NCJ Number
114258
Date Published
1988
Length
6 pages
Annotation
White-collar crime takes many forms and should be addressed through efforts to create a corporate culture that values integrity and enforces security.
Abstract
Estimates of the magnitude of white-collar crime vary from $40 billion to over $200 billion. The exact amount is unknown, because most white-collar crime goes undetected. The FBI has made white-collar crime investigation one of its four national priorities, along with organized crime, counterintelligence, and terrorism. No organization is immune to criminal acts, whether committed by employees, vendors, contractors, or outsiders. Victims range from governmental bodies and charitable organizations to major corporations. Forms of white-collar crime include embezzlement, pilferage and theft, frauds related to confidential data, and computer crime. Managers need to take strong steps to coordinate security policies and procedures, and top officials need to make security as important a function as strategic planning or financial controls. Five ways to create an honest organizational climate are to set realistic performance standards, to communicate rather than announce security rules, to be unpredictable in establishing and enforcing controls, to maintain uniform policies, and to measure work output and evaluate employee performance regularly.