White Collar Crimes: Notes

Prepared by
Gayathri. S
Assistant Professor
Ramaiah College of Law

First Module
Long Answer Questions
White collar Crimes
1.Define White Collar Crimes with its kinds and characteristics., Explain the
nature, definition and growth of White Collar Criminality, Define white collar
crimes. Explain the socio-economic offences in lndia., Define white collar
crimes with its kinds, Explain the difficulties for the enforcement of anti-white
collar crime legislations, "Crime committed by a person of respectability and
high social status in course of his occupation". Critically explain.
Socio-economic offences
1.Explain the Indian approach to socio-economic offences, “Every accused shall
be presumed to be innocent till proved guilty". How far is this principle
relevant in tackling socio-economic offences?
Deviance
1.. Explain the concept of Official Deviance. What is Deviance? Explain the
Deviance of Religious Leaders and Organizations
General
1.Explain the basic principles of traditional criminal jurisprudence. 2.Analyze
how traditional criminal law are not suitable to deal with new types of white
collar crimes in India, Explain the "illicit traffic" in narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substance

Short Answer
 1. Cyber Crimes.
2. Tax avoidance and tax evasion
3. Official deviance
4. Food adulteration

White Collar Crimes, Definition, nature and

Characteristics

Definition
The most influential criminologist of the 20th century and also a sociologist,
Edwin H. Sutherland, for the first time in 1939, defined white collar crimes as
“crimes committed by people who enjoy the high social status, great repute, and
respectability in their occupation”.
The five attributes of the given definition are:
 It is a crime.
 That is committed by an important person of the company.
 Who enjoys a high social status in the company.
 And has committed it in the course of his profession or occupation.
 There may be a violation of trust.

EDWIN. H. SUTHERLAND coined the term White -Collar Crimes in 1949 in

his address to American Sociological Society
Modified definition of white-collar Crimes by Sutherland: Crimes committed by
a person of the upper socio-economic class who violates the criminal law in the
course of his occupational activities and Professional activities.
In 1970 Herbert Edelhertz defined WCC as” an illegal act or series of illegal acts
committed by non-physical means and by concealment or guide to obtain money
or property to avoid the payment or loss of money or property or to obtain
business or personal advantage”
Elements of this definition:
 Intent to commit a wrongful act or to achieve a purpose inconsistent with
law or public policy.
 Disguise of purpose or intent
  Reliance by perpetrator or ignorance
 Acquiescence by victim in what he believes to be the true nature.
 Concealment of crime by preventing the victim.
General Definition: White-collar crime is defined as" illegal acts characterized by
deception, concealment, or breach of trust and not reliant on the application or
threat of physical force or violence.
white-collar crimes are committed during the course of one’s job. The offender’s
occupational role plays a central feature in the perpetration of the crime. The
offender’s occupation is viewed as a legitimate occupation by society (e.g., a drug
dealer’s occupation is illegitimate, but a pharmacist’s occupation is legitimate).
Nature of White Collar Crimes/Socio Economic Offences
1.Motive: In WCC, the particular motive of criminal is not lust or hate rather the
motive is greediness or ravenousness.
2.Background: The background of WCC is non-emotional as there is no
existence of any emotional reaction between the offender and the victim.
3.Absence of Men’s Rea: The act which results in commission of WCC is
generally a deliberate and willful act. Under the traditional criminal
jurisprudence, the criminal liability is incorporated in the principle of Mens Rea.
Thus for imposing penal liability two conditions must be satisfied, wrongful act
and a guilty mind. However, with respect to socio–economic offences, the
tendency of the legislature is to curtail the requirement of Mens rea for criminal
liability.
4.Victim: The victim of WCC is usually the state or a section of the public,
particularly the consuming public which consumes food or services buys shares
of securities or other intangibles.
5.Mode of Operation: The modes of operation of WCC is through fraud
6.Nature of Liability: The liability of offender of WCC is generally strict or
absolute because such offences cause more harm to society than ordinary crimes
because of greater financial losses and because of damage inflicted on public
morals.
7.Burden of Proof: In WCC the burden of does not lie on the prosecution but it
is on the offender. In these offences, there is Presumption against the offender
that he was involved in the commission of the offence and he has to disprove it.
In State of Maharashtra v. M.H George, AIR 1956 SC 722, S.C observed
that Socio-economic offences are dealt under special enactments and social
welfare legislation. Due to the peculiar nature ,they are planned and executed in
secrecy by sophisticated means and their detection is usually difficult.

