White-collar crimes, e.g. fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, siphoning money from one bank account to his/her account, credit card fraud, and the likes, are criminal offenses and are dealt with under the Criminal Law. These crimes involve usually big money obtained from illegal activities, the most common of which is the sale of illegal drugs. The money is laundered or cleaned (money laundering), by buying real estate, the most popular avenue, and leaving no trail making it difficult or next to impossible for the taxman to follow the flows, or sources of money, i.e. no invoice, receipt, bank account, etc.

There are lawyers specialized in white-collar crimes. Since it is a highly specialized legal area, it is understandable their billable hours are exuberant.