Agonizing tales of white-collar crimes that have seen people’s entire savings wiped out are everywhere. From Ponzi schemes that promise heaven but deliver worse than hell to instances of fraud through identity theft, many people have been schemed out of their hard-earned savings.
Before you enter into a contractual agreement with an entity, it is important that you understand the various types of white-collar crimes that could land you in deep legal trouble. Unfortunately, it is easy to be deceived that what you are entering into is above board.
White-collar crimes often involve multiple charges, and if convicted on all charges, you are likely to be behind bars for a long time. Below are some types of white-collar crimes that could land you in court—beware of them and, if you find yourself facing charges, contact a criminal lawyer immediately.
1. Fraud
Fraud is often equated with theft, but there is a difference between outright theft and fraud. Theft involves taking something by force or stealthily, while fraud involves misrepresentation of facts. Two types of fraud exist: criminal and civil fraud. The difference between the two depends on the party instituting legal action.
Fraud always involves misrepresentation of facts. To prove a fraud case, the victim must demonstrate that the accused knowingly mispresented facts and that the misrepresentation was purposefully done to swindle the victim, and that the victim was deceived into believing the misrepresentation, and, consequently, the victim suffered damages.
2. Breach of Trust
This is defined as any act or omission by a trustee, which does not honour the law of trusts or terms of the trust agreement. It is, therefore, a violation by a trustee, either through negligence or fraud, of a requisite duty.
Signs that you could be entering into a breach of trust include commingling assets. When you mingle a client’s assets, including deposit accounts, with yours, you are seriously encroaching into contract breach territory. Another telltale sign of a potential breach of contract is a conflict of interest. As a fiduciary, you must divorce personal interests from that of your client. Finally, you could be about to breach a contract if you fail in your oversight role. For instance, you commit a breach of contract if you fail to report or prevent a co-fiduciary for malpractice, making you legally culpable.
3. False Pretence
False pretence is a hybrid offence in Canada, which means that it is indictable. Individuals indicted of false pretence charges are inadmissible in Canada. Should the offence have been committed 10 years before application to immigrate to Canada, there is a likelihood that the prohibition will be lifted based on the assumption that such an individual is deemed to have been rehabilitated.
4. Theft
Theft is a serious white-collar crime in Canada. If the amounts involved are over $5,000, one is likely to get the maximum penalty of ten years in jail. Theft of smaller amounts also constitute a crime and could land one in prison, albeit for shorter jail terms.
5. Identity Theft
Identity theft involves stealing someone else’s personal details with the intention to commit a crime. Identity theft can range from simple acts such as mail theft and dumpster driving to sophisticated tech-savvy theft of personal details through phishing, skimming, and hacking with the intention of committing criminal acts. If convicted of identity theft, one could be cooling it in jail for up to five years.
Most of the white-collar crimes that might land you in jail involve one type of fraud or another. When convicted, these crimes carry punitive prison sentences that could make one’s life a living nightmare.
