Frank Abagnale once said,“What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime.” Abagnale was a mastermind who left his mother’s home at the age of 16 and travelled to Manhattan all by himself. He failed to acquire a high school diploma, but he skillfully managed to portray himself as a doctor, pilot, attorney, and professor anyhow in order to swindle banks across the country, including Europe. At the age of 21, he managed to cash $2.5 million dollars in rubber checks but was caught soon after by the FBI that had been rigorously chasing him down. Even though his parent’s divorce and foolish mistakes compelled him to be involved in infamous frauds, Abagnale used his second chance wisely and became a world renowned authority on financial crimes.
Abagnale’s talent in fraudery and embezzlement earned him recognition amongst the FBI, financial institutions, and other corporations. According to a website, “Abagnale only had two hundred dollars and no high school diploma when he traveled to New York” ( "Frank Abagnale"). Considering his helpless situation, he had no choice but to fake his age and educational background. In order to make himself look ten years older, he tampered with his driver’s license. This allowed him to become more open to job opportunities. Unfortunately, his measly income was not satisfying him. He wished to live a higher standard of living, and the best way to achieve this goal was to pose as a person from a respected profession. Jobs such as an attorney, pilot, and doctor assisted in creating a more firm and valuable identity that impressed bank tellers easily. In addition, he skillfully covered up his lack of education and experience in each field. There were several times where he ...
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...y. Now he is sharing his knowledge with other agencies and institutions in order to repent for his mistakes. Abagnale’s actions made others perceive him as an unrighteous man, but after time he regained his respect by cooperating with the people who set him free. There is always an opportunity for repenting mistakes and earning respect from others.
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Seeing an opportunity for crime, Francis X. Martel asked Ben Abrams to start an organization, which could be then used as a coverup for th...
The mission and values of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is up held with strong Constitutional values. Over the years since the FBI was created in 1908 by Attorney General Charles Bonaparte during the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. As a progressive during this time period Bonaparte applied his philosophy to forming the FBI with several corps of agents. His thought was that these men should have expertise and not political connections. With the U.S. Constitution based on “federalism” a national government with jurisdiction over matters that cross boundaries, such as interstate and foreign affairs.
Another common theme of this wildly intoxicated era was that of the gangsters. In the twenty-first century when the word gangster is uttered, often times images of minorities in baggy clothes comes to mind. However, when discussing the Prohibition Era the lives of gangsters are seen as much more glamorous, and none were more glamorous than that of the ultimate American gangster, Al “Scarface” Capone. Capone’s name brings to mind images of pinstripe suits, underground bars, bootleggers, flappers, and gun fights. His image embodies that of the Prohibition Era and his influence throughout society carries through it. Alphonse Capone is the ultimate American gangster.
Centuries : Notorious Crimes, Criminals, and Criminal Trials in American History: H-R, 2016. EBSCOhost, proxygsu-afpl.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgvr&AN=edsgcl.6482900301&site=eds-live&scope=site.
In the “roaring” 20’s, Alphonse Capone was one of the most notorious mobsters. From the start of his life Capone was involved with small gangs, his involvement only growing bigger as he aged. Capone was not only ruthless, and notorious, but in his days, he was very feared. He never let anyone get in the way of his mob or his desires. Capone was treated like a celebrity in the “Roaring 20’s” and his power lasted a long time.
...ntful life. He was responsible for the death of over 500 people. As a young boy, he had no opportunities to be rich and live in a big home. The only way out was through a life of crime. That’s where he turned and he succeeded with over $60,000,000. To do something well you have to have the drive to do it. This was how Al Capone was and he was a natural at what he did. He had the right personality and the right connections to be at the top. This was how he became the most feared gangster in the city of Chicago and got that $60,000,000. I noticed a connection to Al Capone and Adolf Hitler. They both seemed to have it all then have it suddenly swept under them. They lived lives of crime and hatred but in the end it took a turn. Hitler ended up putting a gun to his mouth while Capone went insane from his stay at Alcatraz. I learned a lot from doing this report. Besides the amount of typing, which has repeatedly cramped my fingers, it let me read some interesting articles that made me really know what Al Capone’s life was like. It may seem cool to talk about Al Capone, but behind his innocent face, was an evil gangster. Al Capone’s name will live on as the crime czar who ruled Chicago.
