Q: Is there any difference between a white collar and a corporate crime or are they the same thing?

A: Pretty much the same, but not entirely. Its like that scene in Seinfield, where Newman is trying to impress a girl with his postal knowledge and smugly looks at her and says, "All certified mail is registered, but not all registered mail is certified."

All corporate crime is white collar, but not all white collar crime is corporate.

White collar crime refers to financially motivated, nonviolent crime, usually committed by business or government professionals. Corporate crime refers to crime committed in, through, by or against a corporation. But whereas white collar crime frequently involves a corporation or a limited liability company, it doesn't have to. For example, if J. Worthington Foulfellow IV is a private financial adviser and he swindles you into giving him all your hard-earned money to invest, and instead he buys himself the Trump Princess yacht and sails off to Tahiti, that is considered a white collar crime.

Is it financially motivated? Yes.

Is it non-violent? Yes.

Is there a corporation involved? No.

Conversely, if Donald Duck finds out Scrooge McDuck is stealing from McDuck Inc. and threatens to go to Deputy Dog and blow the whistle, and Scrooge McDuck directs his security detail Huey, Duey and Louey to take Donald for a ride out to the swamp and plant him so deep he can't ever fly away again, and he is not found until the NEXT president actually DOES drains the swamp, what is the situation?

It would clearly have been committed in furtherance of the corporate crime of theft and fraud against the shareholders.

Is there a corporation involved? You bet.

Is it a corporate crime? Yes sir.

But is it non-violent? No.

This would NOT be considered a white collar crime, although it WOULD be corporate crime (at least SOME of the charges).

Has this helped?