APRI Highlights - Spring 2002

White Collar Crime Program

Sean Morgan, Director

With continued funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), APRI’s White Collar Crime Program is working in partnership with the National Association of Attorneys General, the National White Collar Crime Center and AARP to help prosecutors and other law enforcement professionals prevent, investigate and prosecute telemarketing fraud in their jurisdictions through training and technical assistance.

On January 22-25, 2002, APRI’s White Collar Crime Program, under the auspices of NDAA, held its Telemarketing/Internet Fraud Trial Advocacy course at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, SC. This course brought together faculty and students on a national basis for an intensive trial advocacy course using a telemarketing fraud case study. In addition, the course covered basic computer and Internet forensics as well as search and seizure of electronic evidence. Two additional training programs, utilizing a similar format, are planned for intra-state courses for the spring and summer.

To date, APRI and its partners have conducted 27 training programs, reaching more than 1,780 prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates nationwide.

APRI is also broadening its capacity to help prosecutors combat financial crimes. Often, financial exploitation branches into identity theft when perpetrators gain access to victims’ social security numbers, home and work addresses, credit card and bank account numbers. APRI is developing resources to assist prosecutors in detecting identity theft and successfully pursuing criminal charges against offenders.

For more information about APRI's White Collar Crime Program, please contact whitecollar@ndaa-apri.org.