When discussing white-collar crime in the United States, one name that’s hard to forget is Bernie Madoff. He died a few years ago — in the midst of a prison term — but his name will live on. He’s perhaps the most infamous Ponzi scheme operator and was sentenced to a 150-year prison term after defrauding clients out of tens of billions of dollars.
White-collar crimes are criminal acts committed by people, businesses, or government workers for financial gain. While these crimes are typically non-violent, they’re not victimless. Not by a long shot. According to the FBI, white-collar crime can destroy businesses, eliminate people’s life savings and investments, and destroy the public’s confidence in institutions.
Another source notes that annual losses from white-collar crimes ranged from $426 billion to $1.7 trillion as of 2021. While there were 4,180 prosecutions of white-collar crimes last year, it’s believed that as many as 90% — or nine out of every ten white-collar crimes — go unreported.
If you find yourself accused of a white-collar crime, you’ll want to find a lawyer specializing in this area of the law. You don’t want a generalist who’s a Jack or Jill of all trades- you need a legal representative experienced in helping people accused of white-collar crimes.
What other infamous white-collar crime cases have occurred over the years besides Madoff? Keep reading to learn about three larger-than-life cases that have shocked and awed many.
1. Bernard Ebbers
Remember the WorldCom scandal? The company got into significant trouble over accusations that it had been fudging its numbers to make the business appear more valuable than it was- all to attract more investors. At the helm at the time was Bernard Ebbers, who co-founded the telecommunications business WorldCom.
When the WorldCom debacle made headlines, it marked the worst-ever U.S. accounting scandal. For his role in inflating the company’s valuation by around $11 billion and profiting handsomely from the fraud, Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He spent 13 years in federal prison before dying at the age of 78 in early 2020.
2. Kenneth Lay
Another name that often comes up when discussing white-collar crime is Kenneth Lay. Lay is associated with Enron, which suffered one of the biggest corporate scandals in history. When the company collapsed due to corruption, Lay was its CEO.
While it appeared to be a well-oiled machine running on all cylinders, Enron was actually doing poorly. But the higher-ups concealed the energy, commodities, and services company’s true condition by cooking the books, engaging in unethical behavior, and exploiting tax loopholes.
By the time the company’s deception was discovered, investors had lost their shirts, and the company collapsed. Lay faced a prison sentence of approximately ten years for his involvement, but he passed away before he was to have started his prison term.
3. Charles Ponzi
If you’re wondering if there’s a connection between Charles Ponzi and Ponzi schemes, your intuition is well-calibrated. He’s synonymous with the term because he originated these types of schemes. Ponzi, a businessman from Italy, became infamous for conning unwitting investors in Canada and the U.S. What he did was guarantee investors 50% profit within a month and a half or 100% profit within three months. He did this by purchasing discounted postal reply coupons from other countries and selling them at face value as a type of arbitrage. Due to his scheme, investors lost around $20 million in 1920. That’s worth more than $307.7 million in today’s dollars.
These are just some of the most well-known white-collar crimes you should know about. As you can tell, there is no victimless white-collar crime. Anyone facing such charges needs the help only a law firm specializing in those cases can offer. A lot is at stake, so it pays to increase your chances of achieving the desired outcome.
