Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room

Most people, when they hear the word “crime,” think about street crime or violent crime such as murder, rape, theft, or drugs. However, there is another type of crime that has cost people their life savings, investors’ billions of dollars, and has had significant impacts of multiple lives; it is called white collar crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines white collar crime as

#5. Identify the principal agents who expose white collar crime in contemporary society. What factors motivate people to expose such crime, and what factors inhibit them from doing so? What specific policy measures can be adopted to encourage exposure of white collar crime?

When I say white collar crime a few ideas usually will fill the average persons head. Many will immediately think of Bernie Madoff. This scumbag ran a ponzie scheme spanning multiple decades and made over 60 billion dollars in the process. He was eventually caught and thankfully is spending the rest of his natural born life in prison. Someone might also think of Martha Stewart. Martha, to the surprise of her fans, was much more than that loveable women on the home shopping network or the cooking channel. Martha was caught committing an act called insider trading. According to (The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), insider trading is when an individual has knowledge not known to the public about what is going to occur within a company

While reading Democracy for the Few, I agreed with some main points Parenti was making. White-collar crime did go unnoticed for a long time. I was stunned to see how many huge companies like Ford and General Motors were never penalized for contributing vehicles and supplies to the Nazi military during World War II. Over the recent years it seems like white-collar crime is not sneaking away without punishment. People are going to jail for their fraud and embezzlement crimes, we have all seen about it on the news. The reason it is not going unnoticed now is because it has gotten so much media attention. Just because we have seen certain high profile cases, companies, and business people get caught and punished for their white-collar crimes in

A white-collar crime by definition is a crime that is committed by individuals of higher status. It is not necessarily a violent crime, but could be depending on the situation. An individual who works in a professional environment, such as the government or corporation tend to take advantage of employees and manipulate them into thinking their practices are legitimate. Some examples, of white-collar crimes include fraud, embezzlement, insider trading, and other various crimes. However, individuals who involve them selves in drugs or stealing someone’s personal possessions commit street crime. For example, it tends to be violent depending on the situation and it usually happens in a public place or

The year 2000 signaled to the world the beginning of a new age. While previously the world had begun to accept technology it was not until the early millennia that it had become a mandatory part of our lives. With this blossoming of new technology came the peak of a newer type a crime in which the rich would steal from the poor and give to themselves. White collar crimes are still only a century old, and yet have become one of the most devastating types of crimes committed. They not only affect the victims that are stolen from, but also the lives of the people who would be removed from their job when the scandal is found out. This is what happened early in the millennia with the Enron corporation and the scandals that were put forth but its operators.

According to Johnson (2012) leaders are powerful role models, and policies will have a little effect if leaders do not follow the rules they set. In Enron case, corruption and ethical misconduct were deeply embedded in their business culture where profitability was more important than ethics. In this paper, I will address the factors that had led to the development of the culture of profit before principle at Enron. Also, I will create my personal code of ethics that will guide me in my professional and personal decision making and doing the right thing when faced with ethical challenges.

White-collar crime poses a vexing problem for the criminal justice system (CJS). It is an

There was a time when white collar was not actually considered because of laws being particularly targeted for violent crimes. Nevertheless, times have changed for a better outcome dealing with white-collar crime. Even recent years have shown results. As stated by the FBI (2010-2011) During FY 2011, cases pursued by the FBI resulted in 242 indictments/information and 241 convictions of corporate criminals. Numerous cases are pending plea agreements and trials. During FY 2011, the FBI secured $2.4 billion in restitution orders and $16.1 million in fines from corporate criminals. So it is a newly developed crime

In this paper the exciting criminal phenomenon known as white-collar crime will be discussed. Corporate Crime and Computer Crime will be discussed in detail. Crime preventative agencies such as the NCPC (National Crime Prevention Council) will also be researched. White Collar Crime The late Professor Edwin Sutherland coined the term white-collar crime about 1941. Sutherland defined white-collar crime as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" (Siegel 337) White-collar crime includes, by way of example, such acts as promulgating false or misleading advertising, illegal exploitation of employees, mislabeling of goods, violation of weights and measures statutes, conspiring to

In a looking glass of a sociologist, we can see white collar crime in our everyday world. When it presents itself; the victims are left hurt and the rest in awe of their awful actions. White Collar Crime is defined as “White collar crime overlaps with corporate crime because the opportunity for fraud, bribery, insider trading, embezzlement, computer crime, and forgery is more available to white-collar employees.” stated by James Henslin. White Collar Crime can be seen in the Libor Scandal, as a prime example.

In this paper the exciting criminal phenomenon known as white-collar crime will be discussed. Corporate Crime and Computer Crime will be discussed in detail. Crime preventative agencies such as the NCPC (National Crime Prevention Council) will also be researched. White Collar Crime The late Professor Edwin Sutherland coined the term white-collar crime about 1941. Sutherland defined white-collar crime as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" (Siegel 337) White-collar crime includes, by way of example, such acts as promulgating false or misleading advertising, illegal exploitation of employees, mislabeling of goods, violation of weights and measures statutes, conspiring to

The following case is one of the most famous white-collar crime cases known to date. Enron Corporation was an American energy company based out of Houston, Texas. Kenneth Lay formed Enron in 1985 after a huge merger. Over time Enron’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and other corporate executives misled auditors and the board of directors in major financial transactions. Thus, $11 million dollars was lost by shareholders after Enron’s stocks dramatically fell in the end of 2001. Enron was then bankrupt. In this case, many Enron executives were sentenced to prison, a rare punishment for white-collar crime. As a result of this incident, the Sarbanes- Oxley Act was enacted. This act ensured that there would be

In the twentieth century, White Collar and Organized Crimes have attracted the attention of the U.S. Criminal Justice System due to the greater cost to society than most normal street crime. Even with the new attention by the Criminal Justice System, both are still pretty unknown to the general public. Although we know it occurs, due to the lack of coverage and information, society does not realize the extent of these crimes or the impact. White Collar and Organized is generally crime committed by someone that is considered respectable and has a high social status. The crimes committed usually consist of fraud, insider trading, bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, identity theft or forgery. One

Edwin Sutherland introduced the term white-collar crime at the fourth annual meeting of the Sociological Association in 1939 (Conklin, 2010, P. 69). The Federal Bureau of Investigations defines white-collar crime as “Those illegal acts which are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and which are not dependent upon the application or threat of physical force or violence” (Barnett). Individuals and mainly organizations commit white-collar crimes to obtain money, property, or services. By committing these invincible crimes, the criminal’s goal is to avoid the payment, loss of money or services, and to secure personal or business advantage. Three major orientations help define white-collar crime “Those that define white-collar crime by the type of offender (high socioeco¬nomic status and/or occupation of trust); those that define it in terms of the type of offense (economic crime); and those that study it in terms of the organizational culture rather than the offender or offense” (USDOJ, 1989, P. 3). Even though illegal acts of white-collar offenses are defined and interpreted differently by everyone, the fact of the matter is that offenders must be punished in accordance with U.S. law. This leads to our next discussion, we'll look into the laws meant to prevent white-collar crime as well as how those who commit it are punished.