Some of you may be wondering what a pink collar crime is. I would suggest you go back and read the first three blogs in this series where I define and give examples of pink collar crime.

Given that this is such a prescient problem in American society today we will look at it a little farther.

Pink-collar crime is unquestionably on the ascent. The term generally refers to the rise of women involved in white-collar crime, but it’s also a theory introduced by criminology professor Kathleen Daly during the 1980s to describe the types of embezzlement crimes typically committed by females. A colleague of mine, who just happens to be a forensic accountant and fraud investigator, has witnessed this trend swell over the years.

While perhaps no pink-collar crime has been as scandalous as Rita Crundwell’s (she embezzled more than $53 million from the town of Dixon, Illinois), she is far from alone.

In fact, according to the 2011 Marquet Report on Embezzlement, women are more likely to embezzle than men. Based on a review of 473 major embezzlement cases in the United States in 2011 alone, nearly two thirds of the cases involved female perpetrators. Among the top 10 cases, five involved “pink-collar criminals” who pocketed anywhere from $4.8 to $16 million.

Do you know someone who may be a pink collar criminal? I f so I would recommend they take an 8-hour online stop theft class.