White Collar Crime Prosecutions for February 2011
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2011 the government reported 917 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 50.3% over the previous month.
White Collar Crime
This report summarizes the government's recent efforts when it comes to combating white collar crime—the number of such cases, the investigative agencies involved, the laws cited, the busiest federal districts and the busiest federal judges.
See more...The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with white collar crime-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. (See Table 1)
When monthly 2011 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was only slightlyup (0.3 percent). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 23.5 percent from levels reported in 2006.
The growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in white collar crime prosecutions is 7.7 percent instead of 23.5 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
The increase from the levels five years ago in white collar crime prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of white collar crime prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court, the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.
Within the broad category of white collar crime, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within white collar crime are
• Federal Procurement Fraud • Federal Program Fraud • Tax Fraud • Arson for Profit • Other Insurance Fraud • Financial Institution Fraud • Bankruptcy Fraud • Advance Fee Schemes • Other Fraud Against Businesses • Consumer Fraud • Securities Fraud • Commodities Fraud • Other Investment Fraud • Antitrust Violations - Other • Computer Fraud • Health Care Fraud • Fraud Against Insurance Providers • Intellectual Property Violations • Insider Fraud Against Insurance Providers • MEWA (Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements) Fraud/MET • Antitrust Violations - Airlines • Antitrust Violations - Banking • Antitrust Violations - Defense Procurement • Antitrust Violations - Extraterritorial Application Of • Antitrust Violations - Finance Markets, Other than Banking • Telemarketing Fraud • Corporate Fraud • Identity Theft • Aggravated Identity Theft • Other White Collar Crime/Fraud The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in February 2011 was for "Fraud-Health Care", accounting for 34.7 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (11.6%), " Fraud-Financial Institution" (10.1%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (9.8%), "Fraud-Other" (7.4%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (6.5%), "Fraud-Tax" (5.8%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (3.1%), "Fraud-Other Business" (2.7%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.4%), "Fraud-Securities" ( 2.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in February 2011 was FBI accounting for 48 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: SecServ (12% ), DHS (12%), Postal (8%), IRS (6%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2011, 144 defendants in white collar crime cases for these matters were filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court where subsequent proceedings take place.
In the magistrate courts in February the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving the "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 53.5 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (6.9%), "18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud" (6.3%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2011, 773 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February there were an additional 47 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and therefore cover all matters filed in district court during February.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of white collar crime matters filed in U.S. District Court during February 2011.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 222 1 4 21 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 81 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1033 - Insurance Fraud 67 3 90 33 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 61 4 3 3 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 56 5 8 9 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 53 6 1 1 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 40 7 6 4 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 31 8 9 6 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 21 9 5 5 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 16 10 7 7 More Table 2: Top charges filed
"Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349) was ranked 4 a year ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341. "Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Insurance Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1033.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 6700 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1033 that involves " Insurance Fraud ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—1507.1 percent—was registered for prosecutions under " Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 28.8 percent—was Fraud and related activity - access devices (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease— 16.1 %—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2011 the Justice Department said the government brought 320.5 white collar crime prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of white collar crime prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 white collar crime prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Ala, S 1,309 9 1 57 76 More Fla, S 1,169 65 2 1 2 More S Car 947 36 3 5 8 More Miss, S 846 13 4 8 19 More Nebraska 735 11 5 58 76 More Ill, S 565 6 6 58 57 More Ala, M 542 5 7 79 87 More N. Y., S 514 22 8 7 9 More Okla, W 493 8 9 63 49 More Penn, E 462 22 10 6 13 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile)—with 1309 prosecutions as compared with 320.5 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during February 2011.
The Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of Florida (Miami) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
District of South Carolina is now ranking 3rd. The District of South Carolina was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 8 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Southern District of Alabama (Mobile), now ranked 1st , and Nebraska at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 57th and 58th one year ago and 76th and 76th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions compared to one year ago— 85 percent—was Nebraska . This was the same district that had the largest increase— 270 percent—when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions— 60.3 percent—was Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson). This was the same district that had the largest increase— 46.6 percent—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new white collar crime crime cases of this type during February 2011 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Perez-Gimenez, Juan Manuel Puer Rico 243 1 - 406 More Lenard, Joan A. Fla, S 23 2 13 36 More Lioi, Sara Elizabeth Ohio, N 12 3 251 - More Tarnow, Arthur J. Mich, E 10 4 541 307 More Graham, Donald L. Fla, S 9 5 152 233 More Crotty, Paul Austin N. Y., S 9 5 - - More Martinez, Jose E. Fla, S 7 7 328 6 More Surrick, R[ichard] Barclay Penn, E 6 8 251 233 More Perry, Matthew James Jr. S Car 6 8 251 15 More Lee, Gerald Bruce Virg, E 6 8 89 88 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 6 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of white collar crime filings per capita, while the remaining 4 judges were from other districts.
Judge Juan Manuel Perez-Gimenez in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 1st with 243 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Joan A. Lenard in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 2nd with 23 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Sara Elizabeth Lioi in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) ranked 3rd with 12 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: May 17, 2011
