Three white collar criminals that got away with it

By Peter Wendt

White-Collar crime is distinguished by avaricious corporations and businessmen who twist financial laws. Although it isn't common, there are those who contort the rules so much that they get off nearly scot-free. This is even after the full extent of their scheme has been found out. Here are three financial entities who managed to steal nearly unfathomable sums of money and got away with it.

1. Jerome Kerviel: Kerviel was a junior futures trader at French bank Société Générale who seemed to be working profitably in consideration of the faltering economic climate. He was making a substantial profit for a regular number of clientele while, admittedly, losing a little here and there. Losing is an integral part of the game however, so the alarms hadn't been tripped yet. Yet the losing was one part of concealing Kerviel's scheme. He was trading vast amounts of sums with unauthorized transactions and using some of the "losses" as a cover. He was eventually caught, however, because of how carefully he tried to cover his tracks. He would routinely send fake e-mails and manipulate client log-in information to maintain the air of legitimacy. The bank eventually discovered that there was no trace of him actually receiving the messages through their archives. After making nearly 5 billion dollars in profit, Kerviel was the subject of a civil suit and banned from trading. He has not, as of yet, had any criminal charges pressed against him.
 
2. Chambers Funeral Home: Maryland, as with any other state in the union, has a number of legitimate funeral homes. These places are charged with caring for the body of the deceased and funeary arrangements. Because they are a business (however morbid), they do charge enough to turn a profit. At least with most, families can be assured that their loved ones are treated with respect and dignity. Except for the Chambers Funeral Home, which was storing bodies illegally while reaping the profits of "cremating" them. The literal stacks of 40 bodies were discovered during a routine inspection. A number of the corpses were donated to universities, but all were have supposed to have been cremated. As a result for both stealing the funds from grieving families and desecrating the bodies of the deceased, the funeral home merely had its license suspended. Which, it should be noted, isn't necessarily permanent. It can still be renewed by the State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors.
 
3. The Royal Bank of Scotland: After the September 11th attacks, the United States Government has been setting tighter controls on its financial institutions. These reforms were so that enemies of the state wouldn't be able to launder their money in the US banking system. The Royal Bank of Scotland is one of several that the United States regulates to ensure that its funds aren't being used by enemies of the state. Except this is exactly what the Royal Bank of Scotland did; hand out funds to enemies of the state such as Libya, Cuba, and Sudan. Records show that they had been doing this from as far back as 2005. One New York branch has been confirmed to have distributed 3.2 billion dollars. No criminal charges were pressed; the bank managed to settle the numerous charges with a 500 million dollar settlement.

Peter Wendt is a freelance writer and researcher living in Texas.  For the past year he has been intensely researching the rise of White Collar Crime in America over the past couple decades.  If you are interested in the subject, he highly recommends consulting these Criminal Attorneys in Philadelphia, who are extremely experienced in the realm of White Collar Crime Defense.

How to spot counterfeit bills

'Funny money' or counterfeit instruments of financial exchange usually refer to paper bills. Each country or financial union has currency that may have varying amounts of counterfeit currency and security features on its currency, and some currencies have more security features than others.

The Euro is an example of a closely guarded currency as after 2005 it became equipped with both holograms and Radio frequency identification devices (RFID). These are small chips embedded within the currency to create a history of the money within the money itself. The U.S. dollar also introduced color into its currency beginning in 2003, a move that broke with the tradition of the two tone green back but also deters counterfeiters.

In addition to paper bills, other forms of paper and non-paper monetary exchange such as coins, personal, government, cashiers, bank and travelers checks, and money orders may also be fraudulent. Spotting counterfeit currency can simply involve becoming familiar with the special features built into a currency for the purpose of distinguishing it from counterfeit.

This can involve contacting local banks, and the national mint of one's country. In the United States the Federal Reserve is responsible for the printing and production of currency and has estimated only 1% of 1% or 1/10,000th of the U.S. money in circulation to be counterfeit.

Identifying counterfeit currency

The following security features pertain largely to U.S. currency and are obtained from the Federal reserve bank, however other global currencies may have similar features designed to protect it from being falsely reproduced.

Security strip under ultraviolet light

US-PD

Paper currency:

• Texture and feel: Paper currency may contain cotton that adds life and strength to the paper. The feeling of real paper currency containing cotton will have a slight fabric like quality to it.

• Watermarks and micro-printing: These are security features placed into currency by the national mint. Watermarks enable the image of a national leader to be visible on the reverse side of the currency. The micro printing is a very fine print, sometimes only detectable with a magnifying glass that requires precision printing technology.

• Serial numbers: Serial numbers are unique to the face value of the paper money, and its production series. For example, no two $20.00 bills produced between 2003-2013 will have the same serial numbers depending on when the next series of $20.00 bills is produced.

• Ultraviolet and light sensitive features: Special printing on U.S. currency enables certain features to change color under different light conditions and angles. Viewing the money under these conditions can help determine the validity of the currency.

• Age of currency: As time passes the likelihood counterfeit currency will stay in circulation declines. This places the odds in favor of counterfeit currency being new or recently produced.

• Denomination: Certain bills are counterfeited more than others. The $20.00 bill is the most fraudulently produced denomination because of it's inconspicuous yet relatively high value.

Coin Currency:

• Type of metal: The metal(s) used in the creation of a fake coins may produce a weight differential since different metals have different weights.

•Size of coin: The size of the coin may also be different from real coins in both diameter and width.

• Texture of metal: Counterfeit coins produced using methods other than stamps may also have bubbles or fine lines within the metal that indicate the use of an alternative method of production.

• Type of coin: Since coins are often worth less that paper currency, counterfeit artists may be more motivated to produce copies of valuable coins such as collector coins, precious metal coins, and rare coins.

Counterfeit detection tools and resources

There are several ways to discover if money is counterfeit in addition to actual familiarity with visual and tactile features of the currency in question. These tools can be especially important if a business or individual is in the practice of handling money for professional or career related purposes. Some of the additional methods for detecting counterfeit currency include the following:

• Metallurgists or appraisers: These are persons skilled and knowledgeable in analyzing metals and fine features of valuable objects.

• Money counters and scanners: Some money counters come equipped with Ultra violet lights and sensors that can detect false money. There are also specific pieces of equipment designed solely to detect counterfeit money.

• Banking professionals: Bankers and money handlers are often trained in identification of false money. When in doubt contacting a banker before a large monetary exchange to verify the validity of currency could prove helpful.

• Magnifying glass and Microscope: Both these pieces of equipment can allow one to detect the finer features of both metal and paper money such as micro printing and smoothness of the metal.

Summary

In summary, spotting counterfeit currency is a achievable through a combination of being familiar with various features on a currency, using the right detection equipment, knowing which currency and coin is most likely to be counterfeited and being able to go to the right sources when in doubt.

While counterfeit currency is a worldwide problem, countries frequently redesign their currency every decade or so in addition to employing specific task forces such as the U.S. secret service to prevent such currency from entering the money supply. These currency re-designs and task forces in addition to mindful and trained money handlers greatly reduce the amount of counterfeit money in circulation.

Sources:

1. http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011219S0016
2. http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/other/20061025a.htm
3. http://tinyurl.com/63ydwrm
4. http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/money_technologies.shtml
5. http://tinyurl.com/cnpdgb
6. http://library.thinkquest.org/J003358F/trivia.html
7. http://rscott.org/bullion/counter.htm
8. http://creditfederal.com/counterfeit-money.html
9. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/20/counterfeit-bills.html