Rich `free to commit crime'

A two-tier system has been established in which the rich can commit white-collar fraud and corruption while police concentrate on catching the poor, according to a report today. Law enforcers and politicians are turning a blind eye to white-collar crime largely because they are considered "victimless" and are being carried out by wealthy people, says the study, Poverty, Crime and Punishment.

The author, Dee Cook, Associate Dean of the University of Wolverhampton, says white-collar crime includes fraud, embezzlement and "fiddling" at work. Scandals such as those involving Nick Leeson and Barings, BCCI, Robert Maxwell and Barlow Clowes indicate the sums involved, yet only a tiny number of people are brought to justice. The report also gives the official response to tax fraud and benefit fraud as an example of double standards.