Lakhasly

Economic and financial crime is not a recent phenomenon; its forms have evolved throughout history, mirroring changes in economic systems. From ancient Egypt's tax system and Horemheb's legislation (1330 BC) to the Roman Empire's laws regulating trade and pricing with varying punishments based on social class, economic crime has existed alongside economic regulation. The Islamic Hisbah system also aimed to control markets and prevent exploitation. In France, laws regulating food prices and exports date back to 1311, with penalties including corporal punishment and exile. The 19th and 20th centuries saw a surge in economic crime, driven by World Wars I and II, the 1929 economic crisis, and rapid industrialization. The rise of large corporations and financial institutions led to new forms of crime, particularly "white-collar crime," involving fraud and deceit committed by individuals with high social standing. Post-Cold War globalization exacerbated this, with money laundering and corruption threatening global economic and political stability. This evolution highlights the persistent challenge of combating economic crime across diverse historical contexts.

The truth is that economic and financial crime is not a product of our era, as it has undergone many developments and taken different forms according to each historical stage experienced by the economic and commercial systems in the world.
It can be asserted that economic crime is as old as the economic legislation that regulated economic life. Since the emergence of human groups, even in their primitive forms, they have been punished criminally for violating them.
As in the Pharaonic civilization, which some believe was the first land in history to know the use of the economic sanctions law, where the state interfered in economic life to a large degree, especially in the method of water distribution and the irrigation system, and fraud in the world is considered a crime punishable by the authority of the gods. Egypt was the first to know a tax system, and the Horemheb legislation of 1330 is considered the most important economic penal legislation.
And the Roman civilization, which found economic legislation during the era of the Roman Empire, which brought together various sects and customs, both citizens and foreigners, so it was necessary to issue the Peoples’ Law, and the position of praetor was created as governor of the province, who issues regulations, instructions, and orders, including economic ones related to the trade in agricultural crops such as grains, and determining their prices, Punishments varied according to social classes. For the upper classes, they were punished by being prohibited from engaging in trade, exile, or a fine, while for the lower classes, they were punished with hard labor or death in some cases.
However, in the Islamic era, the Hisbah system was known, which is a system that aims to combat deviation and track down violations with the aim of purifying society from them. The Hisbah system means "the guardian or someone entrusted by the guardian enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong." The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to walk around. In the markets, he checks on people, directs them, and warns them. Among the functions of the hisbah is economic control, such as setting prices, preventing monopoly, and balancing the balance.
In the modern era, France has witnessed many laws regulating economic life since the years 1311 and '312 under the rule of Philippe Lebel, when laws were issued prohibiting the export of food grains, coupled with corporal and financial punishment. In 1505, a law was issued punishing people who sell goods at a price exceeding the maximum price with a fine, In 1567, a law was issued punishing anyone who stored wheat for more than two years, along with the penalty of confiscation of the crop and exile to the forests. In 1757, a decree was issued prohibiting the export of grains and fruits. After the French Revolution, a law was issued in 1793 punishing the death penalty for withholding a necessary commodity without selling it to people.
Interest in economic crime appeared since the nineteenth century, when legal texts of an economic and financial nature began to take their place in criminal legislation, which led to the emergence of the idea of the economic penal code and the criminal code of business. This began with the First World War: 1914-1918 and the effects it had on The economic and social level, and the need for it increased after the economic crisis of 1929.
The economic crisis began in the United States of America and European countries, which led to the emergence of the necessary legislation to protect currency, regulate production and foreign trade, and address the problem of unemployment.
Also, after World War II (1939 AD 1945 AD) and the accompanying transformations in economic systems and the crises that were associated with it, economic crime developed, as some legal scholars considered that the emergence of economic crime, and behind it the economic penal code,
The Arab countries were interested in regulating their economies and combating economic crimes. After 1952, Egypt issued legislation related to supply, pricing, regulating industry, agriculture, trade, import and export, and other legislation. In Algeria, special judicial councils were created to suppress economic crime.
It is one of the most important characteristics that distinguished the twentieth century. With industrial progress, commercial activity, the emergence of companies and banks, and financial exchanges. And the emergence of entire economic sectors and structures, in which a new crime developed that differed from the well-known traditional crime. This crime, which is closely linked to the world of business and trade and all aspects of economic life, began to attract the attention of jurists and economists since the thirties of the twentieth century.
During this period, it was known for what was called "white package crimes" (La criminalité en col blanc), during which humanity witnessed tremendous development in all areas of life, including the development of information and communication technology, which in turn contributed greatly to economic development, which led to the crystallization of many crimes and the emergence of patterns of crimes. Such as the crime of financial fraud and customs evasion, as well as crimes in the hidden economic world such as money laundering and others.
These crimes have spread and are committed by respectable people who have a high social status while canying out their job duties. Professor Satterled introduced this term when he spoke before the American Sociological Association about the emergence of elite crimes after they were far from the circle of criminal behavior. Therefore, he explained criminal behavior before the emergence of elite crimes by factors of poverty and factors of psychological imbalance resulting from the lack of a person's capabilities and abilities to meet his needs.
This new crime took on a large dimension, especially with the end of the Cold War, and the profound geopolitical and economic transformations that followed at the global level. The crime of the business world, the phenomenon of money laundering, and corruption, became a real threat to the economic and social stability of several countries, and even the entire world, and threatens Democratic systems themselves.
All of these developments have led to the emergence of giant economic companies, institutions, financial institutions, and banks that deal in billions of dollars every day. In this environment, new crimes linked to money and business have arisen, and they are called white package crimes, as their perpetrators are among those who hold prestigious positions in society, including businessmen and people of influence and prestige.
Moreover, this type of crime has become widespread, and since it is considered a crime that involves fraud and deceit of consumers, its risks and damage have become grave at the economic level, both locally and internationally.