A Proposed Addition to the FBI Criminal Classification Manual: O ne of the misconceptions common- ly held of white-collar criminals is that they are not like criminals who lash out violently. In part, this perception is supported by a legal system that classifies white-collar crimes as non-violent. For example, the Dictionary of Criminal Justice Data Terminology, published by the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, defines white-collar crime as “non-violent crime for financial gain committed by means of deception . . . irrespec- tive of the person’s occupation” (1981). The study at hand examined types of white-collar crime involving issues of fraud-based crime. The descriptive data indicates that a sub- group of violent white-collar criminals exists and, moreover, that certain behavioral factors may contribute to or motivate a white-collar criminal to resort to violence. The data has been examined with a single question in mind: Is imminent threat of detection a sufficient mo- tive for the white-collar criminal to respond violently? The Perri Red-Collar Crime Matrix (RCM) Examining 27 murder cases revealed that for this sub-group of violent white-collar crimi- nals, threat of fraud detection is a motive to kill: hence the name, fraud-detection homicide. This sub-group is referred to as red-collar crim- inals because they straddle both the white-collar crime arena and, eventually, the violent crime arena. In circumstances where there is threat of detection, red-collar criminals commit bru- tal acts of violence to silence the people who have detected their fraud and to prevent fur- ther disclosure. This article is approved by the follow- ing for continuing education credit: (ACFEI) The American College of Forensic Ex- aminers International provides this continuing education credit for Diplomates. (CFC) The American College of Forensic Exam- iners International provides this continuing edu- cation credit for Certified Forensic Consultants. (CBBS) The American College of Forensic Ex- aminers International is an approved provider of the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, approval PCE 1896. Course meets the quali- fications for 1 hour of continuing education credit for MFTs and/or LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. (APA) The American College of Forensic Exam- iners is approved by the American Psychologi- cal Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. ACFEI maintains responsibility for this program and its content. (NBCC) The American College of Forensic Ex- aminers International is an NBCC Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP) and may offer NBCC approved clock hours for events that meet NBCC requirements. The ACEP soley is responsible for all aspects of the program and its content. By Frank S. Perri, JD, MBA, CPA, and Terrance G. Lichtenwald, PhD, FACFEI Key Words: red-collar crime, white-collar crime, fraud, motive, detection, homicide, murder, psychopath, Perri’s Matrix, the Perri-RCM Abstract Behavioral data were located from 27 homicide cases in which fraud, a white-collar crime, oc- curred either prior to or contemporaneously with each homicide. The homicide cases in this study were classified as fraud-detection homicides because either white-collar criminals them- selves, or assassins they hired, killed the individuals suspected of detecting their fraud. The white-collar criminals who committed murder were sub-classified as red-collar criminals. Both the descriptive homicide data and the literature review lend support to three overrid- ing impressions: red-collar criminals harbor the requisite mens rea, or state of mind, to physi- cally harm someone that may have detected, or is on the verge of detecting, their fraudulent behavior; the victim of a red-collar crime does not have to be someone who profiteered, aided, or abetted in the fraud; and red-collar criminals have a history of antisocial and psychopathic tendencies. Given these conclusions, advocacy for consideration of forensic accountants and fraud examiners as members of homicide investigation teams to assist in the development of a motive to support the prosecution of red-collar criminals is in order. Data gathered in the course of this study indicate the presence of a sub-classification of white- collar criminals who are violent and the need for a new homicide classification to be referred to as fraud-detection homicide for inclusion in the FBI’s Crime Classification Manual (Douglas, 1992) as an appropriate system for classifying and profiling these murders. I would have had the . . . wasted, but I’m not sorry for feeling this way. I’m sorry that I didn’t rub her out, real sorry.” Statement of a convicted white-collar crimi- nal regarding the woman who disclosed his fraud crimes to the authorities (Addis, 1986). CE Article: 1 CE credit for this article Fraud-Detection Homicide 18 THE FORENSIC EXAMINER Winter 2007