For example, if you are an executive in a public company and pay out some money to criminals and conceal the event from the public, that's a essentially fraud b

For example, if you are an executive in a public company and pay out some money to criminals and conceal the event from the public, that's a essentially fraud because you're doing it with someone else's (the public investors) money while lying to them. Company officers have all kinds of legal obligations to be truthful to the owners and not mislead them, and in the case of publicly traded companies, that applies to the general public. Regarding the misprision of felony, the statute says "actual commission of a felony", so kids planning to burglarize a house does not count, but if you know that they have committed a felony (kids breaking&entering into a house is not necessarily a felony), then this statute would apply.