Organised Crime & Crime Prevention - what works? - Scandinavian ...

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NSfK’s 40. forskerseminar, Espoo, Finland 1998 The main result of the research was that only 10 % of the damages that are known to the police/procecutor are adjudged. Furthermore only 5 % of the adjudged damages are received back from the offenders by the state or other victims. 5 The puhishments in white collar crime were very lenient. Also an estimation was presented on the total amount of damages, that is, the damages caused by the hidden white collar crime.This research had a lot of publicity, and it aroused controversial reactions. All in all, it had its role in strengthening the present “war against white collar crime“. 2. The present crusade against white collar crime In the field of white collar crime much has happened throughout the 1990´s: The present goverment has in its programme “to fight white collar crime and the black economy“ and they have made a special programme6 to do so, and are politically bound to the promises of the programme. The parlament granted 100 million finnish marks to the programme. It has been emphasized that the money invested in control will be multiplied as the damages caused by this type of crime will be seized. Indeed, in the field of controlling white collar crime a lot has happened throughout the 1990´s in Finland in several branches.7 New laws have been passed, not only criminalizing laws, but laws that have as their aimpoint to make the control economic crime more effective, e.g. the law regulating banctrupcies, register of companies, debt recovery procedure, concealment regulation between authorities and bank secrecy. There are new positions for public prosecutors specialized in the field of white collar crime. A special new office has been established i.e. the banktrupcy ombudsman whose duty is to supervise banctrupcies. The whole organization of investigation of white collar crime has been reformed and the amount of investigators has multiplied during the past few years. Policemen have special courses on how to investigate white collar crime and ad hoc organs for co-operation between different authorities have been established. The police management has also constructed their own definition for white collar crime, which has been informed to all policemen who are involved in investigating them. The policemen are obligated to register all cases that fulfill the definition in a special page in the reports of offence. The aimpoint is to attain comprehensive statistics on white collar crime, and to have up to date information on the amount of property that has been seized by different police districts. The police and tax-authorities have developed new ways to control white collar crime. The key elements of the new control policy are to are attain damages and to control white collar 5 Virta, Erja - Laitinen, Ahti, 1996. 6 Valtioneuvoston periaatepäätös 1.2.1996 (The Goverments Desicion of priciple 1.2. 1996) 7 Ministery of justice: New laws have been passed e.g. the law regulating banctrupcies, register of companies, debt recovery procedure, concealment regulation between authorities and bank secrecy. Public prosecutors offices specialized (12 ) in the field of white collar crime have been established and there is special training for all procecutors. A special new office has been established : the bantrupcy -ombudsman whose office´s duty is to supervise banctrupcies and who performs special investigations in banctrup´s estates. The Police: 20 new investigation units and new posts have been established (now 406 investigators). Policemen are trained to investigate white collar crime and special organs for co-operation between officials have been established. One of their aimpoints is to access the damages caused by white collar crime. The tax authorities financed a massive advertising campaing against the black-economy. They have developed a computerprogramme with which they try to reveal “suspicious enterprises“. Ministery of trade and industry: New laws are under construction on state subsidies, and the control of them has been made more strict. 92
NSfK’s 40. forskerseminar, Espoo, Finland 1998 crime - not years after they have occured - but as they are happening. This has meant that the whole culture of investigation has changed in cases of white collar crime. The new requirements have resulted in that the police are much more active in their controlmechanisms. Instead of inviting the suspected white collar criminal politely to come to answer some questions, the police arrest them for interrogation. They are using more coercive means (e.g. house search, seizure of property), they are using intelligence to reveal crimes. The co-operation of officials has become quite routinized and effective. In addition the police the tax- and some other authorities arranged a massive advertising campaing against the black economy. At the same time, some high officials have been aquitted from white collar crime. One of the most scandalous event was that the husband of a member of the supreme court was dismissed from accustations of tax evation on the basis of the “small amount of the evaded tax“. This has caused another kind of image of control: citizens are claiming that the criminal justice systems favours those in high places and the whole integrity of the supreme court has also been questioned. Furthermore, an ex-ministers (“Uffe“) compensations for civil damages related to the bank crisis were adjusted drastically by the present minister of Finance, and the damages were considered tax-deductible. When this became public knowledge, the Minister of Finance gave her resignation. These scandals have had their role in preassuring the police to get better results in the investigation of white collar crime.8 All in all, white collar criminals have been forced to face similar kind of intensity of reactions of the control system as “traditional“ criminals have done for ages. 3. Images of control - Images of reactions towards it Along with the new and intensified control mechanisms of white collar crime, another relatively new phenomena in the finnish legal culture has aroused. The people who are suspected of white collar crimes are constantly lodging complaints or pressing charges against the police claiming e.g. that there are grounds for disqualication or that there are procedural faults in the preliminary investigation. They have expressed that they do not trust the police. On the other hand, the police claim that in many cases the reason for the defendants´ reactions is that they are trying to prolong the process, and are trying to take the attention away from the real matter. It is quite interesting how how these legal practices are constructed from different points of view. 3.1. Business world and enterpreneurs The representatives and associations of enterpreneurs have reacted strongly: they are describing the new control policies with words like “police-state“, “miscarriage of justice“ “political percecution“, “unneccecary shaming“ etc. E.g. the enterpeneurs association announced heavily in the mass media that based on their research on the actions of tax authorities, they have come to the conclusion that most of the audits had been arbitary, included several kinds of illegalities, and caused unneccecary banctrupcies. An investigative journalist questioned these results, and looked into the actions of tax authorities. According to his investigation, the images given by the enterpreneurs association have not described rightfully the present reality of control, and uses words like “enterpreneurs delusion“ and “enterpreneurs media game“. According to him, the tax authorities have “stepped on some big 8 Immedityly after the “Uffe“ scandal, a special group of ministers was established to think on measures against white collar crime. They gathered 50 suggestions from the field to change laws and to make control more effective. 93
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Organised Crime & Crime Prevention
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Rådsmedlemmer: Flemming Balvig, Da
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ISBN 87-987103-0-3
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