White-collar crime

The term first proposed by criminologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939, “white-collar crime” refers to the type of offense where one utilizes his superior knowledge for financial gain in business setting. Though it may be nonviolent, “white-collar crime” disrupts the well-being of the society by breaching the ideals of ethics. On top of that, the detection and identifying “white-collar crime” are extremely limited due to lack of resources and expertise in the area. For those reasons, and more, both federal and state government punish “white-collar crime” severely: the punishment ranges from fines to imprisonment, which is often on the same level of severity imposed upon violent crimes.

Reference:
http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/study/understanding/pdf/WhiteCollarCh1.pdf