Why did Edwin Sutherland describe corporate wrongdoing as crime in the suites?

American criminologist Edwin Sutherland used the phrase "crime in the suites" to contrast corporate wrongdoing with "crime in the streets," which typically dominated public attention and newspaper headlines.1

Sutherland coined this term to highlight that while society and the justice system were heavily focused on visible street crimes, significant and often more costly illegal activities were occurring unnoticed within corporate boardrooms and executive offices. He observed that these corporate offenses—such as fraud, price-fixing, and patent abuse—were frequently treated as civil or administrative violations rather than being prosecuted under criminal law. By drawing this distinction, Sutherland sought to challenge the prevailing view of criminality, emphasizing that individuals of high social status and respectability also engage in serious, organized illegal behavior during the course of their occupations.1