Characteristics
1.It involves violation of legal codes
2.It takes place directly or indirectly in connection with a legitimate occupation’
3.It aims at gaining money
4.The crime is not against a specific individual or a firm but is against society at
large. There is therefore no specific victim.
5.Earlier only a person of high status committing this crime was considered as
WCC but now a person of any class violating law the course of occupational
duty is describes as WCC.
6. The offender does not regard himself as a criminal but consider himself as a
respectable citizen
7. It is a crime against which the victims are least likely to fight.
8. The effect of this crime is much more serious for serious for society than an
ordinary crime.

Scope of WCC
WCC can refer to
 Financial Crimes
 Non-Violent crimes
 Crime by or targeting corporations
 Crimes typically committed by the rich
 Criminal business or organizations
 Corporate or professional malfeasance
 Anything that is against the law that the average beat cop would not
typically handle.

Reasons/Causes for the growth of white-collar crimes in India

Greed, competition and lack of proper laws to prevent such crimes are the major
reasons behind the growth of white-collar crimes in India.
 Easy, swift and prolong effect
The rapid growing technology, business, and political pressure has introduced the
criminals to newer ways of committing white collar crimes. Technology has also
made it easier and swifter to inflict harm or cause loss to the other person. Also,
the cost of such crimes is much more than other crimes like murder, robbery or
burglary, and so the victim would take time to recover from it. This would cut
down the competition.
Competition
Herbert Spencer after reading ‘On the Origin of Species’ by Darwin, coined a
phrase that evolution means ‘survival of the fittest’. This implies that there will
always be a competition between the species, and the best person to adapt himself
to the circumstances and conditions should survive.
Lack of stringent laws
Since most of these crimes are facilitated by the internet and digital methods of
transfer payments, laws seem reluctant to pursue these cases as investigating and
tracking becomes a difficult and complicated job. Why it becomes difficult to
track it is because they are usually committed in the privacy of a home or office
thereby providing no eyewitness for it.
Lack of awareness
The nature of white-collar crimes is different from the conventional nature of
crimes. Most people are not aware of it and fail to understand that they are the
worst victims of crime.
Necessity
People also commit white collar crimes to meet their own needs and the needs of
their family. But the most important thing that the people of high social status
want to feed their ego. The reasons behind white collar criminals going
unpunished are:
1.Legislators and the people implementing the laws belong to the same class to
which these occupational criminals belong.
2.The police put in less effort in the investigation as they find the process
exhausting and hard, and often these baffling searches fail to promise favourable
results.
3.. Laws are such that it only favours occupational criminals.
4. The judiciary has always been criticized for its delayed judgement. Sometimes
it so happens that by the time court delivers the judgement, the accused has
already expired.
This makes criminals loose in committing crimes. While white collar crimes are
increasing at a faster rate, the judiciary must increase its pace of delivering
judgements.
o Greed:
Consequences of White-Collar Crime
In particular, the consequences can be characterized as (1) individual economic
losses, (2) societal economic losses, (3) emotional consequences, (4) physical
harm, and (5) “positive” consequences.
Effects of white-collar crime
Effect on the company
White collar crimes cause huge loss to companies. In order to recover the loss,
these companies eventually raise the cost of their product which decreases the
number of customers for that product.
Effect on the employees
White collar crimes endanger employees. They become conscious of their
working conditions, whether it is safe anymore or not. They start doubting if they
are safe and that they can still be given in their trust to the company.
Effect on customers
The most important concern of the customers is whether the products which they
are using is safe or not. This doubt rises to see the rate at which white collar
crimes have been increasing.
Effect on society
White collar crimes are harmful to the society for those people who should be
cited as a mora example and who must behave responsibly are one committing
such crimes. The society thus becomes polluted.

