Athens
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This topic will serve as a tutorial on roleplaying in a white-collar crime organization. Of course, some players may be familiar with mob roleplay through either Italian, Irish, Russian, etc. I could say that white collars are quite similar to the mob which could help some players get the concept. For any concerns/suggestions please PM Athens.
White-Collar Crime Organizations = WCCO
What are WCCOs
It might be your first time encountering this type of roleplay, but let me introduce you to what WCCOs are. WCCOs are mainly organizations that are engaged in financial crimes, be it tax evasion, fraud or sometimes have connections to blue-collar crimes, however, it isn’t limited to that. WCCOs are all about contacts, relationships, favors, personality, trust, and most importantly money.
Contacts and relationships are the two biggest factors in the organization, WCCOs is a major series of spiderweb-like shapes of relationships. Using those relationships to get favors or ask for them to fulfill your interests. Another factor is personality, your personality may entirely affect how you would be treated and how fast you could climb the ranks. For example, a gregarious person sucking up to the executives might help, so is a workaholic who might earn more for the organization
There are several different types of WCCOs:
- Megacorp WCCO, a large company with white-collar crime heavily present in it, a real-life example would be Enron and the Sackler Family. These organizations disguise themselves as large business corporations performing white-collar crimes such as labor racketeering, tax evasion, stock fraud or even starting a monopoly on their business through immoral acts such as the Sackler Family’s Opioid Epidemic.
- Rich Social Clubs WCCO, these are organizations started by rich people through social clubs. Most of the members of these organizations are teenagers or young adults who are members of a wealthy family. They attempt to gain money on their own through “get-rich-quick” investments and Ponzi schemes. The reason that they engage in these activities so that they would be able to earn money on their own and not have it handed to them on a silver platter. A real-life example would be the Billionaire Boys Club.
- Mob-based WCCO, these are the organizations that are started by mostly young businessmen and entrepreneurs. These organizations are far more engaged in blue-collar criminal activities, sometimes behaving like an Italian, Jewish or Irish mob. These WCCOs are usually not as hidden as the other types of WCCOs and do not stick to a certain nationality, ethnicity or race, however, they are not as powerful as ethnic mobs. A real-life example would be the Binon Mob.
Characters
You may want to think of what type of character you’re looking to RP, people in WCCOs are everyday people with goals, aspirations, and appearances.
You should start with the background of your character, are you a college graduate drowning in debt that is trying to start his own business, a middle-class person that dresses in Armani suits and Rolexes to impress people with his schemes. You should always strive to make your character unique either in appearance or personality. Each type of public appearance will have its charms and turn-offs, a shrewd and smart businessman may be loved by his investors, but hated by those who compete against him, this goes on with other appearances and personalities.
Approach
If you’re trying to develop your character into the organization then you should start with a few skills or profession that may attract people, being an unemployed schmuck who cries about his hard life in bars isn’t going to get you anywhere. You should start by hanging around bars, clubs or even being employed at a company that would allow you to slowly be dragged into the white-collar life.
Simply, going into bars and restaurants, creating roleplay and slowly meeting people here and there will help you meet those in the organizations, slowly you would be dragged into the organization un-officially. It is always smart to start as a nobody, doing a /me is a rich businessman isn’t going to get you anywhere either. You may meet members of the organization who turn out to be owners of let’s say casinos or nightclubs or even big companies, smooching up to them, talking with them. Soon enough you would gain the opportunity to start a business with your contact either with them directly or through other people they would introduce you to.
An important factor of your character should be your strive for money, doesn’t matter if you’re poor, middle class or even wealthy everyone wants a slice of the cake. As a character, you should always be looking for a way to gain money, a stable job, your own business even if it means doing immoral things.
Now let’s say you manage to become a member of the organization, you now work under someone who’s in the upper circle, you should always remember that other people are your competitors, but that doesn’t mean you should rival them or hate them. Simply, everyone is trying to make the most money for themselves and their boss. Being the most earner in your circle and having good relations with the upper circle will help you climb the corporate ladder, so you should always try to grind for more money.
