White-Collar and Corporate Crime

Edwin H. Sutherland, who challenged the assumption that criminality was primarily associated with poverty and lower socioeconomic status.

Crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation.

He demonstrated the importance of examining unlawful conduct by respected professionals and businesses rather than restricting criminological analysis to conventional street crime.

Illegal conduct committed by individuals through opportunities arising from their legitimate occupations, often for personal benefit.

Unlawful conduct undertaken through corporate activities or by corporate agents in connection with organizational objectives or operations.

Occupational crime generally benefits the individual offender, while corporate crime is committed in connection with organizational interests, although benefits may overlap.

Illegal conduct facilitated by organizational roles, structures, practices, or decision-making processes.

Harmful or unlawful conduct by individuals or institutions possessing substantial social, political, or economic power.

Conduct by a professional that violates applicable legal, ethical, or occupational standards.

Some violations involve ethical, contractual, administrative, or disciplinary standards without satisfying the elements of a criminal offense.

The fraudulent appropriation or conversion of money or property entrusted to an employee or another person in a position of responsibility.

A scheme involving false or unauthorized payroll transactions, such as payments for nonexistent employees or fabricated work hours.

Dishonest manipulation of purchasing or contracting processes to obtain improper payments, contracts, goods, or advantages.

Collusion among bidders or other participants to undermine genuine competition in a procurement or tendering process.

The use of false, inflated, duplicate, or otherwise deceptive invoices to obtain unauthorized payment.

Intentional material misrepresentation or omission in financial reporting designed to deceive users of financial information.

An inaccurate presentation of an accounting amount, classification, disclosure, or related financial information; it may result from error or fraud.

Fraud involves intentional deception, while an error results from mistake or oversight without fraudulent intent.

Trading securities using material nonpublic information in circumstances prohibited by applicable securities laws.

Conduct intended to create artificial or misleading market prices, trading activity, or investor perceptions in violation of applicable rules.

An investment fraud in which returns to earlier participants are paid primarily from funds contributed by later participants rather than genuine investment profits.

A scheme whose rewards depend primarily on recruiting additional participants rather than sustainable sales of legitimate goods or services.

Fraud that exploits trust within a shared social, religious, professional, cultural, or other community affiliation.

Deceptive or unlawful commercial conduct that causes consumers to lose money, property, or other legally protected interests.

An agreement among competitors to coordinate prices instead of independently determining them, where prohibited by competition law.

Republic Act No. 10667, the Philippine Competition Act.

The government body established under RA 10667 to implement and enforce the Philippine Competition Act.

The abuse or misuse of entrusted public authority for improper private, political, or organizational advantage.

The offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving of an improper benefit to influence conduct connected with official or entrusted duties, subject to applicable legal elements.

An improper payment or benefit secretly returned to someone for facilitating a transaction, contract, or favorable decision.

A situation in which personal, financial, or other interests may improperly influence the performance of official or professional duties.

Favoritism toward relatives in appointments or other decisions, particularly where such preference violates applicable merit or ethical requirements.

The allocation of jobs, contracts, or benefits based on political or personal loyalty rather than objective qualifications or public interest.

The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which defines and penalizes specified corrupt practices involving public officers and related persons.

The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

To promote transparency and accountability through legally required disclosure of specified financial interests and obligations.

The Philippine law defining and penalizing plunder, subject to its statutory elements and amendments.

The accumulation or acquisition of ill-gotten wealth of at least the statutory threshold through the specified combination or series of criminal acts by a public officer, subject to RA 7080.

At least fifty million Philippine pesos in ill-gotten wealth, together with the other required statutory elements.

Failure to satisfy applicable legal, licensing, reporting, safety, or operational requirements imposed by regulatory authorities.

The systems, policies, controls, and practices used to help an organization meet applicable legal and regulatory obligations.

Donald Cressey's framework identifying perceived pressure, perceived opportunity, and rationalization as commonly discussed conditions associated with occupational fraud.

A financial, personal, organizational, or other pressure that an individual believes creates a need or incentive to commit fraud.

The belief that weaknesses in oversight or controls make fraudulent conduct possible without likely detection.

The justification an offender uses to reconcile dishonest conduct with their self-image or perceived circumstances.

An extension of the fraud triangle that adds capability as a fourth factor influencing whether a person can carry out fraud.

Potential bribery or kickbacks, procurement fraud, and abuse of entrusted authority, depending on the applicable legal elements.

Corporate financial statement fraud.

Payroll fraud involving fictitious employees.

The fraud triangle: perceived pressure, perceived opportunity, and rationalization.