A business, like any person, is subject to general criminal law. Some crimes, however, are found more frequently in the business than elsewhere. Business firms are frequently the victims of crimes, such as robbery, burglary, shoplifting, employee pilferage, passing bad checks, vandal­ism, receiving stolen property, and embezzlement. Because such criminals are generally well-educated, respected members of the community, the offenses are called white-collar crimes.

Common examples of white-collar crimes are income tax evasion, consumer fraud, bribery, and embezzlement. Normally no physical violence is involved in crimes of this nature.

Here are some of the common business-related crimes:

Larceny

Larceny (commonly known as theft) is the wrongful taking of money or personal property belonging to someone else. Variations of larceny include robbery (taking property person in immediate presence and against the victim’s will, and by force or by causing fear) and burglary (en­tering a building with the intent to commit a crime). Other types of larceny include shoplifting, pick­pocketing, and purse snatching.

Receiving Stolen Property

Knowingly receiving stolen property is an offense separate from larceny. It consists of receiving, concealing, or buying property known to be stolen, with intentto deprive the rightful owner of the prop­erty. One who receives stolen property is known as a fence. Special statutes deal with the fencing of types of property that are commonly stolen, such as motor vehicles and valuable airplane, ship, or truck car­goes.

Forgery

Forgery is falsely making or altering any writing (for example the signature of another person). In forgery there must be intent to defraud either the person whose name is signed or someone else. The most common forgeries are found on checks when one has signed another’s name without permis­sion to do so. Forgery is usually a felony.

Bribery

Bribery is offering or giving to a government official money or anything of value which the official was not authorized to receive in order to influence performance of an official duty. Accept­ing the money or offer is also bribery.        

Extortion

Extortion (commonly known as blackmail) is obtaining money or other property from a person by wrongful use of force, fear, or the power of office. The extortionist (blackmailer) may threaten to inflict bodily injury on the victim or a close relative of the victim. Sometimes the extortionist threatens to expose a secret crime if payment is not made. Kidnapping is a related crime.

Conspiracy

Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to do an unlawful criminal act, or to do a lawful act by unlawful means. Usually the agreement is secret. Depending on the circum­stances, the crime may be either a felony or a misdemeanor.

Selling and Buying Narcotic Drugs

Narcotics, when abused, can cause serious mental and physical harm. There exist laws, which make certain narcotic-related activities criminal offenses. The activities include selling or offering to sell, possessing, tran­sporting, administering, or giving narcotics without a license, except by medi­cal prescription.

Computer Crime      

Society has only recently addressed the problems of crimes made possible by the computer revolution. One problem involves the stealing of valuable information from other persons’ com­puters.

Тема 10. A Famous criminal.

Read and translate the texts.

Jack the Ripper

“Jack the Ripper” is an alias given to an unidentified serial killer who killed a number of prostitutes in the East End of London in 1888. The name originates from a letter written by someone who claimed to be the killer published at the time of the murders. The killings took place within a mile area and involved the districts of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Aldgate, and the City of London proper. He was also called the Whitechapel Murderer and “Leather Apron”. The lack of a confirmed identity for the killer has allowed Ripperologists – the term used within the field for the authors, historians and amateur detectives who study the case – to accuse a wide variety of individuals of being the Ripper.

It is unclear just how many women the Ripper killed. It is generally accepted that he killed five, though some have written that he murdered only four while others say seven or more. Attacks ascribed to the Ripper typically involved female prostitutes from the slums whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. The autopsies constantly revealed clear indications that the victims had been strangled. Usually he took a piece of the victim’s viscera. The removal of internal organs from at least three of the victims led to proposals that their killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge. Rumours that the murders were connected intensified in September and October 1888, and letters from a writer or writers purporting to be the murderer were received by media outlets and Scotland Yard. The “From Hell” letter included half of a preserved human kidney, supposedly from one of the victims. Mainly because of the extraordinarily brutal character of the murders, and because of media treatment of the events, the public came increasingly to believe in a single serial killer known as “Jack the Ripper”.

Butchers, slaughterers, surgeons and physicians were suspected because of the manner of the mutilations. The Ripper was never caught and the mysteries surrounding this killer create an intellectual puzzle that people still want to solve.     

At the time of the murders and for the next few years, a lot was written about the murders. The FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit did a criminal profile of the Ripper and aspects of the murders were discussed in various professional journals. After more than a hundred years the case is still fascinating, and results are still being gotten through research. The future may or may not reveal the Ripper’s name.

Andrei Chikatilo, 1936 – 1994 (The Rostov Ripper)

Andrei Chikatilo, one of the world’s worst serial killers, murdered up to 53 young girls and boys in Russia starting in 1982 and ending in 1990, when he was captured. Starting from June 1982 the bodies of his victims were found in the Ukraine. They contained a numerous amount of stab wounds, and their eyes were ripped off. The fact that the information about the series of crimes was not published for fear of panic and embarrassment made it difficult to catch the killer. But the detectives managed to link the cases and realized that the killer lured his victims at the train sta­tion in town. The stations were then monitored by plain-clothes detectives, looking for any suspi­cious behaviour. Chikatilo was discovered in the train station trying to pick up children. The po­lice apprehended him and searched his bag. They found a rope, dirty towels and a kitchen knife. But the blood tests seemed to indicate that he was not involved in the series of crimes. Chikatilo was then released.

A profile of the killer was compiled by a leading Russian psychologist. He called the killer “Citizen X” and concluded that X possibly had a wife and children (which was later confirmed). He called the killer a sadist, and mutilating his victims was some form of dominance.

Years later Chikatilo was detained again. He admitted to at least 53 murders and also led police to some undiscovered victims. Chikatilo’s reasons for gouging at his victims eyes was that he believed that the victims eyes kept an image of the killer in them after. Chikatilo spent his 6-months trial in a steel cage. He was found legally sane and sentenced to death. He was executed by a gunshot to the head in 1994.

Osama Bin Laden (b. 1957)

Osama Bin Muhammed bin Awad bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia in 1957 – the 17^th of 52 children, born into Saudi Arabia’s wealthiest construction family. In 1979 Bin Laden gradu­ated with a degree in Civil Engineering and in the same year his violent terrorist roots were formed when he joined the mujahadeen movement in Afghanistan.

During 1986 –1989, Bin Laden established the now notorious “Al Quaeda” network – an organization of ex-mujahadeen, with a murderous mission to provide fighters and funds for the Afghan armed struggle. As a result of the increasingly violent policies, allegedly dictated by Bin Laden, there followed a series of terrorist actions across the globe. The first was an explosion in a hotel in Aden and then the New York World Trade Centre bombing in 2001. Bin Laden is now on a mission to promote his terrorist ideas in the name of Islam, driven by his belief that violence is the only policy. His fanatical terrorist views include the concept of suicide attacks.

Bin Laden’s Jihad (holy war) reached a peak in 2001, resulting in the world’s most devastat­ing terrorist outrage – destruction of the New York World Trade Centre and an attack on the Pentagon in Washington on Sept 11^th, where 3,500 souls perished.

Bin Laden has enormous personal wealth and he could spend his life in tranquil luxury, but he has chosen to support violent terrorist groups. It could be argued he has symptoms of a con­trol freak. It is interesting to observe that although he is only in his fifties, he looks much older and walks with a curved back and with a walking stick. This may be a classic example of some­body who is physically inferior but seeks power and violence as a substitute.

From Russia, With Love