Respectable and professional businessmen and government officials can commit financially motivated, sophisticated and often nonviolent crimes for personal benefit or corporate advantage. Such crimes, that contain a wide range of frauds, result in financial disadvantages for the defrauded stakeholders.
White collar criminals often store their ill-gotten gains in offshore companies incorporated in tax havens where nominees conceal the true ownership of these companies whilst making it difficult to prove ownership and ultimately pierce the corporate veil.
Corporate failures and even bank closures can be the result of white-collar crime. Consequences of these events can be devastating for depositors, investors, and even businesses. Although regulators aim to protect the public interest, property rights of owners also need to be addressed. This often leads to a lengthy mud fight between the parties involved while the corporate assets are not released, and wrongdoers walk free.
Victims of white-collar crime have access to a number of civil actions to regain control over the fraudsters assets. Law enforcement agencies can even assist via their asset forfeiture programs, however, depending on the legal system distribution of seized assets are either distributed to victims, or victims need to join a criminal case in court to be compensated via a public scheme.
Those affected by white-collar crime should take various laws and legal systems in consideration when cross-border activities or siphoning of assets through corporate entities in different countries took place. Having access to a professional partner is a necessity. There are several asset recovery firms, law firms and other private players available to assist. Legal Floris LLC is one of these firms.