White Collar Crime Prosecutions for January 2006
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2006 the government reported filing 517 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 5.5% 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 2006 prosecutions are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the filings were only slightly up (1.9 percent). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that the prosecutions are down 31.3 percent from levels reported in 2001.
The broad pattern of decrease in white collar crime prosecutions over the past five years is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of white collar crime prosecutions recorded on a month-to-month basis. 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.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in January 2006 was FBI accounting for 36 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: IRS (14% ), Secret Service (11%), Postal Service (9%). See Figure 2.
Lead Charge in White Collar Crime Prosecutions
US Magistrate Courts
In January 2006, 15 percent of white collar crime cases took place in U.S. Magistrate Courts which handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In the magistrate courts in January the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 involving the "Bank fraud". This was the lead charge for 21.3 percent of all magistrate filings in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (12%), "18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" (10.7%), "18 :1349" (9.3%), "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (6.7%).
US District Courts
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecution of white collar crime matters filed in U.S. District court during January 2006.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1344 - Bank fraud 52 1 1 1 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 44 2 2 2 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 38 3 6 13 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements generally 24 4 9 7 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 22 5 4 6 18 USC 0287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 20 6 18 17 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 19 7 8 8 18 USC 0641 - Public money, property or records 16 8 7 12 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 15 9 5 5 18 USC 0371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 14 10 3 3 18 USC 0656 - Theft/embezzlement/misapplication by bank off, emp 14 10 9 4
Table 2: Top 10 charges filed
"Bank fraud" (18 U.S.C Section 1344) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. This statute was also ranked 1st a year ago as well as five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341. This statute was also ranked 2nd a year ago as well as five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud and related activity - id documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028. This statute was ranked 6th a year ago, while it was the 13th most frequently invoked 5 years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 205.6 percent—compared to one year ago was 18 U.S.C Section 287 that involves "False, fictitious or fraudulent claims ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—107.6 percent—was registered for prosecutions under "Fraud and related activity - id documents " (18 U.S.C Section 1028).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 22.1 percent—was Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles (18 U.S.C Section 1341). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 70.3 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was "Theft/embezzlement/misapplication by bank off, emp " (18 U.S.C Section 656 ).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions by Judicial District
In January 2006 the Justice Department said the government brought approximately 180.6 white collar crime prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in number of white collar crime prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts. The ten districts registering the largest number of prosecutions (per capita) last month are shown in Table 3.
Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge)—with 1153 prosecutions as compared with 180.6 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during January 2006. Five years ago, the district's position was 1.
Nevada ranked 2nd . Five years ago, the district's position was 7.
Montana is now ranking 3rd .
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), now ranked 9th , and Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) at 10th. In the same order, these districts ranked 17th and 26th one year ago and 29th and 4th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in white collar crime prosecutions compared to one year ago— 92.6 percent—was Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 0.9 percent—was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis).
In the last year, the judicial district court recording the largest drop in white collar crime prosecutions— 12.4 percent—was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis). But over the past five years, Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) showed the largest drop— 50.8 percent.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal district court judges working in the United States. For the entire nation, the judges recorded with the largest number of new white collar crime crime cases during January 2006 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Jones, Robert Clive Nevada 18 1 292 - Edmunds, Nancy Garlock Mich, E 8 2 515 165 Cummings, Samuel Ray Texas, N 8 2 45 67 Cooper, Clarence Ga, N 6 4 - 67 Martinez, Jose E. Fla, S 5 5 199 - Titus, Roger W. Maryland 5 5 515 - Wanger, Oliver Winston Cal, E 4 7 292 458 Huck, Paul C. Fla, S 4 7 34 35 Shadur, Milton Irving Ill, N 4 7 292 458 Bunning, David L. Ken, E 4 7 292 - Williams, Alexander Jr. Maryland 4 7 140 18 Lee, Tom Stewart Miss, S 4 7 34 114 Jackson, Carol E. Mo, E 4 7 391 87
Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 7 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.
The remaining 6 judges were from other districts.
Because of ties, there were a total of 13 judges in the "top ten" rankings.
Judge Robert Clive Jones in the Nevada ranked 1st with 18 defendants in new white collar crime cases.
Judge Nancy Garlock Edmunds in the Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) ranked 2nd with 8 defendants in new white collar crime cases.
Judge Samuel Ray Cummings in Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 2nd as well with 8 new white collar crime cases.
