RCMP Fact Sheets

Commercial Crime

QUICK FACTS • There are 34 Commercial Crime units across Canada. • The Commercial Crime Program has over 450 members. • Commercial Crime Unit investigators have specialized knowledge and backgrounds in such fields as accounting, law, finance, economics, computer science and business administration.

Overview
Commercial Crime Branch is the policy centre responsible for coordinating and evaluating the activities of the Commercial Crime Program.

The branch provides specialized services, such as pursuing legislative amendments, monitoring high-risk investigations, developing and delivering in-service training, and initiating special analytical projects.

Commercial Crime Branch participates
in Interpol, G-8, and other ad hoc conferences and working groups.

Moreover, in cooperation with the RCMP’s Learning and Development Branch, the branch administers and
offers the Commercial Crime Investigator’s course, and the Counterfeit Investigative Techniques course.

The program’s objective is to reduce and prevent white-collar crime.

This includes fraud, false pretenses, misappropriation of funds, theft, breach of trust, secret commissions, offences against the Government of Canada, corruption of public officials, offences relating to property rights, tax fraud, the insolvency process, securities fraud, identity theft/fraud and counterfeiting on an interprovincial, national and international scale.

Commercial Crime investigators are responsible for the gathering of evidence, interviewing of witnesses and suspects, compiling court briefs and reports, recommending necessary courses of action, and assisting with the presentation of evidence and the prosecution of white-collar crime offenders before the courts.

Specialized duties
Specialized duties include assisting the Superintendent of Bankruptcy by investigating offences relating to the insolvency process. Approximately one percent of all bankruptcies are referred for investigation.

Commercial Crime & Major Fraud
This group is involved in detecting and deterring criminal activity within the business and securities community at the local/international level. This includes issues related to fraudulent telemarketing and identity theft/fraud.

Counterfeiting
This group is involved in suppressing the manufacture and distribution, within Canada, of counterfeit currency, tokens of value, federally issued negotiable instruments, and payment cards.

Security Fraud Information Centre
The Security Fraud Information Centre provides a criminal record vetting service to the federal regulators of financial institutions and provincial securities commissions in order to assist them in controlling white-collar crimes within their industries.

Federal Statute Enforcement
On behalf of various federal government departments, the Commercial Crime Sections have accepted primary responsibility for enforcing the provisions of some 11 federal statutes and 23 federal programs.

Major investigative work is done within the Government of Canada on fraud, breach of trust and corruption.

National Economic Profiling Service (NEPS)
The National Economic Profiling Service prepares economic profiles on individuals and public and private companies.

The information in each profile is derived from publicly available information which includes Lexis Nexis, StockWatch, the Internet, Consumer Sentinel, among others.

Other Agencies
The Commercial Crime Program has developed strategic partnerships with the financial and banking communities, computer professionals, credit card manufacturers, government agencies and departments, and law enforcement agencies, both nationally and internationally.

Key partners include Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, the Department of Justice, the Bank of Canada and other federal departments and agencies, provincial and municipal police forces, such as the Ontario Provincial Police & Toronto Police Service, the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, the Cross Border Crime Forum, the National Mass Marketing Crime Prevention Forum, the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Trade Commission, the FBI, Interpol, and many others.