The organisation and control of long-firm fraud

Abstract

This study of the organisation and control of the fraudulent obtaining of large quantities of goods on credit by businessmen is based on interviews with businessmen, credit controllers, police and other investigatory bodies, lawyers, judges, and people who either have been or might have been classified formally as 'long-firm fraudsters', as well as on documentary material from court and police records. It examines in detail the factors that may influence (1) how and why people become or cease to be long-firm fraudsters; how long-firm frauds are organised, i.e. the relationships between the people involved in it, the links between long-firm fraud and other criminal activities, and the skills of the practitioners; (2) the organisation and functioning of the commercial and formal control systems which have a bearing upon the activities of 'long-firm fraudsters'; and (3) the interaction between people potentially definable as long-firm fraudsters and the Criminal Justice System which authoritatively adjudicates their criminality or non-criminality. After analysing the processing of commercial debtors through the stages of policing, prosecuting, trial, conviction, and sentence, the principal conclusions are that in spite of the fact that long-firm frauds are injurious to important commercial interests and are useful to none, few sophisticated fraudsters are convicted and the levels of sentencing are generally low. This is attributed to the difficulties police and judges experience in regarding commercial crime as 'serious' crime.The study of long-firm fraudsters demonstrates that most businessmen are potentially 'at risk' of committing long-firm fraud, since they possess the skills required and rationalisation is easy. However, most businessmen have enough of a stake in the conventional system to deflect them from serious contemplation of credit fraud. Finally, there is a critical discussion of some important policy issues in the control of long-firm fraud, in the light of my findings.

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