Difference between White Collar Crimes and Traditional Crimes

1.W.C criminals are intelligent, stable and successful men of high social status.
Traditional criminals are ordinary, common, and men of comparatively lower
social status.
2.W.C crimes are indirect, anonymous, impersonal and difficult to detect. But
ordinary crimes are direct and involve physical action such as beating, removal
of property, or use of force. It can easily be identified and detected.
3.The criminal content such as Mens rea is an essential ingredient of every
traditional crime but many statute dealing with the WCC do not require Mens rea
in strict sense of them.
4.WCC criminals are friendly and their activities for a long time are accepted as
a part of usual business tactics and people know very little about the trickery of
them and such tactics go unpunished. But traditional crimes are easily detectable
and punishable.
5.WCC are invisible but traditional crimes are visible.
6.The impact of WCC is greater on the society than traditional crime.

Difference between white collar crime and blue-collar

crime
Comparison chart
White-Collar Crime Blue-Collar Crime

Higher socioeconomic class Lower socioeconomic class

Requires resources and powers to that
are only available to white-collar Does not require any special access
workers or resources
Damage is typically to victim’s Damage is typically physical, and to
resources/money and not physical a victim’s person
White-collar crime does not directly Blue-collar crime directly harms the
harm the victim and does not require victim and often requires the
the criminal to be there at the “scene of criminal to be present at the “scene
the crime.” of the crime.”
 white collar
crimes refer to knowledgeable works, Blue-collar crimes refer to people
who use their knowledge to commit who work physically, using their
crimes. hands
The concept of white-collar crimes has Blue-collar crimes refer to
recently developed. It’s a new species traditional crimes that have been
of crime. committed since ages
Where Mens rea is an
Mens rea in white collar crimes is not essential element of blue-collar
necessary crimes

Classification/Types/Kinds of White Collar Crimes

1. Bank Fraud

Fraud is a crime that aims to mislead and gain inappropriate advantages. Bank
frauds are financial scams. It is made through false representations by fraudulent
companies. It also involves handling negotiable instruments such as check
bouncing, securities, bank deposits etc. Bank fraud is concerned with the general
public as banks and the Governments have a relationship of trust. It is the most
prevalent type of white-collar crime as well as a corporate crime. This affects
both the public and the country's Government. Despite having a strong regulator,
the financial services sector has emerged as the most susceptible sector to fraud.
The misuse of technology in the banking sector includes use of banking access
for overpayments to vendors or self-bank account, sharing of potential
confidential information and misuse of the company’s technology resource for
unauthorized activities, which includes conflicting business relationship.
Moreover, providing services on mobile and social media platforms with limited
knowledge of the security requirements, poses lot of threats to customers as well
as the financial institutions. Given the weaknesses in Indian law enforcement
system regarding the investigation and prosecution of fraudsters and ever-
increasing social pressure to get rich quickly, fraud remains a constant danger to
businesses.

Bank fraud is a criminal act where a person, by illegal means, withdraws either
money or assets from the bank. The fraud can also occur when a person falsely
represents himself to be a bank or financial institution and withdraws money or
assets from the people.
That bank fraud can be committed in two ways:
1. By using illegal means to withdraw money or assets from the bank or any
financial institution.
2. By falsely representing oneself to be a bank or any financial institution, the
person extracts money or assets from people. Bank frauds are punishable in India
under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Various sections like Section 403 which deals
with criminal misappropriation of property, section 405 which deals with criminal
breach of trust, section 415 which deals with cheating, section 463 deals with
forgery and section 489A deals with counterfeiting of currency, deals with the
crime of fraud in banks.
Types of bank fraud
 Imitating a financial institution
 Defrauding by means of checks
 Falsely getting loans approved
 Bank fraud using internet
Bank frauds are punishable in India under the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
 Section 403 which deals with criminal misappropriation of
property,
 section 405 which deals with criminal breach of trust
 Section 415 which deals with cheating,
 section 463 deals with forgery and section
 489A deals with counterfeiting of currency, deals with the crime of
fraud in banks

