Criminal Justice (CRJS) 425
White Collar Crime (Revision 2)

>> Overview | Outline | Evaluation | Course Materials | Course Fees | Course Availability

Overview

The primary emphasis of Criminal Justice 425 White Collar Crime is on the increasing costs of non-violent crimes: crimes perpetrated within the business environment.

Students will be introduced to current perspectives dominant in the field of financial investigations. Discussions will include the following sources of information: accounting procedures, methods of tracing funds, banking and financial record-keeping, interviewing as applied to detecting and resolving financial crime. Primary emphasis will be placed on theoretical principles and applications of financial investigative technique.

Secondarily, this course focuses on the dimension of white collar crime in Canada, beginning with a conceptual definition of activity that constitutes white collar crime. Canadian law enforcement efforts will be discussed, as well as international enforcement approaches. Key concepts related to white collar crime and investigation will be examined in the context of Canadian law enforcement approaches.

Problems with enforcement, due to the organized structure and the requirement of special knowledge, will be examined in detail.

Outline

Part 1: A Framework for Understanding White-Collar Crime

• Unit 1 Defining White-Collar Crime
• Unit 2 An Overview of White-Collar Crime in Canada
• Unit 3 Money Laundering: A Global Phenomenon

Part 2: Law Enforcement and the Legislative Response to White-Collar Crime

• Unit 4 The Role of Canadian Law Enforcement
• Unit 5 The Legislative Response to White-Collar and Organized Crime
• Unit 6 Operational Change in Combating White-Collar Crime

Part 3: Investigating White-Collar Crime

• Unit 7 The investigation of White-Collar Crimes
• Unit 8 Classic White-Collar Crimes
• Unit 9 Forensic Accounting Methods and Techniques
• Unit 10 Future Issues in White-Collar Crime

Evaluation

To receive credit for CRJS 425, students must achieve a grade of at least 50 percent on the course assignments and a grade of at least 50 percent on the final examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Course Materials

Textbooks

Beare, M.E. (1996). Criminal Conspiracies: Organized Crime in Canada. Scarborough, On: Nelson Canada.

Thompson, D. (1997). Greed: Investment Fraud in Canada and Around the Globe. Toronto: Penquin.

Pamphlet

RCMP. (1997). Money Laundering: A perspective Guide for Small Business and Currency Exchanges in Canada. RCMP Proceeds of Crime Branch.

Other Material

The course materials include a reading course manual and a reading file of additional required readings.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice.
Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.


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This page was updated by G. Zahara