| 5/21/2013 @ 11:32AM |1,774 views Once Reserved For Drug Crimes, Wiretapping Takes Center Stage in White Collar Prosecutions Comment Now Follow Comments “Today, tomorrow, next week, the week after, privileged Wall Street insiders who are considering breaking the law will have to ask themselves one important question: Is law enforcement listening?” - Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York

“When sophisticated business people begin to adopt the methods of common criminals, we have no choice but to treat them as such.”  US ATtorney Says

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When the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (the “Act”) was passed in 1968, proponents lauded the Act as a new weapon against organized crime and its growing involvement in the importation and distribution of narcotics.   For the first time, federal law enforcement was permitted to wiretap conversations of criminals with suspected involvement in a variety of serious offenses, including organized crime, gang-related activities, and drug trafficking.  These techniques would prove to be a valuable addition to authorities’ arsenal in fighting blue-collar crime.

Fast-forward forty-five years later.  Where once reserved for violent and narco-related crime, the use of wiretaps has evolved to become a potent tool in the fledgling battle against white-collar crime.  This article examines the history of wiretaps, their foray into white-collar crime prosecutions, and a potentially cloudy future.

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