Important Cases:
1.Punjan National Bank (Neerav modi)
2.PMC Bank
3.YES Bank
II. Money Laundering
Money laundering is a crime wherein criminals try to mask the identity of the
money. In such crime, criminals attempt to cover up the original ownership of the
money and the source since it is usually obtained illegally. Money laundering
means showing the illegal money as legal. Money laundering is specified in
accordance with Section 3 of the 2002 Money Laundering Act.
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.
Typically, the criminals place the black money using banking channels, and move
from banking institutions to other banking institutions in order to layer the money
and disguise its origin then pay to buy something in order to integrate black
money into financial system.
The three major steps involved in money laundering are:
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.
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.
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.
III.TAX EVASION
Tax evasion, also known as tax fraud, is the purposeful failure to pay taxes due.
The term covers all those who earn income, do not report it or conceal the
earnings by falsifying a return or supporting documents. Tax evasion is when a
person deliberately forges his state of affairs in order for the authorities to levy
less amount of tax. This can either be done by an individual, a corporation or a
trust. Itis a false means of escaping government taxes.
It is true, nobody wants to pay more tax than their fair share, hence, taxpayers
often try to find ways to reduce their tax liabilities to the Government. This means
intentionally failing to pay or underpay your fair share of taxes, and it may take
multiple forms. Tax evasion is a common activity related to the informal
economy. In simple terms, Tax evasion and avoidance both is an offence which
is used to reduce one’s tax burden. The offence of tax evasion is punishable under
Chapter XXII of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which can impose heavy amount of
fine or even send you to jail.
Situations where one could be penalized for tax evasion
Failure to file income tax returns
If a person fails to fulfil the requirement of filing the income tax returns as laid
down under Section 139 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, then a fine of rupees
5,000 or more could be imposed.
Not providing a PAN card or giving a fake one
If a person does not provide a PAN (Permanent Account Number) to his
employer, at the time of employment or provides a fake PAN number, then, he
would be subject to a penalty of rupees 10,000.
Giving false information under form 26AS
Under Section 203AA of the income Tax Act, 1961 one is required to fill in Form
26AS. It is very important to look into the information which has been provided
because any wrong information would lead to severe punishment. Similarly, one
would be punished even if he/she has provided wrong information regarding
income, expenses or investment.
Punishment for not paying self-assessment tax
If a person fails to pay, either the entire sum or partial amount, self-assessment
tax then under Section 140A (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, he would be
considered as a defaulter.
Giving a wrong account of income to escape tax payment
Section 271(c) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 states that if a person conceals his
real income in order to reduce the amount of taxes, he would be liable to 100%
to 300% of the amount of the tax evaded by him
Keeping silence on the income tax notice
The assessing officer, under Section 142(1) or 143(2), can issue a notice, asking
the person to either file the return of income or asking the person to give all the
details in writing, in case the person has failed to comply with the notice given to
him by the Income Tax Department.

Tax Evasion v. Tax Avoidance (Short Note)

