“COMBATING SOCIO-ECONOMIC CRIME: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LEGAL FRAMEWORKS IN INDIA, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM”
AUTHOR – ADV.ABHIRAM B H, LLM STUDENT AT SREE NARAYANA LAW COLLEGE, POOTHOTTA (AFFILIATED TO MG UNIVERSITY)
BEST CITATION – ADV.ABHIRAM B H, “COMBATING SOCIO-ECONOMIC CRIME: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LEGAL FRAMEWORKS IN INDIA, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM”, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (2) OF 2026, PG. 229-235, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
Introduction
Socio-economic offences have become one of the most complex challenges confronting modern criminal justice systems. Unlike conventional crimes such as theft, assault, or homicide, socio-economic offences are primarily committed for financial gain and are often carried out through sophisticated organizational structures, corporate entities, or abuse of official authority. These offences typically include corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, corporate fraud, insider trading, banking fraud, and other financial crimes that affect the economic order of society.
The theoretical foundation of socio-economic crime can be traced to the work of criminologist Edwin H. Sutherland, who introduced the concept of white-collar crime in 1939. He argued that crimes committed by individuals in positions of power or trust are often more harmful to society than traditional crimes because they affect a large number of people and undermine public confidence in institutions.
With globalization, technological advancement, and expansion of financial markets, socio-economic offences have increasingly assumed a transnational character. Governments across the world have responded by creating regulatory frameworks, specialized investigative agencies, and stricter corporate accountability mechanisms.