Jordan Belfort is the notorious 1990’s stockbroker who saw himself earning fifty million dollars a year operating a penny stock boiler room from his Stratton Oakmont, Inc. brokerage firm. Corrupted by drugs, money, and sex he went from being an innocent twenty – two year old on the fringe of a new life to manipulating the system in his infamous “pump and dump” scheme. As a stock swindler, he would motivate his young brokers through insane presentations to rile them up as they defrauded investors with duplicitous stock sales. Toward the end of this debauchery tale he was convicted for securities fraud and money laundering for which he was sentenced to twenty – two months in prison as well as recompensing two – hundred million in restitution to any swindled stock buyers of his brokerage firm (A&E Networks Television). Though his lavish spending and berserk party lifestyle was consumed by excessive greed, he displayed both positive and negative aspects of business communications.
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The stock market is an enigma to the average individual, as they cannot fathom or predict what the stock market will do. Due to this lack of knowledge, investors typically rely on a knowledgeable individual who inspires the confidence that they can turn their investments into a profit. This trust allowed Jordan Belfort to convince individuals to buy inferior stocks with the belief that they were going to make a fortune, all while he became wealthy instead. Jordan Belfort, the self-titled “Wolf of Wall Street”, at the helm of Stratton Oakmont was investigated and subsequently indicted with twenty-two counts of securities fraud, stock manipulation, money laundering and obstruction of justice. He went to prison at the age of 36 for defrauding an estimated 100 million dollars from investors through his company (Belfort, 2009). Analyzing his history of offences, how individual and environmental factors influenced his decision-making, and why he desisted from crime following his prison sentence can be explained through rational choice theory.
This case illustrated that there were real consequences to white collar crime. In addition to paying the fifty million dollar fine, he relinquished another fifty million dollars of his illegal trading profits. (He still had millions remaining, however, from his illegal gains.) His actual prison sentence was three years, yet he served only twenty-two months in the federal prison at Lompoc, California, which was known to have a “country-club” atmosphere.
Olney, Ross R. Up Against The Law. New York, New York: NAL Penguin Inc. 1985.
White-collar crimes and organizational structure are related because white collar-crimes thrive in organizations that have weak structures. According to Price and Norris (2009), the elites who commit white collar-crimes usually exploit weaknesses in organizational structure and formulate rules and regulations that favor their crimes. Makansi (2010) examines case studies to prove that white-collar crime is dependent on organizational structure. For example, the financial crisis that Merchant Energy Business faced in 2001-2002 occurred due to the liberal Financial Accounting Board, which failed to provide a standard model of valuing natural gas and fuel. Moreover, a financial crisis that rocked the securitization market in 2008 was due to fraudulence in the pricing of securitization products. These examples ...
Jordan Belfort is the notorious 1990’s stockbroker who saw himself earning fifty million dollars a year operating a penny stock boiler room from his Stratton Oakmont, Inc. brokerage firm. Corrupted by drugs, money, and sex, he went from being an innocent twenty – two year old on the fringe of a new life to manipulating the system in his infamous “pump and dump” scheme. As a stock swindler, he would motivate his young brokers through insane presentations to rile them up as they defrauded investors with duplicitous stock sales. Toward the end of this debauchery tale he was convicted for securities fraud and money laundering for which he was sentenced to twenty – two months in prison as well as recompensing two – hundred million in restitution to any swindled stock buyers of his brokerage firm. Though his lavish spending and berserk party lifestyle was consumed by excessive greed, he displayed both positive and negative aspects of business communications.