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WHITE COLLAR CRIMINAL STATUTES

I. Antitrust

A. Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, provides criminal sanctions against any person "who shall make any contract or engage in any conspiracy" in restraint of commerce.

 

A civil plaintiff must establish that: (1) two or more entities formed a combination or conspiracy; (2) the combination or conspiracy produces, or potentially produces, an unreasonable restraint of trade or commerce; and (3) the restrained trade or commerce is interstate in nature.

 

In a criminal antitrust prosecution, the government must also prove that the defendants intended to restrain commerce and acted with knowledge of the probable consequences of their actions. United States v. United States Gvpsum Co., 438 U.S. 422,444 (1978).

 

B. The Robinson-Patman Anti-Discrimination Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 13 et seq., prohibits any price discrimination that does not reflect a real need to compete with a rival's lower price. While this Act provides misdemeanor criminal sanctions for a business to purposely attempt to -­or to -- eradicate competition by selling at "unreasonably low prices," by general price discrimination or by geographical price discrimination, criminal actions are rarely brought. 15 U.S.C. § 13a.

 

II. Computer Crimes

Congress has responded to the rapid development of computer technology -- and attendant abuses -- by enacting numerous laws to curb wrongdoing.  These statues are designed to deter traditional crimes committed with a computer as well as other offenses against intellectual property. Prosecutors define computer crimes as "any violations of criminal law that involve a knowledge of computer technology for their perpetration, investigation or prosecution." See Gemignani, What Is Computer Crime. And Why Should We Care?, I0 U. Ark. Little Rock L.J. 55 (1987).

 

Among the recently enacted legislative responses to this problem are: (1) the Counterfeit Access Device and Computer Fraud and Abuse Law of 1984, 18 U.S.C. § 1030; (2) the Computer Abuse Amendments Act of 1984, amending 18 U.S.C. § 1030; (3) Copyright Infringement Prohibitions, 17 U.S.C. § 506(a); (4) the National Stolen Property Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2314; and (5) the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986,18 U.S.C. . §§ 2510-2520, 2701-2710.

Computer related offenses can be charged criminally under approximately 40 different federal statutes. See United States Sentencing Commission, Computer Fraud Working Group, Report Summary: Summary of Findings (1993).

 

III. Environmental Crimes

There are eight different statutes which are primarily utilized for federal criminal prosecutions of environmental offenses: (1) the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401-7671, which imposes criminal sanctions on those who knowingly violate federal or state regulations designed to achieve EPA ambient air quality standards; (2) the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251-1387, which is designed to control and minimize the effects of water pollution by either prohibiting or regulating the discharge of pollutants into water; (3) the Rivers and Harbors Act, 33 U.S.C. § 407, which prohibits discharges from ships or shore installations into navigable or tributary waters; (4) the Safe Drinking Water Act, 43 U.S.C. §§ 300f et seq., which regulates and controls the discharge of harmful contaminants into public water systems as well as the underground injection of contaminants into groundwater that supplies public water systems; (5) the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901-6992, which imposes criminal penalties on those who improperly transport, store or treat hazardous wastes; (6) the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), which established Superfund, 42 U.S.C. § 9601-9675, which imposes criminal liability for the failure to report the release of a hazardous substance; (7) the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 2601-2692, which imposes criminal sanctions for the knowing violation of the Act which regulates the manufacture, processing distribution or disposal of chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk of injury to the public or environment; and (8) the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, 7 U.S.C. § 136, which provides criminal penalties in connection with the manufacture, registration, transportation, sale and use of toxic pesticides.

 

IV. False Claims

               A.      The False Claims Act of 1863, 18 U.S.C. § 287, provides criminal penalties for the presenting of a false, fictitious or fraudulent claim to a federal agency. This statute has been liberally construed, enabling the government to use it to prosecute a wide array of offenses, including fraudulent federal tax refunds, Medicare and Medicaid Fraud, Social Security Fraud, government contract irregularities and fraudulent claims for unperformed services under government contracts.

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