Tax evasion refers to the non -payment or under payment of taxes by employing
illegal or unfair means. Tax evasion is primarily constituted as tax fraud.
Tax avoidance is defined as acting within the law, sometimes at the edge of
legality to minimize or eliminate tax that would otherwise be legally owed. It
often involves exploiting the strict letter of the law, loopholes and mismatches to
obtain a tax advantage that was not originally intended by the legislation.
Tax avoidance refers to the attempt to reduce the tax liability of assesse to the
maximum extent within the compliance of law but defeating the intention of law.
It involves exploitation of tax laws to one’s advantage but within legal limits. Tax
avoidance cannot be termed as an act performance through malafide intention and
thus cannot be said to be illegal in the eyes of law.
IV. Corporate Fraud
Corporate fraud consists of illegal or unethical and deceptive actions committed
either by a company or an individual acting in their capacity as an employee of
the company. Corporate fraud schemes are often an office full of forensic
accountant’s months to unravel a corporate fraud scheme is entirety. It occurs
when a corporation or an individual intentionally changes and conceals
confidential information to appear healthier. False accounting entries, fraudulent
trades for profit inflation, disclosure of price sensitive information that falls under
the scope of insider trading, false transactions that attract more financial
institutions for financing are all examples of financial information falsification.
 There are number of ways in which a corporation can commit fraud.
1.Fraudulent financial reporting
2.Procurement fraud
3.Pay roll Fraud
4.Skimming
5.Asset Theft
6.Unauthorized use
List of Corporate Scams in India
1.Harshad Mehta Scam
2.Abdul Karim Telgi
3.Ketan Parekh
4.Satyam Computers
5.King Fisher Airlines
6.Jet Airways
7.Spot Exchange of India
8.ILFS etc
V. The act of embezzlement
When a person who has been entrusted with money or property to use it for his
own use and benefits starts using it any manner other than what it has been given
for in an illegal manner then the person would be liable for embezzlement. The
act of embezzlement may be characterized as criminal breach of trust which has
been defined in section 405 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
It defines criminal breach of trust as an act where a person who has been entrusted
with a property misappropriated it or falsely converted it to his own use or dispose
of it without any law allowing him to do so. Embezzlement is a misappropriation
of someone’s property where a person has an intent to cause loss to the other
person and criminal misappropriation is an offence under Section 403 of the
Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The essential elements that constitute the crime of embezzlement are as follows.
1. The two parties must share a fiduciary relationship, that is, a relationship based
on trust.
2. It is important that the defendant receives a certain amount of money or asset
by making wrongful use of this relationship.
3. The defendant while embezzling the asset or money should act like he is the
owner of that goods or he owns the money which he is giving to another person
4. There should be an intention to deceive on the part of the offender
Some examples of embezzlement and the respective sector in which they are
committed as a white-collar crime are:
1. In Banking sector, the bank tellers, who are people directly dealing with the
customers gives them access to the funds of the bank for work.
2. The clerks or the cashiers in stores gives the customers or any person access to
the till money kept in the store. Till money refers to the money which the bank
keeps with it to meet everyday requirements for cash money.
VI. Ponzi scam
Ponzi scam, also known as pyramid scam is a type of affinity scam where the
scammer would through emails and advertisements offer one to earn huge profits
by sitting at the comfort of their living room, only by investing a certain amount
of money. They also keep exciting offers like early birds would be able to make
more profits. After investing their money in such schemes people land up having
nothing in their hand, as the scammer runs away with the money leaving behind
no clue of their existence so as to track them.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scam that promises high return rates
for investors with little risk. Through acquiring new investors, the Ponzi scheme
produces returns for early investors. This is like a pyramid scheme because both
are focused on the use of funds from new investors to pay for the earlier
supporters. Companies that engage in Ponzi Schemes are all about attracting new
customers to make investments. The schemes are focused on a steady flow of new
investments to ensure that older investors continue to benefit. The plan falls apart
when the flow runs out.
VII. Forgery
Forgery refers to the counterfeiting of checks or securities intended to defraud the
other individual. It also involves a false document, signature, or other imitation
of a value object used for the purpose of deceiving another. It is very popular in
the company's accounting department, where the clerks and employees make
false reports and run away with the company's money. causing the company to
lose.
VIII. Insider Trading
Insider trading is characterized as a malpractice in which a company's individuals,
who because of their jobs, have exposure to the otherwise non-public information
that can be crucial to making investment decisions. Insider trading is an unfair
practice in which other stakeholders are extremely disadvantaged due to the lack
of valuable non-public insider information.
IX. Counterfeiting
Counterfeiting is a criminal act specified in section 28 of the Indian Penal Code,
1860, where something real is imitated to steal, damage or replace the original
work of someone. It makes it easier to make profits from illegal transactions and
to mislead a person who believes that the portrayal is real and that the imitated
work is of greater value. Counterfeit products contain fake logos and brand
names, and harmful chemicals have also been found in some products that lead
to the death of the consumer.
X. Extortion
Extortion is an offence wherein one party forces another party to pay for money,
or property, or services, it is said to have committed extortion. It is a white-collar
crime because an individual can take advantage of his official right and use his
higher position in the company to force another person to give money or transfer
assets for providing services.
Blackmail
Section 503 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 defines blackmailing or criminal
intimidation as, making a demand for money or any other consideration by
imposition of threat to cause physical injury, or to cause damage to one’s
property, or to accuse one of a crime, or to expose somebody’ secret.
XI. Hawala Trading
Hawala is a way to transfer money without moving the money. Hawala is an
alternative transfer channel outside conventional banking systems. Transactions
between hawala agents without promissory notes are made because the system is
strongly based on confidence and the book balance of hawala agents. Hawala
originated from South Asia in the 8th century and is nowadays commonly used
as an alternative means of transferring funds, particularly in the Islamic
community. In comparison to the traditional method of cross-border transactions
via bank transfers, money transfers to HAWALA are performed via a network of
hawala dealers or hawala dealers. Hawala promotes money flow between poor
countries where it is too expensive or difficult to access formal banking.
 Hawala transactions in India are entirely illegal under the Prevention of
Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Foreign Exchange Management Act
(FEMA). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central bank, does not
recognise Hawala transactions as it involves unauthorised people.

