White Collar Crime in India
White collar criminality has become a global phenomenon with the advance of commerce and technology. Like any other country, India is equally in the grip of white collar criminality. The recent developments in information technology, particularly during the closing years of the twentieth century, have added new dimensions to white collar criminality. There has been unprecedented growth of a new variety of computer dominated white collar crimes which are commonly called as cyber crimes. These crimes have become a matter of global concern and a challenge for the law enforcement agencies in the new millennium. Because of the specific nature of these crimes, they can be committed anonymously and far away from the victims without physical presence. Further, cyber-criminals have a major advantage: they can use computer technology to inflict damage without the risk of being apprehended or caught. It has been predicted that there would be simultaneous increase in cyber crimes with the increase in new internet web sites. The areas affected by cyber crimes are banking and financial institutions, energy and telecommunication services, transportation, business, industries etc. in India
Reasons For Growth Of White Collar Crimes In India
White collar crimes are committed out of greed. The people who usually commit these crimes are financially secure.
Financial or physical duress.
White collar crimes are estimated to cost society many times more than crimes such as robbery and burglary. The amount of death caused by corporate mishap, such as inadequate forensic testing, far outnumbers those caused by murder.
The emergence of cutting edge technology, growing businesses, and political pressures has opened up new avenues for these criminal organizations to prosper.
This increase is due to a booming economy and technological advancement such as the Internet and fast money transfer systems. Law enforcement is sometimes reluctant to pursue these cases because they are so hard to track and investigate.
It is very difficult to detect as white-collar crimes always committed in privacy of an office or home and usually there is no eyewitness.
But naturally a question arises that if we have specific legislations to trace out White
Collar Criminality then why these offenders go unpunished. Main reasons for which these white-Collar criminals or occupational criminals go unpunished are
Legislators and the law implementers belong to the same group or class to which these occupational criminals belong;
Questionable police effort;
Un-Favourable laws;
limited impact on individuals or tangibly on society.
With white-collar crimes on the rise, it is necessary for the judiciary and police to distinguish between white-collar crimes, petty crimes and acts of homicide and violence. Sending everyone to the same jail is also unfair. India needs different detention centres for different kinds of criminal misconduct. At this present juncture what we need is the strengthening of our enforcement agencies such as Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate, The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, The Income-tax Department and the Customs Department. Concentration and distribution of national wealth must be done in a proper manner. Speedy trial should be arranged by appointing more Judges. Central Vigilance Commission must keep a constant vigil on the workings of the top ranking officers. General public must not avoid being engaged themselves in the prosecution of the White-collar criminals as the offence in general is directed towards them. Lastly if they are traced and proved guilty then Deterrent Theory of punishment is an option one.
Money Laundering
When a person, the launderer, converts his illegal money into legitimate money, and thereby succeeds at hiding his illegally earned money, is said to have committed the crime of money laundering. In India “Hawala transaction” is the name given to the crime of money laundering. Money laundering has been defined under Section 3of the Money Laundering Act, 2002.
They money launderers do their job in such a manner that not even the investigating agencies are able to trace the real source of the money. This is how people who invest their black money in capital market succeed at converting the black money into legitimate wealth.
The three major steps involved in money laundering are:
1. Investment
As the first step, the launderers invest their illegal money into the black market via agent or banks in the form of cash. This is done either through formal or informal agreements.
2. Manipulating the details
The second step is to hide the details of the real income of the launderer. In order to do so, the launderers, often deposits their money in the form of bonds, stocks, etc. into a foreign bank. They prefer to invest in those bank that does not reveal the identity or the details of the account holder. This helps in manipulating the information of the owner of the money and the details regarding the source of the money.
3. Making what is illegal, legal
The final step is where the black money introduced into the market is finally converted into legitimate money and introduced into the financial world.
Cases of money laundering in India
1. BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) was alleged to have laundered dollar 23 billion by introducing itself into the market of arms and drug smuggling.
2. In the case of Anosh Ekka v. Central Bureau of Investigation, Anosh Ekka was alleged to have been involved in money laundering as, after becoming the minister acquired a huge amount of movable and immovable assets in his name and in the name of his family within a short span of 3 years. The Supreme Court held the accused liable for looting and laundering huge amount of public wealth. He delayed the judgement and also manipulated the evidence against him. He was also accused of abusing the law-making process and contempt on the justice delivery system.
3. In Arun Kumar Mishra v. Directorate of Enforcement, five people created a fake account in the Punjab National Bank (PNB), and thereby collected money as personal gains and caused huge loss to PNB. The money laundering case was not held in this case as the offence did not fall under any provision of the Prevention of Corruption Act. And under Article 20(1) of the Constitution of India, it has been said that ex-post facto laws have no effect. Under the said Article it is a fundamental right to not be prosecuted by a law that did not exist at the time of commission of the offence. However, the court said that once money laundering has been fully established against the petitioner, the Enforcement Directorate can initiate a fresh proceeding against him under the law which in force thereafter.
Comments