Some cases in his book have been found not guilty of the crime and Sutherland had claimed that this was due to the leniency of the regulatory and enforcement bodies. Such remarks were of course unsubstantiated and thus the definition of white collar crime has been cast in further doubt, even till today. (Sutton, Haines 2003).
When the public perceives a criminal, it is often thought to be shady or dark or vagrant. This is why white-collar crime does not fit our stereotype of "real" crime as it is rarely condemned to the same degree that street crime is, and there is very little public stigma attached to white-collar crime. The failure of a proper definition has hampered the public's perception of the subject. The list of crimes that fall under "White Collar Crime" is long and most of the public are not inclined to find out what they are. The most common white-collar offenses include: antitrust violations, computer/internet fraud, credit card fraud, phone/telemarketing fraud, bankruptcy fraud, healthcare fraud, environmental law violations, insurance fraud, mail fraud, government fraud, tax evasion, financial fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, bribery, kickbacks, counterfeiting, public corruption, money laundering, embezzlement, economic espionage, and trade secret theft. As you may notice, none of the crimes mentioned have any physical human harm involved directly as opposed to robberies, assault etc. There is a common belief shared by the general public and criminal-justice personnel that white-collar crime is only economic. That is, these crimes involve money being taken from a group rather than some physical attack on a victim. "The treatment of white-collar crime as economic, nonviolent crime is clearly evidenced in statements by high Reagan administration officials who define white-collar crime and violent crime as two mutually exclusive behaviors." (Bologna 1984) We as humans value human life more than anything and this could explain why most white collar crimes go unreported.