Illegal actions by corporations for profit are classified as which term?

• A. Corporate Crime
• B. Organized Crime
• C. Moral Crime
• D. State Crime

Answer: (A)

Corporate crime is about illegal acts carried out by a company or its representatives in pursuit of profit. This includes fraud, false accounting, bribery, environmental violations, and price-fixing when the wrongdoing is part of the business activities of the corporation. The label fits best because it specifically identifies wrongdoing that originates within a corporate entity aiming to gain financially, rather than crimes by individuals acting on their own, crimes carried out by criminal organizations, or crimes committed by the state. For example, falsifying financial reports to boost profits or polluting beyond legal limits to cut costs are classic corporate crimes. Organized crime refers to criminal networks operating as a business model; state crime involves abuses by government actors; moral crime isn’t a standard criminological category.