Welcome to LawShelf’s video-course on white-collar crime. In this course, we’ll focus on the criminal laws that relate to crimes that typically don’t feature violence or force. We will look at some of the many categories of these crimes that are punished on the federal and state levels.

This is an intermediate level course. If you have no experience or knowledge of law or criminal justice, it is recommended that you first view our course on the basics of criminal law before this one.

Module one is an overview of white-collar crimes and how they are punished. We'll look at the distinction between corporate liability and personal liability for criminal actions. Then, we look at the common denominators of theft and fraud crimes, which, though there are many, are more alike than they are different. We’ll look at how fraud is punished and at various types of fraud such as mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, computer fraud and securities fraud.

Module two focuses on crimes involving currency and money. Principal among these is money laundering, which is often an accompaniment to fraud crimes. We’ll learn the elements of money laundering and how it is punished. Next, we will briefly turn to counterfeiting before moving on to tax fraud, discussing various examples in cases that demonstrate this crime. We will discuss infamous Ponzi schemes and how they worked before finally turning to currency reporting crimes, such as failing to meet IRS filing requirements for offshore accounts.

Module three looks at crimes of making false statements, particularly the infamous Section 1001 of the federal criminal code, which makes it a crime to lie to many different types of federal officials. We’ll also look at the related crime of making false claims. We will spend the rest of the module discussing perjury and all the rules that apply to that crime.

Module 4 turns to offenses against the judicial system, including obstruction of justice and witness tampering. These activities are prohibited by many federal laws and their applications have been replete with interesting and complex issues. We will then turn to bribery; another comprehensive series of criminal statutes designed to protect the integrity of the criminal justice system.

Module five discusses RICO, the comprehensive federal statute against racketeering, which means running or participating in criminal organizations. We will look at the federal RICO statute and its elements, along its broad area of application. We’ll also take a look at state racketeering statutes, sometimes known as “baby-RICO” statutes.

This course will demonstrate the major areas of criminal law that apply primarily to crimes of fraud, theft and corruption. It will also expose you to myriads of cases in which these complex statutes have been applied.

Best of luck and we welcome your feedback.