Question

The US surgeon general published a report in 1964 that clearly outlined the health dangers of smoking. In 1994, the government began what would become a decades-long effort to prosecute the tobacco companies for fraud: criminal misrepresentation of the health issues and deliberate intent to deceive and cover up evidence about tobacco's effects. Despite the government's efforts, however, the tobacco industry continues to market tobacco products. In 2014, the industry finally agreed to publicly state that their advertising campaigns had lied about the harms of smoking. Taken together, the tobacco industry's actions can be understood as a protracted case of __________ crime.

Answer 1

The answer is corporate crime.

This type of crime occurs when a corporation, separated from the "natural persons" running it, performs an action, punishable by law, against a group of people or against another company.

For this case (even though the "tobacco industry" is not a specific business entity), we can say that the "deliberate intent to deceive and cover up evidence" on how tobacco is harmful is a clear example of a corporate crime against american society.