XII. Bribery
Bribery is a white-collar crime where a person asks for money, or a favour, or
something of value in order to get the other person’s work done. For example, if
an electoral officer asks a person to offer him wine and only then will he be
allowed to give vote, it would amount to bribery The punishment for bribery has
been provided under Section 171E of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 which says
that any person who commits such an offence would be imprisoned for a term
which may extend to 1 year or with fine or both. Also, Section 13 of the
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 has penalized acts constituting an offence
under this head, being engaged in by public officials.
Types of bribery
Where public official bribes or is bribed
If any public official demands, or exchanges something in return for performing
his duty which he is bound to perform within the power of his office, then he
would be held liable for bribery under the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment)
Act, 1988. ‘Also, if a person attempts to bribe a public officer for his own
advantage or for getting his work done, then that person, along with the public
official, will be held liable.
Where a witness bribes or is bribed
When any witness demands, exchanges, or receives bribery in any form to give
false testimony, or for bringing in a fake witness in the court, then he would be
held liable under the crime of bribery.
Bribing bank officials
It is illegal to bribe a bank official, director, manager, etc. With either meal,
entertainment, or any other way, either for employment, or wages or hike in
salaries.
Where a sporting official bribes or is bribed
A sporting official may ask for a bribe to ‘fix’ a match. In this case the one
briefing and the one who received the bribe, both will eventually be held liable
for committing a crime.
Bribing in an industry
Kickbacks are often associated with industries like, health industry, or in pension
plans, etc. For example, one pension provider bribes the broker of a company to
convince that company, to accept his pension offer and not offers made by other
pension providers.

Cybercrime (S.N)
The crimes which involves the use of computer, coupled with the use of internet
are called cybercrime. It is where the computer is used as the object of the crime
or as a tool to commit an offence. There is also a rapid increase in technology-
related crime. It is directly or indirectly committed against the victim to damage
his image physically or mentally using the internet and other technical sources.
Cybercrime is deemed to be a threat to nations security and financial status of the
person.
The only legislation which deals with the offences related to cybercrime is
Information Technology Act, 2000. The exact definition of cybercrime hasn’t
been provided in any of the acts or laws as it is not possible to define such a nature
of crime where computer and internet is involved.

