White collar crimes on a rise

BANGALORE: The city will soon replace Mumbai in recording white collar crime, according to the Borrowers’ Welfare Association. Whitecollar crime is a financially motivated, economic, nonviolent crime committed for illegal monetary gain. The association has recorded a dramatic increase in such a criminal activity, especially in the banking sector. In the last one year, the association claims that the city has witnessed over 5,000 cases of cheque lifting, fake currency printing and fraud committed while granting loans by banks. Further, they accuse banks of harassing customers who have mortgaged their property. In order to create awareness about this, the association plans to hold an awareness campaign, starting in Kochi and then moving to Bangalore. “The banking staff in the city have become too complacent and are very careless. Cases of cheque lifting, while the cheques are in transition have shot up by almost 40- 50 percent in the city. While fake currency printing too has increased. It is a sad state and we want to create awareness among the customers about white collar crime cases,” said Professor M M Kini, President, Borrowers’ Welfare Association. Explaining the modus operandi of criminals, the association highlighted that when cheques for government agencies and other municipal corporations are sent through post, criminals often get hold of those cheques and manipulate the amount. “They change a few small details and encash the amount. This is done when cheques are in transition and postman or courier boys are paid a small sum to get hold of a few cheques. A little bit of smart thinking is applied and a huge amount is stolen.Currently, both the CCB and police are trying to crack such cases,” he added. Lashing out at the legal system, the association leader said he believes that it is because such criminal cases are bailable offences, that they are on the rise. “There is a huge defect in the legal system. Many of the white collar crime cases are bailable offences.Therefore, such criminals get away very easily by just paying a bail amount,” he said.  To highlight the nature of this kind of crime and to create awareness so people can pursue such cases in the legal way, the association has now launched a campaign, where they will be holding seminars in the city.