Benny Binion with his youngest daughter Becky (eventual owner of Binion's Horseshoe) in front of the famous $1 million display
One of the most important factors of any crime organization is certainly money, in WCCOs you could earn money through illegal rackets like bribery, burglaries, drugs, violent crimes and guns if your character gets into one of the “rough” circles of the organizations. These rough circles are mostly petty criminals, ex-military/police or people from the lower class who are often hired by the upper circles. Sometimes these organizations would not have these rough circles in them.
On the other side of things, you may find yourself involved in tax fraud, Ponzi schemes, scams, stock frauds, labor racketeering, etc.. if your character gets into a “cash” circle. The cash circles are mostly shady businessmen, con-artists, accountants, entrepreneurs, loan sharks, pimps and similar. Anyone that has a financial background rather than a physical one.
With the right earnings and contacts, you may be introduced to those in the upper circles which is what’ll allow you to gain more power and influence within the organization. Soon enough you might find yourself in those upper circles where you start your own branch or “legal” business or have earned your fair share that you could fit into the upper circles.
Now, don’t forget that you are a normal person, you aren’t a robot made for work and you don’t engage in crime 24/7. This is a very important factor as it may help improve your relationships with other outsiders and even members of your circle
Billionaire Boys Club's Joe Hunt seeks cut in life sentence after murdering Ron Levin and Hedayat Eslaminia.
Crimes aren’t the number one activity inside of WCCOs, it is usually placed after legal business. However, depending on your character’s development it could become your character’s main focus.
Once you’re a part of the organization you will be dragged into the crime cycle. The main thing about doing any crime is to get the least amount of heat possible. The crime you’re going to perform will depend on your character’s background and personality, for example, if you are roleplaying a petty criminal you could engage in burglaries, stealing goods from the docks or theft, however doing so as a businessman won’t make any sense.
As a businessman, you can engage in activities like tax evasion, Ponzi schemes, running illegal strip clubs, illegal gambling, narcotics, insider trading, stock fraud, labor rackets or any rackets, in general, that would earn you some money. You should start with something simple like fraud, you shouldn’t dive straight into large-scale crimes like narcotics or Ponzi schemes, slowly develop into it.
Murders and assassinations are very uncommon, it only happens when absolutely necessary and is mostly done by the rough circle if it’s a minor target, if it’s a high profile target then it would be done through outside means or a very trusted person from the rough circles.
Habits & Roleplay Activites
Now, don’t forget that you are a normal person, you aren’t a robot made for work and you don’t engage in crime 24/7. This is a very important factor as it may help improve your relationships with other outsiders and even members of your circle
- Gambling
- Religion, you can always try roleplaying Christian, Jewish or other religions, doing religious celebrations, praying.
- Hobbies, going to clubs to play tennis or golf or even just watching sports.
- Chores at Home
- Family, this is the most important thing, you should try roleplaying a family like a mother, brother, cousins, going out to dinner with them, etc..
- Watch TV
- Problems at home, like with your wife/girlfriend or kids.
- Drugs
- Parties
- Going out to dinner or bars
- Meeting new people
- Brainstorming business, you could try talking with outsiders to get some ideas for business or offer to start a business with them.
- Gym
- Yoga
- If your character works part-time then you could try going to college or your other job.
- Roleplaying addictions to porn, drugs or even something minor.
Disputes, Violence, and Business
Disputes are often common in WCCOs, however, they are mainly diplomatic disputes, like rivalries, fistfights, etc. Nobody is going to intervene in those diplomatic disputes unless it harms business. Sometimes it can be settled in a room where the person overseeing the operation from the upper circle tries to end the dispute to keep the money flowing. If not then it’s handled internally.
Violence, on the other hand, is not so common, even if it’s done it’s done when necessary. When a hit is placed on someone, someone from the rough circles or the outside of the organization handles that person with no leads leading back to the organization. Say political assassinations, kidnapping, etc..
Business is the number one factor of the entire organization, everyone wants a slice of the cake. The way business works in the WCCO is through a chain. Simply, the Inner Circle invests their cash with the upper circle in exchange for a return on their capital, the upper circle invests their cash and start up their crews/businesses in the lower circles which they invest in hoping for a return on their capital. Those businesses could include a cab company, a shipping company even to strip clubs, bars and jewelry stores. Each of those businesses is owned by a businessman/entrepreneur who is most likely in the upper circles. The lower circles operate the business while also doing their independent operations be it financial or violent and act as the employees of the business.
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