Savings and Loan Fraud as Organized Crime: Toward a Conceptual Typology of Corporate Illegality

Using government documents, interviews with FBI investigators and thrift regulators, and other sources, the authors analyzed patterns of crime in the savings and loan industry, and concluded that such conspiracies are better classified as "organized" than "corporate" crimes. Examination of motives and methods acknowledges that corporate managers may conspire to commit crimes for personal gain, without regard for their corporation; also, it provides for a better understanding of different types of thrift fraud. The typology can be applied as well to fraud in other financial institutions--credit unions, the insurance industry, and pension funds--that manage large sums of other people's money and promise future services. 88 references