ABSTRACT
One of the main points made in the preceding chapters is that whitecollar crime arises out of legitimate business activities. Indeed, it is the structure and organization of particular business activities that create opportunities for particular types of white-collar crime. e types of fraud that we see today in the health care system, for example, are possible in part because of the way in which health care in the United States is organized. Imagine for a moment that consumers paid for health care directly out of their own pockets instead of having costs paid mainly by insurance companies and government programs. ere would still be opportunities for fraud, but they would not be the same types of opportunities that we have today. For instance, it is di cult to imagine how one could carry o the “rent-a-patient” scheme described in Chapter 5 if individual consumers paid for doctors’ visits. All businesses and industries present opportunities for white-collar crime, and opportunities are, in a very real sense, everywhere.
