persuading the judge to keep key evidence out of the jury room. 
13 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-
history/fatal-ford-pinto-crash-in-indiana. 
Sometimes the terms corporate and white-collar crime are used interchangeably, but there are important 
distinctions between the two terms. 
14 
White-Collar Crime 
In contrast to corporate crime, white-collar crime usually involves employees harming the individual 
corporation. Sometimes corporate and white-collar crime goes hand in hand, but not always. An example 
of white-collar crime would be the financial offenses of Bernard Madoff, who defrauded his investors of 
approximately $20 billion. Instead of trading stocks with his clients’ money, Madoff had for years been 
operating an enormous Ponzi scheme, paying off old investors with money he got from new ones. 
By late 2008, with the economy in free fall, Madoff could no longer attract new money, and the scheme 
collapsed, which resulted in hundreds of investors, including numerous charities, being wiped out. As of 
today, a court-appointed trustee has managed to recover about $13 billion, which is most of the money 
Madoff’s investors put into his funds. The trustee sold off Madoff family’s assets, including their homes in the 
Hamptons, Manhattan, and France and a 55-foot yacht named Bull. 
15 
Dr. Sanchez’s Professor  in Graduate School 
In 2008, many people were negatively impacted by Madoff, one of which was a former professor for Dr. Sanchez. 
He lost his retirement, which required him to keep teaching well into his 80’s, as well as lost his home. The impact 
of Madoff was far-reaching and although most may call it a purely economic crime, people committed suicide and 
lost everything in this scandal. 
No official program measures corporate and white-collar crime like there is with street crime occurring in 
the United States. Therefore, we estimate costs to society, and who the victims are. Additionally, unlike street 
crime where the crime can often be discovered instantly and investigated quickly, corporate and white-collar 
crime can take years to investigate and even longer to prosecute. Remember, Madoff was involved in fraud 
most of his working life but were not caught until he was nearing the end at the age of 71. 
16 
13. Steinzor, R. (Dec. 2014). It’s called 'Why Not Jail?': Industrial catastrophes, corporate malfeasance, and government inaction. Cambridge 
University Press. 
14. Kleck, G. (1982). On the use of self-report data to determine the class distribution of criminal and delinquent behavior." American 
Sociological Review, 427-433. 
15. Zarroli, J. (2018). For Madoff victims, scars remain 10 years later, National Public Radio, https://www.npr.org/2018/12/23/678238031/
for-madoff-victims-scars-remain-10-years-later 
16. Fuller, J.R. (2019). Introduction to Criminal Justice. New York: Oxford, Oxford University Press. 
ALISON S. BURKE, DAVID CARTER, BRIAN FEDOREK, TIFFANY MOREY, LORE RUTZ-BURRI, AND SHANELL
SANCHEZ
54