Controlling Cross-Border Economic Crime

• NCJ Number: 190723
• Author(s): Russell G. Smith
• Date Published: June 2001
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Downloaded October 8, 2001; paper presented at the 4th National Outlook Symposium on Crime in Australia, New Crimes or New Responses convened by the Australian Institute of Criminology and held in Canberra June 21-22, 2001.

Annotation

This paper presents four case studies that illustrate the problem of cross-border economic crime, and recommendations are offered for countering it.

Abstract

The first case study involved an offender who committed an offense in one country against a victim located in another country (the English case of R. v Thompson). Sometimes even this relatively simple scenario has complications in determining legal jurisdiction for investigating and prosecuting the crime. In this case, the British Court of Appeal held that the defendant had fraudulently obtained control of the funds at issue in England rather than in Kuwait, where he was a computer programmer employed by the Commercial Bank of Kuwait. The second case concerned a single offender who deceived multiple victims in other countries. Specifically, the case involved a man who lived in a Melbourne suburb (Australia) who manipulated the share price of an American company by posting information on the Internet and sending E-mail messages around the globe that contained false and misleading information about the company. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission prosecuted the offender for distributing false and misleading information with the intention of inducing investors to purchase the company's stock. Another case study involved conspiracy to defraud, in which a number of offenders located in one or a number of jurisdictions targeted a victim in one of those jurisdictions or some other jurisdiction. The final case study involved a number of offenders who targeted multiple victims located in a number of different countries by using essentially the same fraudulent strategy. Recommendations for preventing and controlling cross-border economic crimes include providing and sharing information, encouraging victims to report incidents of economic crime, reforming and harmonizing laws internationally to permit the effective prosecution of offenders, training and resourcing personnel, and publicizing outcomes. 13 references