Analyse two of the crimes evident in the brief. Explain the reasons why they could
remain unreported.
In the brief, it is evident that three crimes have occurred. These types of crimes are White collar
crime- Fraud; individual crime- honour crime, and technological crime / individual crime- hate crime.
The first type of crime is fraud, which is under the umbrella term of white-collar crime. White collar
crimes are offences committed by middle-class individuals, who abuse their work positions within
organisations for personal gain, at the expense of the organisation and clients of the organisation.
Examples of acts associated with white collar crime are: Fraud, embezzlement, corporate fraud,
money laundering, Ponzi schemes, extortion and bankruptcy fraud. Victims of this crime could include
consumers, tax payers and the government, employees and the public at large. The general offence
of fraud is set out in the Fraud Act 2006. This states that fraud can be committed in three ways: false
representation, failing in breach of legal duty to disclose information, and abuse of position. It is
classified as being both criminal and deviant. It is criminal as it involes breaking the criminal law,
however some don’t appear so because they are invisible or are labelled as breaches of regulations
rather than ‘real’ crimes. White collar crime is also deviant and can cause harm because they often
involve a betrayal of trust. White collar crime often goes unreported due to a lack of awareness a
crime has been committed (because the victims are usually unaware of what has happened),
Institutional protection means they are often not reported or prosecuted and money can be used to
keep the people aware of the crime quiet. Usually, an offence would be cancelled within the company
as not many people are involved, therefore they are seen as ‘invisible’ and aren’t reported to the
police. This is shown in the brief as Mr Akram is a bank manager so can do this through, bribing
others in the workplace so charges aren’t pressed and only individuals in a higher position to him
would know about it. Another reason why white-collar crime remains unreported due to its complexity.
White collar crimes are very complex and it is difficult to know that one has been committed, they may
never be uncovered and therefore can’t be reported. Mr Akram was fired from his job after an
investigation where he was found guilty of fraud in the workplace. This may mean that there was only
enough evidence to fire him from the job and there wouldn’t be enough to press charges against him,
and it would be too long to get this and is therefore pointless reporting it to the police. Also, very few
people would have known about this fraud so it would be easier to keep it quite saving time for the
people working in the bank and it would also keep its high reputation if no one knew about it
compared to people not wanting to invest their money into it, when they know there is fraud taking
place. Also, if the bank does decide to report this crime to the police it is hard for the jury as they have
to go through thousands of financial records and turn it into information that the jury can understand.
This means that prosecutors are more encouraged to reach a plea agreement to avoid the risk of the
trial, leaving the crime unreported. Furthermore, a crime may be seen as unimportant due to de-
labelling. When a white-collar crime isn’t seen as criminal but is seen as civil therefore people don’t
think it’s bad and don’t look at it further. These crimes also stay unreported because of power and
respectability. If the perpetrators have high power and respect, they can use this to help them bribe or
have a lesser punishment as people don’t want to see people like this breaking the law. This is
evident in the brief as Mr Akram is a bank manager living and extravagant lifestyle and therefore is in
a higher position that he can use, but also if the crime was reported this would give the company a
bad reputation and many people who know about Mr Akram, hear about his crime, or know about the
company would be shocked and think negatively about this company so they may just decide that it is
a better resolution that the crime goes unreported and everyone stays unaware of what has
happened.
The second type of crime is honour crime, which is under the umbrella term Individual crime. Honour
crime involves violence, including murder, and anything that makes a person feel powerless,
committed by people who want to defend the reputation of their family or community. Honour killing is
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