Pension fraud: forms, detection, and law enforcement response

Pension fraud is a type of white-collar crime, but it can assume many different forms. In "Guilty Plea in Fraud Case Tied to New York Pension," the underlying crime was bribery, which happened to be related to a pension fraud scheme. The State of New York runs and manages a pension for its residents. It invests money workers pay into the pension. In this case, state officials accepted about $1 million in gifts in exchange for investing $250 million in pension money into the briber's company. "Looking Out for Number One" describes a slightly different type of pension fraud. In this case, the manager of the pension was defrauded by the investment company, AA Capital Partners. AA Capital Partners seem to have diverted millions of dollars from the pension money to its own dealings, amounting to a type of embezzlement. Thus, pension fraud is not actually a specific type of fraud in so much as it is multiple types of fraud that happen to involve a pension fund. Law enforcement can fight pension fraud in similar ways to other types of white collar crime: by staying aware, by gathering as much intelligence as possible, and generally making it difficult for people to get away with pension fraud by monitoring pension funds more carefully and punishing perpetrators severely.

UNIT 5 DISCUSSION

Consumer fraud encompasses a wide range of practices that impact and victimize consumers. The most common types of consumer fraud include identity theft, debt collection, and payday loans ("Identity Theft, Debt Collection, and Payday Loans Top List of Consumer Fraud Complaints," 2014). Identity theft is becoming increasingly more common, especially as consumers rely more and more on electronic transactions and digital devices for purchases, banking, and other financial transactions. Consumer fraud is linked to similar types of white collar crimes we have discussed in class, and it can be difficult for law enforcement to address these problems effectively. Some types of consumer fraud are also the responsibility of the consumer, such as falling for a lottery scam.

UNIT 9 DISCUSSION

There are as many reasons for white collar crime as there are for other types of crime. Each person is motivated by different reasons, and some are simply opportunistic. I agree that opportunism plays a major role in white collar crime. In some cases, the crime is too easy to commit and get away with, and the potential earnings are too attractive to resist. Our society places a high value on material acquisition, power, and social status. Therefore, white collar criminals have a strong motivation to take the risk of committing a crime. With white collar crime, the perpetrator is also removed from the victim to the extent that the person does not feel remorse in the same way. It is much easier to click a button and defraud a person out of their life savings than it is to hold up that person at gunpoint. I do believe that insufficient attention is paid to white collar crime, and too much attention is paid to drug-related offenses. White collar crime should be placed at a higher priority by law enforcement.