CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Sutherland, 1949 cited in Michael, (2004) defined White collar Crime as crime committed by a person of respectable and high social status in the course of his occupation. He noted that in his time, less than 2 percent of the persons committed to Prison in a year belong to the upper class. He tried to establish a relationship between money, social status, and the likelihood of going to jail for a white collar crime with a more visible, typical crime. He tried to separate and define the difference between the blue collar street crimes like burglary, theft, rape, arson and vandalism which are often blamed on psychological, associational and structural factor with white collar crimes committed by criminals who are opportunists who overtime learn that they can take advantage of their circumstances to accumulate financial gains. These criminals are educated, intelligent, affluent individuals who can get a job which allows them unfettered and unmonitored access to often large sum of money. White collar crimes include such illegal acts which are characterize by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and which are not dependent on the application of physical force or violence. This study will be anchored on white collar crime.
