White collor crimes are synonymous to government frauds and corporate frauds usually done by professionals. Corruption, fraud, and bribery are some of the most common white collar crimes in India as well as all over the world.
India is a developing country and white collar crimes are becoming a major cause for its under development along with poverty, health, etc. The trend of white collar crimes in India poses a threat to the economic development of the country. These crimes require immediate intervention by the government by not only making strict laws but also ensuring its proper implementation.
REASONS FOR GROWTH OF WHITE COLLOR CRIMES
- Greed
- Easy, swift and prolong effect
- Competition
- Lack of stringent laws
- Lack of awareness
- Necessity
MAJOR TYPES OF WHITE COLLAR CRIMES
- Bank fraud
One of the most important responsibilities that a bank or financial institution has is to protect the integrity of the institution by working hard to protect the financial assets that it holds. In order to do so, the bank or financial institution must be certain to address the issue of bank fraud. Bank fraud can be defined as an unethical and/or criminal act by an individual or organization to illegally attempt to possess or receive money from a bank or financial institution.
Hanung Toys & Textiles Limited and its directors were booked by the CBI in October for allegedly cheating a consortium of 12 banks of ₹2,040.63 crore. As on date, the banks have to recover about ₹4,900 crore from the accused persons.
- Bribery
A 2005 study done by the Transparency International in India found that more than 92% of the people had firsthand experience of paying bribes or peddling influence to get services performed in a public office. Taxes and bribes are common between state borders; Transparency International estimates that truckers annually pay ₹222 crore (US$31 million) in bribes.
Both government regulators and police share in bribe money, to the tune of 43% and 45% each, respectively. The en route stoppages at checkpoints and entry-points can take up to 11 hours per day. About 60% of these (forced) stoppages on roads by concerned authorities such as government regulators, police, forest, sales and excise, octroi, and weighing and measuring departments are for extorting money. The loss in productivity due to these stoppages is an important national concern; the number of truck trips could increase by 40%, if forced delays are avoided.
In 2016, Mallya absconded the country and sought refuge in the UK after he was accused of fraud and money laundering in the country. He allegedly owes various banks over Rs 9000 crores, which he’d taken as a loan to keep his now-defunct Kingfisher airlines from failing. He was recently declared a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
- Money laundering
The term “money laundering” describes the process of concealing the true owners of illegally obtained funds. This process gives legitimacy to criminal funds by “washing” them through various institutions so that they can be used without detection of the illegal activity that produced them.” Each phase of money laundering, also known as a “washing cycle, removes a “layer of the taint or criminal staining from those funds.”
Hasan Ali Khan v Union of India, the Bombay High Court held that an offence is committed under the PML Act only when an attempt is made to demonstrate a legitimate source of earning with respect to a tainted property, namely with respect to proceeds of crime. In terms of section 24 of the Act, where there are any proceedings relating to proceeds of crime under the PML Act, in the case of a person involved in the offence of money laundering, unless the contrary is proved, it is presumed that the proceeds of crime are involved in the offence of money laundering.
- Food and Drug adulteration
In India before independence, the Indian Penal Code contained provisions to take care of noxious food. Section 272 and 273 dealt with the adulteration of foods and drinks to make them noxious, and the sale of such noxious drinks. Thus adulteration is a crime under IPC punishable with imprisonment of six months with a fine up to Rs.1000. However, the crime under IPC arises only when the food article which is adulterated has become noxious.
In this case, Ram Dayal and Ors. v. Emperor (1923), the accused was selling ghee with a mixture of pig fat. The Privy Council held that the mixing of pig fat with the ghee is noxious to the religious feelings of the Hindus and Mohammedans but it would not come under the expression “noxious as food”. Noxious includes “ unwholesomeness or injurious to health but not repugnant to one’s feeling”.
- Hoarding and black marketing
The meaning of term “Black Marketing” is an illegal transaction of distribution and production of the goods and services, which are prohibited by law such as – drug trade, prostitution, illegal currency transactions, human trafficking etc. The purpose behind these transactions is generally to evade the tax levied by government of country. These kinds of transactions usually done through cash only so that they can hide from the eyes of government. These kinds of transactions also lead to money laundering. The people find this way easy to earn more money within less time period.
CONCLUSION
White collar crimes are the crimes which cause harm to the economy of the country as a whole. It threatens the country’s economy by bank frauds, economic thefts, evasion of tax etc. It not only affects the financial status of a country or a person but it has also a negative impact on the society. The various crimes such as bribery, corruption, money laundering has affected society in a negative way.
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