This form of cybercrime is becoming more prevalent, and the police are
unprepared to deal with such rapidly changing criminals. In addition to this fraud,
cybercriminals are stealing people's financial information and hacking into their
computers. There is usually no brutality involved in these types of financial
crimes. Despite this, they are not without victims. The Department of Justice
confirms the financial, emotional, and even physical harm that victims of
common forms of economic crime may inflict. In Varpaul Singh V state of
Punjab, the defendants created fake bills and entries, as well as deleting critical
data from computers. The bills for the work done were removed from the
mainframe computer.
In another BSNL case in 2009, a Techie from Bangalore named N G Arun Kumar
was charged with modifying data on the BSNL Broadband network and was
sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 5200 rupees under sections 420 of
the Indian Penal Code (Cheating) and 66 of the Information Technology Act
(Hacking).
Categories of cybercrime
Individual
Where a person illegally distributes that information which the law prohibits from
publishing, like, distributing pornography. This sort also includes trafficking and
stalking.
Government
A crime against the government is called cyber terrorism. This includes crimes
like hacking government websites, military websites or distributing propaganda.
These criminals are usually terrorists or enemies from different nations. This
crime is the most serious one, and its rate is presently very low in India.
The major types of cybercrimes prevalent in India are as follows:
Child pornography
It is the publishing and distributing of obscene material of children in electronic
form. Child pornography is a heinous crime that occurs. It has led to various other
crimes such as sex tourism, sexual abuse of the child, etc.

Cyber Stalking
The growth in online sexual harassment has seen an increase in India. The
harassment faced by women online, is the mirror image of the harassment faced
by them in the real world. A survey conducted by Feminism in India states that
50% of women in major cities of India have faced online abuse. What is more
shocking is that the instances of cyber stalking against men also show an increase.
Experts have found the ratio of stalking of women and men to be 50:50.
Cyber terrorism
Terrorism can be defined as, “the unlawful use or threatened use of force or
violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the
intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for
ideological or political reasons.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC OFFENCES
socio economic offences are those which affects the country’s economy as well
the health and material of the society. The idea of socio-economic offences in
India outlined in India’s 47th Law Commission Report is critical. According to
the study, socioeconomic crimes are social offences that have an impact on the
health, morals, social, or overall well-being of the community as a whole, rather
than just the individual victim. Economic offences are those that are harmful to
society’s economy and endanger not only individual money but the entire
economic structure of a country.
Features of socio-economic offences
Motive: Unlike traditional crimes, the act of committing the crime is motivated
by extreme greed or a desire for riches.
Emotion: Whereas typical crimes are committed for emotional reasons, these
sorts of offences have no emotional basis or relationship between the victim and
the perpetrator.
Target victim: In most cases, the victim is the state or a group of individuals, most
notably those who are consumers of particular goods or services, shareholders or
holders of other assets, and so on.
Mode of operation: The primary motivator for committing such a crime is
deception, not coercion.
Mental element: Such offences are generally committed on purpose.
Protected interest: The preservation of individual members’ property, money, or
health, as well as national resources, as well as the broader economic system as a
whole, from exploitation or waste by people or organizations, is a social interest.
Social interest in increasing the country’s wealth through implementing rules
governing taxes and dues, foreign exchanges, international business, and the like.
Causes of socio-economic offences
Industrial revolution: The transition from an agricultural to an industrialized
country brought about changes in the country, which resulted in offences shifting
their pace from traditional to these new ones.
World War II: Post-war conditions in the countries were deplorable, resulting
in alterations in the regular functioning of society. As a result, new practices gave
rise to new offences.
Business Competition: When new firms began to develop in the country, it
generated a sense of intense competition among them. Everyone wanted to outdo
each other in any way possible.
Economic Crises: It can be marked that first half of 20th century was Great
Depression period with world economic crises which accelerated number of
massive corporate scandals
Lack of Nationalism: The people start prioritizing their own interest, profit
motives than national interest. During freedom struggle nationalism was highest
among people of India which
they forgot after independence to eradicate corruption from our beloved country.
Lack of nationalism doesn’t deter people from committing fraud
Technology: One of the factors that influenced our country’s preference for beer
is also to blame for such offences. The rise of technology and scientific
advancements has resulted in a decline in faith in the almighty.
Lack of morals: As people’s dread of the ultimate judgment or the world beyond
all humanly things faded, so did their morals and ethics. As a result, there has
been a rise in deception and greed and thirst for worldly satisfaction.
Laissez-faire: The state opted to leave things alone, and the absence of public
discontent resulted in serious consequences that are now visible in our country.
However, with appropriate research and attention, these crimes in the country
may be controlled.
Absence of intense and coordinated public resentment.
Laissez-faire or Non – interference of state: The state decided to leave things
as they lack in any intensive and organized public resentment. If such acts in
society won’t get any antipathy and umbrage, it will further lead to strengthen
such act. Now the occurrence of such an offences are noticeable in our country
needs substantive law to control it. With proper study and attention these crimes
can be decline.
Poverty and Illiteracy: Most of the poor and illiterate people are exploited by
privileged class because of their adverse living condition. No doubt, poverty and
illiteracy in India are the major cause of White collar crimes. As people are not
aware of their political, economic and educational rights.

