What is economic criminology?
Origin of economic criminology
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The concept of economic criminology was first developed in the book Economic Crime: From Conception to Response.
In this book economic criminology is defined as the study of the financially motivated economic crimes and deviant acts perpetrated by individuals or organisations against individuals or organisations.
It is orientated to generating knowledge with the aim of reducing the harms of these crimes and deviant acts, improving the response to them as well as wider questions concerning power relations and the application of relevant theory.
It draws upon a wide base of interdisciplinary scholars, who are not just located in traditional schools of criminology.
The founding edition of the Journal of Economic Criminology contains a debate on The Foundation and Meaning of Economic Criminology.
Economic crimes
There is no definitive guide to what economic crime is, but most would consider the following as typical examples:
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Frauds and scams
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Corruption and bribery
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Economic cybercrime
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Market manipulation
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Money laundering and terrorist financing
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Intellectual property crime
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Economic and industrial espionage
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Organised crime and illicit markets
Leadership of society
The International Society of Economic Criminology is a registered charity (Number) 1208993.
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The founding trustees are:
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Professor Mark Button, University of Portsmouth
Dr Branislav Hock, University of Portsmouth
Dr Elisabeth Carter, Kingston University
Professor Umut Turksen, Coventry University
We are looking for volunteers to create and lead this society. Please contact us if interested.
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Professor Mark Button, President
Professor Mark Button is Co-Director of the Centre for Cybercrime and Economic Crime at the University of Portsmouth. He is co-founder and President of ISEC.Web profile.
Dr Elisabeth Carter, Vice President
Dr Elisabeth Carter is a Criminologist and Forensic Linguist who is currently an Associate Professor of Criminology at Kingston University, London. She is also serves as an academic advisor for City of London Police and Metropolitan Police. She is one of the founding members and Vice President of ISEC.
Professor Umut Turksen, Director of Partnerships
Professor Umut Turksen is Professor of Law at the University of Exeter. He is a co-founder and Director of Partnerships. As the ISEC - Director of Partnerships, he is responsible for developing relationships with professional bodies and internationalisation activities.
Dr Branislav Hock, Executive Secretary
Dr Branislav Hock is an Associate Professor in economic crime at the University of Portsmouth. Dr Branislav Hock is a co-founder and Executive Secretary of ISEC.
Dr David Shepherd, Membership Secretary
Dr David Shepherd is a Senior Lecturer in Economic Crime at the University of Portsmouth. He is Membership Secretary for ISEC and in charge of developing membership structures of ISEC.
Dr Jack Whittaker, Newsletter Editor
Dr Jack Whittaker is a researcher who recently completed his PhD at Surrey University. He has conducted qualitative interviews with deviant website developers to understand how and why they enable online shopping fraud. He has published on a range of fraud related topics such as online shopping fraud victimisation, romance fraud, vigilante policing, and critiquing the language used to describe fraud offending.
Dr Claire Norman-Maillet, Podcast Host & Editor
Claire works in the counter fraud industry and was awarded her PhD in January 2026. She runs the official podcast of ISEC, 'fraudible'.
Dr Diana Johnson, Joint Hub Editor
Diana is a Solicitor and Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of the West of England, Bristol. Her research is on financial crime and competition law, with a particular focus on corporate criminal liability, deferred prosecution agreements, fraud and money laundering. Diana has written several publications on these topics and has submitted evidence to policy makers and influential organisations including the Law Commission, FCA and the Treasury.
Dr Sam Mapston, Joint Hub-Editor
Dr Mapson, is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of the West of England (UWE), where she is the Module Leader for the Law of Financial Crime and Regulation Module on the LLB Programme. Sam is an experienced researcher who has worked on several funded projects, including two projects funded by Innovate UK. Her research interests lie in the law of financial crime, particularly, the law relating to money laundering, fraud, and corporate criminal liability.
David Clark, Treasurer
Dave has over 40 years of corporate experience in finance and business controls, including heading up an internal investigations team. Since 2019 David has been the Chief Compliance and Business Ethics Officer for Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland. David has had a particular interest in fraud over the last 20 years progressing many cases through both criminal and civil courts and has been a Director of the Midlands Fraud Forum since 2009 and, after a period as Chair, still remains one of Vice Chairs.
Dr Joon Bae Suh, Director (South East Asia)
Dr Joon Bae Suh is a Professor at the Korean National Police University. His main interest lies in Counter Fraud, Anti-money Laundering, Counter Financing of Terrorism, and Economic Criminology. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner with over 20 years experience in policing economic crime.
Dr Hala Faisal, Director (Middle East)
Dr Hala Faisal is an Assistant Professor, Department of Economic Crimes, College of Criminal Justice at Naif Arab University for Security Sciences, Saudi Arabia.. Dr Faisal is professional educator, strategist, and researcher, bringing over a decade of experience in business, economics, digital transformation, and economic crime risk management. Her career has been dedicated to shaping future leaders and driving impactful change across academia, finance, and technology. With a strong foundation in economics, she has served as the Head of the Economics Department at the Lebanese University and worked as an Economics and Business Professor for over 10 years.
In her current role as an Assistant Professor at Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS), she continues to inspire and guide students in the study of economic crimes and security-focused economic strategies. As a seasoned Business Trainer and Digital Strategy and Transformation Advisor, she empowers organisations to excel in today’s fast-paced, competitive landscape.
