns their face to the crime that happens on our television screens, on wall street and in these corporations we give money to our have products by. The three main elements of white collar crime are occupational crime, which is usually committed by one person in search of personal gain, organizational crime, which is committed for the sake of the organization (done by people of the organization, a help me help you method), and the final element being corporate financial crime, this element includes false advertisement, cheating, price fixing and other parts of corruption.

White collar crime receives little to no attention in the media. Why is this? The numbers don’t add up and it seems that the big corporations have more pull than the people representing the law. With power comes a lot. And the power behind these white collar criminals no word can describe. A corporate boss can take millions out of the pockets of people and just lose his job and continue counting his money on his private jet, while a low life criminal takes the tip jar out of a pizza restaurant and receive months to years in jail. Now you tell me if that makes any sense. But when you compare street crime to white collar crime you can notice very shocking statistics. When it comes to the dollar amount between the two street crime has the amount of $16 billion in totals while white collar crime holds the amount for $575 billion. Now what cost more? Let us take a look into the death totals. Street crime counts for 14, 612 homicides while white collar crime counts for 102,100 deaths. Another shocking statistic for a crime that receives such lenient treatment.

       

White collar crime is the silent killer in this country. With the lenient treatment of corporate criminals, the weak/absent regulations in place for the crimes, soft punishment and lack of news/media coverage. It leaves a public blind to the crime that hurts the most. Yes street crime is more graphic and scary but that is all we ever see, all we ever hear about. They don’t show us the effects of white collar crime so we think nothing of it, without the spread of the word and knowledge of these crimes, the drama will continue. And behind closed doors they pull the strings in this play of life while we just ride along.