Different Types of Socio Economic Offences

In 29th Law Commission report, some categories are mentioned which are dealt
with in the report.
.
Categories are
1. the offences which actually prevent the economic development of the country
and thereby consequently creates danger for the economic health of a country
comes under the first category,
2. in second category there are offences of evasion of tax,
3. in third category there are the offences related to misuse of the position by the
public servants,
4. under fourth category the offences which is similar to the nature of breaches of
the contracts which consequently results in delivery of such goods which are not
accordingly falling under the specifications are included,
5. in the fifth category the offences relating to hoarding as well as black marketing
comes,
6. the sixth category mentions about the offences relating to adulteration of foods
as well as drugs,
7. in the seventh category the offences of theft and the misappropriation in
relation to public property and funds are included,
8. in the eighth and the last category comes the offences related to trafficking in
the sector of licenses as well as permits etc.
Mens rea in socio-economic offences
The Indian approach to the problem suffers from the same inconsistencies as the
English technique, because our criminal code is based on common law and is
constantly supplemented with common law principles. The Indian Penal Code
includes offences for which no element of mens rea is required (waging war
against the government is an example). Even in such cases, courts have adopted
the mens rea doctrine. The majority of enactments focus their attention on the
acts themselves, regardless of the mental goal. This is one of the reasons
why some people refuse to call it a ‘crime,’ because it does not punish a guilty
mentality. Many attempts have been made to distinguish this category of offences
from those involving apparent criminality. Such efforts culminated in the
categorization of these offences as “administrative penal law” and “public
welfare offences.”
Economic resource restrictions in a growing country like India have required the
imposition of some social regulations to achieve planned growth (licensing,
regulation, distribution of scarce commodities, etc. To some extent, strict
accountability for establishing norms of behavior is required. This is due to the
goal of public welfare. Is it, however, always justified? It should be remembered
that we are talking about the criminalization of productive social and economic
behaviour.
The common law mens rea requirement is a remnant of common law. As a result
of this, the concept is not often followed in common law (like public nuisance,
contempt of court, and libel). Because of this, the decision was justifiable.
• It was sometimes difficult to show mens rea,
• It was necessary to give the conduct a purposeful interpretation since they were
penalised under social assistance laws,
• As a result of this, the punishment is typically low,
• They are mala prohibita offences and not mala in se offences.
Difference between Socio-Economic Offences and White collar crime.
White collar crimes are the crimes committed by a person in course of his
occupation belonging to upper class society. As compared to socio-economic
offences it is a narrower concept. Examples of white collar crimes are: evasion of
taxes by multinational companies, sale of sub-standard drugs by a renowned
manufacturer etc. all of these crimes also come under the category of socio-
economic crimes. Whereas false return by pensioner cannot be considered as a
white collar crime unless it is committed by a member of the upper class society.
Hence it is concluded that all white collar crimes can be socio-economic offences
but not all socio-economic offences can be termed as white collar crimes. Both
of these are intersecting circles.

The victim of such offence is always the entire community or section of public,
even it affect the economy of the country as a whole
Socio-economic offences are punishable under the special law of crimes; their
control involves the protection and preservation of the general health and welfare
of individual.
This type of socio-economic crime can be committed by anybody whether it’s a
multinational company or a big wealthy entrepreneur guilty for tax evasion and
middle class pensioner depositing false return, only the former can be considered
as White Collar Crime.
Socio-economic offences are punishable under the special law of crimes;