White Collar Crime Investigation & Advisory Services

The fraudulent or, if said in today's dialect, the spam calls and messages luring us to buy a home by availing super discounted home loans or investing in a policy that can double your money in no time is an everyday thing. Even the Reserve Bank of India had to advertise through every form of media that these crimes were at their peak. The law enforcement system regarding the investigation and prosecution of fraudsters is very weak due to the high population, overburdening courts, and digital illiteracy, making these scams a daily life affair.

It is the most common form of white-collar crime, and it is impossible to find even a single person who hasn’t bribed an official to get his/her work done because nobody is ready to face the discouragement arising out of something that is perfectly done but rejected and discouraged because bribe wasn’t exchanged.

The emergence of the Information Technology Act of 2000 made at least the area of cybercrimes slightly manageable because of the enforcement authorities' awareness mechanism to discourage the criminals and make the population more vigilant.

When a person tries to mask their money's identity, they commit money laundering. A person who is committing money laundering never reveals the original ownership of the money or the source from which the money is obtained. The job of money launderers is so fine that tracing their source and channels is impossible even for the investigation agencies; this is one of the most committed white-collar crimes.

This is the most common type of white-collar crime because it involves the disclosure of income with the help of supporting documents and technology, and forgery has such a nexus in the Indian market that making false and forged documents or showing income less than the actual is very easy and doable in the current scenario. However, if caught, the enforcement of tax evasion attracts heavy liability in the form of fines and imprisonment under the Income Tax Act.

This white-collar crime includes counterfeiting cheques or securities to defraud an individual; this could be done using false signatures, creating false documents, or imitation of the individual, which is deceiving in nature.

Being part of an organization means a person can have information related to it, sometimes even their trade secrets or non-public information. Transaction of this non-public information with a competitor or some person outside the place of business makes a person an offender of insider trading, committing a white-collar crime.

India is a developing country with the largest population, it is sometimes impossible for people to be able to afford everything and if they get something even slightly like the good they need at a lower cost, it is a tendency to buy that, this is the reason why India is one of the biggest hubs for counterfeit goods where the identity theft of bigger brands is done by making unreal portray like real even recognized brands are nowadays involved in white collar crimes like counterfeiting the goods so at to earn easy money.

When a person forces another person to pay money, property or services, they commit the offence of extortion. It is counted as a white-collar crime because a person could do it in a position to gain assets in return for providing services.

Hawala is an alternative transfer channel outside of conventional banking systems. Transactions between the hawala agents are based on confidence, as no promissory note is exchanged for the identity of money. Innumerable hawala dealers are involved in this network of transfer. It promotes money flow between poor countries where the formal banking system is expensive. This white-collar crime is impossible without the interference of people high in the hierarchy who, for their benefit, become part of corruptive practices.

It is a fraudulent investment scam that promises high return rates to the investors on their investments with very little risk. It promises to produce returns for early investors. It is like a pyramid scheme where the only focus is on attracting a flow of money, which, when it falls out, the entire scheme falls out. For the sake of early benefits, big investors and entrepreneurs become part of these Ponzi schemes and commit white-collar crimes.

Organizational Challenges Leading To White-Collared Offences-

1. Misconduct Due To Supply Chain Pressure

   Post-pandemic, most businesses noticed a steep decrease in their business, resulting in enhanced expectations and constant pressure to keep the supply chain running. This led businesses to use corruptive measures to supply their products to nations where they can make maximum profit but through illegal and unethical means, ultimately committing white-collar crime.

2. Accountability Toward Environmental And Human Rights Issues

   The terminology of ECOCIDE is gaining popularity, and environmental and human rights groups are targeting organizations that are responsible for causing harm to the environment, ultimately harming human existence. People high in the hierarchy focus more on profit-making and conducting unfair trade practices. The increase in effectiveness and usage of strict liability doctrine encourages whistleblowers to disclose a company's misconduct, resulting in regulatory actions and civil or criminal litigations.

3. Use Of Intermediaries

   Conducting a business is not a one-way process; it involves the interference of many intermediaries helping an organization in its day-to-day transactions. If an intermediary is corrupt, disguised, and involved in schemes harmful to the general structure of the business, its detection and control becomes difficult if a company lacks anti-corruptive measures.

4. Corporate Structure And Compliance

   The day a human resource joins an organization, the policies related to bribery, misconduct, and corruption should be explained to them in detail, but most corporations don’t even have effective policies describing white-collar crimes, their liability, and their consequences.

5. Cross-Border Transactions And Geopolitics

   With rising foreign direct trades from India to across the world, many multinational companies are stepping in to explore Indian businesses, increasing cross-border transfer of documents and financial transactions increasingly ending up as pawns and corruption. These situations require delicate navigation. These organisations often ignore the procedure and enforcement mechanism, resultingg in conflicts.

6. Unprotected And Unsanctioned Communication Channels For Business Purposes

   Data privacy risk is at its peak, yet most organizations in India don't prioritize encrypting their systems to curb any future threat. This lack of awareness at times leads to major threats because there's a significant rise in the establishment of multinational companies involving active data transfer, which ultimately could lead to a breach, which could result in forgery and counterfeiting, which will be difficult to prove because of a lack of enforcement mechanism.

How Enterslice White Collar Crime Investigation & Advisory Services Will Help You In Curbing These Challenges

1. We understand that the race to be perfect is at its peak, and constant business pressure at times leads to foul behavioural instincts of bribery, financial sanctions, forgery, money laundering, and misappropriation. We will help you by providing your human resources risk-based training and guidance on policies and procedures; we will formulate methods for you to sail through budgetary constraints and will provide support and resources for effective compliance.
2. We will provide support to you in formulating structured internal investigation-related regulations, and our team of civil and criminal counsels will assist you in forming a proportionate whistleblowing response so that any future misconduct can be curbed and identified.
3. We understand the hunger to make your business rise, especially if you are a startup, but we discourage the tendency to give internal controls in the hands of third parties and intermediaries because they might end 7up using your funding to make their corrupt payments. We will help you form policies and procedures around the commercial terms so that your organization is diligent. We have an experienced team of data analytics who, for you, will keep a check on the effective working of the compliance programs by every member directly and indirectly involved with the organization.
4. A Ramon Magsaysay award to a whistleblower officer acknowledges a whistleblower's loud and clear role in promoting a transparent and ethical work environment. We understand that the complex nature of businesses makes it difficult for you to respond to the arising issues on time and in an effective manner, resulting in a situation going out of hand. We will design an effective whistleblower program for you to rectify issues promptly, maintaining the company's positive image.
5. Our legal team will maintain an open dialogue for your commercial, legal, and enforcement-related conflicting requirements. We will negotiate for you in matters concerning national security and geopolitics.
6. Our risk assessment team will form employment policies and agreements for your organization. We ensure you a regular compliance training and communication program to inform employees of the proper use of technology and awareness programs on discouraging personal devices for business purposes.