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WHITE COLLAR CRIME AND PUBLIC CORRUPTION SECTION

The White Collar Crime and Public Corruption Section (WCPC) of the Virgin Islands Department of Justice, under the supervision of a Director, was established pursuant to the statutory mandate of Section 118, of Title 3 of the Virgin Islands Code, which provides the following:

§ 118. White Collar Crime and Public Corruption Section

There is hereby established within the Department of Justice a White Collar Crime and Public Corruption Section, to institute aggressive prosecution of white collar crime and corruption, which crimes fall within the jurisdiction of the Attorney General under Virgin Islands statutes, or which the Attorney General is authorized to prosecute with the consent of the United States Attorney.

POWERS AND DUTIES

In fulfilling its mandate of instituting "aggressive prosecution of white collar crime and corruption", WCPC is charged with the criminal investigation and prosecution of white collar and public corruption offenses generated by private citizen complaints and referrals from other law enforcement agencies. There are two functional components of WCPC:

Prosecution

To carryout the most significant of its functions, WCPC is staffed with Assistant Attorneys General (AAGs) who provide legal advice and consultation to law enforcement in the investigative stages of a case, evaluate evidence and make determinations of what charges, if any, may be charged based upon the evidence presented by law enforcement agents. The AAGs are the WCPC trial prosecutors who file charges with the courts and bring the case to trial and full prosecution.

Cases are referred to WCPC for prosecution from other law enforcement agencies including the Virgin Islands Police Department, the Virgin Islands Inspector General Office, and the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue, as well as private citizen complaints filed by persons directly with WCPC or the Attorney General.

Investigation

Individual citizen white collar/public corruption complaints to WCPC are investigated in house by WCPC or the Special Investigations Division (SID). WCPC staffs an investigative accountant who is a peace officer and certified fraud examiner whose expertise is to conduct primarily financial investigations of complex white collar complaints filed with the Attorney General or WCPC.

White Collar and Public Corruption Section
Virgin Islands Department of Justice
Office of the Attorney General
3438 Kronprindsens Gade
G.E.R.S. Complex, 2nd Floor
St. Thomas, VI 00802
(340) 774-5666, telephone
(340) 776-2470, facsimile

What is White Collar Crime?

"White Collar Crime" is a term that refers to a variety of criminal offenses for a variety of frauds, thefts and schemes committed often by business persons, employees, con artists, and public officials. This type of crime often involves lying, cheating or stealing by a person in a position of trust and includes crimes such as consumer fraud, identity theft, embezzlement, bribery, forgery, falsification of records, credit card fraud, check fraud, tax evasion, and theft of public funds.

How do I file a complaint if I am a victim of a white collar crime?

A private citizen who is a victim of a white collar crime may file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General, White Collar & Public Corruption Division or the Virgin Islands Police Department. Complaints involving public corruption or crimes within the Government believed to be committed by public officials or involving public funds may be reported to either the White Collar & Public Corruption Division or the Office of the Inspector General.

How long does it take to complete an investigation?

The length of an investigation varies on a case by case basis depending on the complexity of the evidence and information, and the placement of the case backlog. For questions related to the status of your white collar investigation you may contact the law enforcement agency you filed the complaint with, or if you filed your complaint with the White Collar & Public Corruption Division, you may call (340) 774-5666.
Please be advised that the details of investigations are confidential in nature and may be limited to the public,