You Just Got Cheated
Understanding White-Collar Crime
- Sibichen K Mathew - Commissioner of Income Tax in the Indian Revenue Service (IRS)
This book attempts to examine the above questions by analyzing various types of white collar crimes, drawing examples of such crimes that have happened across the world. History reveals that crimes travel across the globe in time as criminals learn from each other for their criminal indulgences. We hear about a crime elsewhere – in a different city or a country - and within no time you find the same thing happening with necessary improvisation in our own neighborhood.
When the corporate criminals, opportunist and greedy public servants join hands, to indulge in various types of crimes, the regulatory enforcement becomes lax, farce and ineffective. In the end, the victims – the public who were adversely impacted, the shareholders who lost their investments, the consumers who got a raw deal, the employees who lost their jobs and the financiers who lost what they lent – suffer without any recourse. The book culminates with two chapters exclusively on answering questions such as - Why do people commit white collar crime? Why do people fall victim to white collar crime and how to curb this menace? The book concludes with an analysis of whistleblowers and the related challenges and safeguards.
As scams and frauds perpetuate, there is a need for a systematic analysis of the pattern, the impact and the preventive steps. The insights given in the book would be helpful for professionals as well as common citizens.
“After his brilliant earlier work “Making People Pay” Dr. Sibichen Mathew now turned his splendid mind to an equally important topic of white collar crimes. Crimes, are the result of the power of motive on character. The rewards of crime are far, richer and higher than the chances and risks of detection and punishment. While the resourcefulness of the criminal mind seems inexhaustible in its evil power it draws strength from the conniving or negligent conduct of the Regulators charged with prevention of crime. Cyber crimes, it is known, transfer with electronic speed enormous amounts of stolen wealth across frontiers of nation. International collaboration to check this menace is less intelligent than the criminal mind. As to the repetitive pattern of bank frauds, the Regulators should own the responsibility. The avarice, intellectual lassitude and gullibility of the victims themselves are the main reasons. Amongst the remedies as the author says, is creation of awareness, effective regulatory enforcement and encouragement and protection of the whistle blowers. Dr. Mathew has once again earned our gratitude for his concern for and commitment to the common good.”
“This is a well-researched collation of how one gets cheated, in India and abroad, and of what governments have done to curb it. It is written well, expected of an established author. It will resonate, especially with victims of one or the other of the cited instances. However, there is no cure for human cupidity.”
“Mathew pieces together the multiple dimensions of white collar crime to come up with a comprehensive and illuminating picture. Moving easily from popular discourse to academic findings and back, he provides an account that is as thought provoking as it is readable.”
"While jewelry heists and unexplained homicides were the mysteries of yore, today a plethora of white collar crimes capture the public imagination. At the base of every mega public scam are several such crimes. In this useful book, Dr. Sibichen Mathew explains how and why these white collar crimes happen, and what can be done to make them more difficult to commit."
“For all of us who have been cheated -- and there is no exception--- this book is a wake -up call. In a lucid style, and pulling no punches, Sibichen Mathew lays bare all manner of white collar crimes, to keep us awake and alert, and to enable us to recognise and respond. Truly a compelling and convincing read.”
"This book is the result of six years of painstaking research and analysis on the ramifications of white-collar crimes. Dr. Mathew makes a compelling case of what can be done to curb this menace and the restitutionary remedies that would be effective. This is a long overdue commentary on this neglected subject and I hope that this book gets the attention it deserves."