White collar crime: types, causes, and consequences

White collar crime is one of the most controversial subjects in America today. With the recent conviction of home-economics guru Martha Stewart for white-collar-crime related issues, the subject has only become more high profile. As white-collar crimes are continually portrayed in the media, the public can only conclude that white collar crime is a serious problem in American businesses.

White collar crime is not necessarily limited to businesses, but can also rear its head in elected governments. In a March 05 article on Philly.com, Warner, Einhorn and Davies describe the many of the legal aspects of an ongoing corruption probe of Philadelphia city hall officials. In the article, the authors note that the Street administration has hired a staggering 14 private law firms to represent city interests in an ongoing corruption probe. From this information, Warner, Einhorn and Davies suggest that as many as 12 city officials may be implicated in the investigation. The identity of the officials and the total cost of legal representation has not yet been revealed. The current probe stems from the discovery of a listening device in the office of the mayor.

City officials note that lawyers are paid as high as $200 per hour for senior partners, with rookie lawyers making $135 per hour. Warner, Einhorn and Davies note that lists of the 14 law firms and five legal services contracts were only released after two months of repeated requests from the Daily News. Further, lines in contracts that listed maximum spending limits were removed, and the names of city officials receiving representation were also removed. Two former U.S. attorneys, Gregory T. Magarity and Michael J. Holston, are among the lawyers hired by the city.

Warner, Einhorn and Davies note that subjects of the probe could find themselves embroiled in a grand jury investigation. This may lead them to being prosecuted for wrongdoing. Alternatively, investigators could determine that probe subjects did not participate in wrongdoing, and thus take no further action.

Critique

The story by Warner, Einhorn and Davies is likely to trigger significant outrage from the Philadelphia community and other Americans. Not only are elected officials suspected of wrongdoing, but the article insinuates that the city will incur a significant cost to represent people implicated in the probe.

Thus, the people of Philadelphia are hit with a 'double-whammy' in this alleged case of white collar crime. They were not only deceived by elected officials, but the people's tax dollars are being used to defend these suspected criminals.