White Collar Crime Prosecutions for February 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2012 the government reported 547 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 1.8% 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 2012 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-15.1 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 4.3 percent from levels reported in 2007.
The leveling out 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 2012 was for "Fraud-Financial Institution", accounting for 15.2 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Federal Program" (12.4%), "Fraud-Other" ( 11.7%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (11%), "Fraud-Tax" (11%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (10.6%), "Fraud-Health Care" (6.4%), "Fraud-Other Business" (4.9%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (4.4%), "Fraud-Securities" (2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in February 2012 was FBI accounting for 26 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: SecServ (19% ), IRS (12%), DHS (9%), Postal (7%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2012, 97 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 29.9 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" (16.5%), "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (10.3%), "18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud" (8.2%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2012, 450 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February there were an additional 45 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 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 78 1 4 3 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 50 2 7 6 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 42 3 1 1 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 34 4 9 5 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 30 5 3 2 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 28 6 6 7 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 28 6 2 15 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 27 8 5 4 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 18 9 8 10 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 15 10 11 11 More Table 2: Top charges filed
"Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fraud and related activity - access devices" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029. "Fraud and related activity - access devices" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029 was ranked 7 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344. "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 22.3 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 that involves " Fraud by wire, radio, or television ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—203.9 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 49.9 percent—was Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 33.5 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was " Bank Fraud " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 193.5 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 Miss, S 716 11 1 34 9 More Kansas 681 16 2 19 42 More Mo, E 660 16 3 13 10 More Montana 615 5 4 73 38 More Fla, S 612 34 5 2 1 More Idaho 543 7 6 73 92 More N. Y., S 538 23 7 3 2 More Tenn, M 484 9 8 52 64 More Ala, N 432 10 9 27 14 More Fla, N 419 6 10 56 79 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson)—with 716 prosecutions as compared with 193.5 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during February 2012.
The District of Kansas ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 3rd , and Kansas at 2nd In the same order, these districts ranked 13th and 19th one year ago and 10th and 42nd 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— 133.3 percent—was Montana . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 325 percent—was Idaho .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions— 36.6 percent—was Southern District of New York (Manhattan). But over the past five years, Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) showed the largest drop— 48 percent.
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 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Vratil, Kathryn Hoefer Kansas 11 1 More Hayden, Katharine Sweeney N. J. 9 2 More England, Morrison C., Jr. Cal, E 7 3 More Zloch, William J. Fla, S 6 4 More Trauger, Aleta Arthur Tenn, M 6 4 More Smith, Walter Scott, Jr. Texas, W 6 4 More Lenard, Joan A. Fla, S 5 7 More Castillo, Ruben Ill, N 5 7 More Hughes, Lynn Nettleton Texas, S 5 7 More Trenga, Anthony John Virg, E 5 7 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 4 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 6 judges were from other districts.
Judge Kathryn Hoefer Vratil in the District of Kansas ranked 1st with 11 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Katharine Sweeney Hayden in the District of New Jersey ranked 2nd with 9 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento) ranked 3rd with 7 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: May 8, 2012
