White Collar Crime Prosecutions for January 2015

Number Latest Month 417
Percent Change from previous month -30.6
Percent Change from 1 year ago -20.5
Percent Change from 5 years ago (Including Magistrate Court) -25.3
Percent Change from 5 years ago (Excluding Magistrate Court) -19.8
Table 1. Criminal White Collar Crime Prosecutions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2015 the government reported 417 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 30.6 percent 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 2015 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-20.5%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 25.3 percent from levels reported in 2010.

The dip 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 decrease in white collar crime prosecutions is 19.8 percent instead of 25.3 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 decrease 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.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in White Collar Crime Prosecutions

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 January 2015 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 20.1 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Other" (15.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (12.2%), " Fraud-Financial Institution" (11.8%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (10.1%), "Fraud-Health Care" (8.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (6.5%), "Fraud-Other Business" (5.3%), "Fraud-Computer" (2.2%), "Fraud-Intellectual Property Violations" (2.2%). See Figure 2.

The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in January 2015 was IRS accounting for 22 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: FBI (22% ), SecServ (14%), HHS (7%), DHS (6%). See Figure 3.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Prosecutions
Pie chart of agenrevgrp

Figure 3. Prosecutions by Investigative Agency

White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In January 2015, 49 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 January the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 20.4 percent of all magistrate filings in January.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" (14.3%), "18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" (12.2%), " 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (12.2%).

White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In January 2015, 368 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 27 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 January.

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 January 2015.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 52 1 1 3 More
18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 35 2 8 8 More
18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 31 3 3 1 More
26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 29 4 11 11 More
18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 27 5 4 7 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 24 6 5 5 More
18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 21 7 7 6 More
18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 20 8 9 9 More
18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims 13 9 13 21 More
18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 13 9 6 2 More
18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 13 9 2 4 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 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.

  • Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Fraud and related activity - id documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028. "Fraud and related activity - id documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 was ranked 8 a year ago, while it was ranked 8 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 3 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 5.1 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206 that involves " Fraud and False statements ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 89.7 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 286 ).

Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 46.8 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 — 52.6 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Bank Fraud " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 ).

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In January 2015 the Justice Department said the government brought 151 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  
Mo, E 782 19 1 13 18 More
Wash, E 629 8 2 26 86 More
Okla, W 530 9 3 51 60 More
N. Y., S 512 22 4 3 6 More
Miss, S 449 7 5 24 9 More
Nebraska 388 6 6 47 55 More
Fla, S 364 21 7 1 1 More
Penn, W 347 11 8 39 37 More
Ken, W 327 6 9 64 28 More
Ala, N 296 7 10 35 33 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) — with 782 prosecutions as compared with 151 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2015.

  • The Eastern District of Washington (Spokane) ranked 2nd.

  • Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) is now ranking 3rd.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 1st , and Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 13th and 24th one year ago and 18th and 9th 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 — 51.4 percent — was Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 450 percent — was Eastern District of Washington (Spokane).

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 49 percent — was Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson).  But over the past five years, Western District of Kentucky (Louisville) showed the largest drop — 71.1 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 January 2015 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank  
Cercone, David S. Penn, W 10 1 More
Kapala, Frederick J. Ill, N 8 2 More
Gayles, Darrin Phillip Fla, S 7 3 More
Trenga, Anthony John Virg, E 7 3 More
Rice, Thomas Owen Wash, E 6 5 More
Illston, Susan Yvonne Cal, N 5 6 More
Reeves, Carlton Wayne Miss, S 5 6 More
McNulty, Kevin Charles N. J. 5 6 More
Gwin, James S. Ohio, N 5 6 More
Adams, John R. Ohio, N 5 6 More
Russell, David Lynn Okla, W 5 6 More
Smith, Walter Scott, Jr. Texas, W 5 6 More
Table 4. Top Ten Judges

A total of 5 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 7 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

  • Judge David S. Cercone in the Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) ranked 1st with 10 defendants in white collar crime cases.

  • Judge Frederick J. Kapala in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) ranked 2nd with 8 defendants in white collar crime cases.

  • Judges Darrin Phillip Gayles in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Anthony John Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) ranked 3rd with 7 defendants in white collar crime cases.

Report Generated: March 9, 2015
TRAC Copyright
Copyright 2015, TRAC Reports, Inc.

TRAC RSS Feed for this page Email Feed for this page Email this page