White collar crimes are not specifically defined, however, they are most often considered to be a variety of nonviolent crimes that are based around dishonesty and/or cheating. Usually, these crimes are committed by entrepreneurs and other professionals in the business area that are under the cover of a legitimate business activity. White collar crimes also typically have a lesser punishment than other crimes because they are nonviolent. Although these crimes do not have severe punishments, they do usually involve very heavy fines, and can include jail time. There are very specific laws that prohibit white collar crime activities, but many of them are covered in less specific catch-all laws that prohibit dishonest behavior.

Embezzlement

If someone take another’s money or property by ways of an official job position of trust or through abuse, they have committed embezzlement. For example, an accountant with access to all personal financial information may falsify records to gain a profit from his or her client(s). Bank tellers, as well, have easy access to finances and may walk away each day with a small amount of money from a client instead of placing it in the client’s account as he or she should.

In a surprising turn of events, Jesse Jackson Jr. went from a man with huge political aspirations to someone who seems to have lost control. The Democratic Representative from Chicago stepped down recently while being investigated and dealing with health issues. He pleaded guilty to one felony fraud charge on Wednesday February 20^th to secure a plea deal. He was charged with fraud for using $750,000 in campaign money to pay for his lavish living expenses.

The court filed a 22 page report which outlines the spending habits of a politician who many thought would one day run for Mayor in Chicago or President of the US. It started when Jesse opened a campaign account and then withdrew nearly $45,000 to purchase a Rolex watch. He went on to purchase “high-end electronic items, collector’s items, clothing, food and supplies for daily consumption, movie tickets, health club dates, personal travel, and personal dining expenses,” according to the prosecution.

The details of his plea agreement allow his punishment range to be between 46 to 57 months in prison. Though, it is not set in stone because both the defense and prosecution can influence the sentencing of the case. The defense will urge the judge to consider probation given Jesse’s recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that a former house manager at Cupertino House, an assisted –living facility for disabled men, pled guilty to financial exploitation of a disabled person and received a sentence of 40 months in prison. The men were reimbursed for their financial losses through the facility’s insurance policy, and as part of her sentence, the former facility employee was ordered to repay the funds to the insurance policy. With expected time cuts, the woman could serve as little as 18 months in prison. The woman had no criminal history prior to this case.

A 37-year-old divorced and mother of three pled guilty last year to taking almost $9,000 from the facility’s five male residents through a series of bank card withdrawals. She blamed her actions on financial troubles that she had been experiencing at the time. The woman had worked at the facility for 12 years, caring for and teaching everyday living skills to the men living at the facility, all of whom have the approximate functional capacity of a 10-year-old.

As this case illustrates, even people with no previous criminal history or convictions are subject to stiff sentences if the crime is sufficiently severe under Illinois law. Although the woman in this case had never served jail time before, she is now facing a lengthy period of incarceration.

An investigation across the USA has discovered more than 90 people who have defrauded the Medicare system. The total amount of falsified billings comes to be nearly $300 million dollars that could have been used for other people’s medical bills. “The defendants charged in this takedown are accused of . . . jeopardizing the integrity of our health care system and our nation’s most critical health care program for personal gain,” Attorney General Eric Holder said during a news conference.

Dr. John Natale, a 62-year-old vascular surgeon was charged with two counts of making false statements, two counts of health care fraud and one count of mail fraud. Natale is a surgeon who specialized in repairing abdominal aortic aneurysms, or the weakening of this artery. These charges stemmed from six different surgeries during 2003 and 2004 when he allegedly falsified post-operation reports for his personal gain. Dr. Natale prepared at least two reports which detailed fictitious surgeries or elaborated surgeries to be more complicated than they should be. These surgeries supposedly occurred while he was working at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

The jury of his peers did not find him guilty of all counts against him. Out of all the charges, they only found him guilty of two counts of making false statements which were not the most serious counts of fraud. The maximum sentence for those two counts would be five years in prison. Luckily for Natale, the judge presiding over the case, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, only sentenced him to ten months in prison, a fine of $40,000 dollars and community service while being under supervision for a year.

In 2010, 52 year old Michelle Morrison was fired from her position of senior account representative at Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Hoffman Estates. Two years later, authorities have accused her of launching a harassment campaign against patients of the facilities. Morrison has been arrested and charged with three counts of forgery. Her bail was set at $50,000.

CBS Chicago reported that Morrison stole copies of confidential patient records, as well as hospital stationary, when she was fired. Police say that between February of 2011 and June of this year, she sent six letters to patients, threatening to expose their psychiatric information and treatment to their family and friends. She is also alleged to have told these patients that the electroshock therapy they received didn’t work and that it was medically recommended that they have frontal lobotomies.

Police claim Morrison has admitted writing the letters and told them her reason for sending them to patients was to embarrass the hospital because they had fired her. The hospital has stated that Morrison did not have any clinical interaction with patients while she was employed at the hospital.