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Today's Most Notorious White Collar Criminals

By Christopher Coble, Esq. on January 15, 2016 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

2015 seemed like the year of the white collar criminal. From crooks on Wall Street to cooked wagons to cyber-wagering, the past year gave us our fair share of villains in business suits.

But who are the most notorious white collar criminals out there today? And what does their tomorrow look like?

Felonious Fantasy

This entry may need an asterisk, since daily fantasy websites still maintain that they're doing nothing illegal. But seven states disagree, and have outlawed daily fantasy betting based on their state gambling statutes. For all the notoriety DraftKings and FanDuel gained during their pre-NFL season ad blitz, they've become equally notorious for the criminal charges and civil lawsuits filed against them. Daily fantasy sites have long pointed to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) as providing the legal loophole that allows them to operate, but federal and congressional investigations may close the book on fantasy betting.

The People's (Lying) Automobile

Volkswagen had seemingly turned its image around after defects plagued the carmaker throughout the 1990s. VWs were stylish again and built around a powerful, "clean diesel" TDI engine. But that engine was a lie. It turns out Volkswagen was cheating on its emissions tests, polluting the environment, and covering the whole thing up. And along with numerous civil lawsuits, the company and its executives are facing federal criminal charges as well.

Pill Price Popper

It's hard to top a $7 billion worldwide auto recall, but jacking up the price for a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent will do it every time. Martin Shkreli may not have been famous before he tried to price gouge AIDS and cancer patients, but he was infamous afterwards, and his year only went downhill from there.

Shkreli and his attorney were arrested in December on federal securities fraud charges. It turns out Marty was using his biotech firm's money to pay his failing hedge fund company's debts, debts that may have been accrued paying for Shkreli's food, clothing, and medical expenses. Still no word on the 1-copy $2 million Wu-Tang Clan album Shkreli bought though.

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