U radu se obrazlažu važni aspekti potrebni za razumijevanje pojave gospodarskog kriminaliteta u Republici Hrvatskoj vezani uz tranziciju iz socijalističkog u kapitalističko gospodarstvo te prateći proces pretvorbe i privatizacije. Taj proces doveo je do određenih specifičnosti gospodarskog kriminaliteta koje ranije nisu dolazile do izražaja u našem gospodarskom poslovanju, a koje su u tom smislu označile gotovo tridesetogodišnje razdoblje. Postojeće kriminološke teorije do sada nisu razmatrale vezu između gospodarskog kriminaliteta i tranzicije, odnosno pretvorbe i privatizacije. Radom će se nastojati obrazložiti kriminološka obilježja egzogene prirode koja su vezana uz proces pretvorbe i privatizacije u spomenutoj tranziciji. Ta obilježja karakteriziraju ne samo počinitelja nego i oštećenike gospodarskih kaznenih djela. Zaključci o njihovim obilježjima bit će prikazani kroz karakterističnu sudsku praksu. The paper explains the important aspects necessary for understanding the emergence of economic crime in the Republic of Croatia related to the transition from a socialist to a capitalist economy and the accompanying process of conversion and privatisation. Some of the relevant theories in criminology are used to explain the basic characteristics of economic crimes and their perpetrators. It is precisely the exogenous features and factors which the Positivist school mentions that characterise not only the perpetrators of these crimes but also their victims. In relation to the perpetrator, these include features that boil down to the exploitation of both the transition and the process of conversion and privatisation for malicious purposes, as well as operating according to the phrase: “who messed up, messed up”. In relation to the victim, these characteristics include ignorance of the basic rules of business operations and their operations out of necessity.After explaining the concept of transition and the process of conversion and privatisation,the paper explains the connection of the mentioned phenomena through individual characteristic court cases in order to prove the influence of the transition and the process of conversion on the mentioned exogenous characteristics. In this way, an explanation is given on how the perpetrators of this type of crime were ready to use these exogenous factors in committing economic crimes. In doing so, they especially took advantage of the inexperience in business of their economic “partners”, i.e. victims. In addition, the perpetrators also took advantage of the emergency situations in which the victims found themselves, given the existing difficulties that prevailed in economic operations in the Republic of Croatia at that time.The established reasons that led to such economic crimes left their mark in the development of criminology because they defined not only the criminological description of the perpetrator, but also the description of the victim in that specific period.