White Collar Crime Prosecutions for July 2006
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2006 the government reported filing 498 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 15% 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 down (-11.6 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 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 July 2006 was FBI accounting for 39 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: Secret Service (15% ), IRS (13%), Postal Service (10%). See Figure 2.
Lead Charge in White Collar Crime Prosecutions
US Magistrate Courts
In July 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 July the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 involving the "Bank fraud". This was the lead charge for 22.7 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (21.3%), "18 USC 0371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" (6.7%), " 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (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 July 2006.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1344 - Bank fraud 62 1 1 1 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 46 2 2 2 18 USC 0371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 39 3 3 3 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 33 4 4 5 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements generally 22 5 12 13 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 17 6 5 4 26 USC 7206 - Taxes: Fraud and False statements 17 6 7 7 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 16 8 6 11 18 USC 0641 - Public money, property or records 14 9 9 11 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 14 9 8 10
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 "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 . This statute was also ranked 3rd a year ago as well as five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 12.8 percent—compared to one year ago was 18 U.S.C Section 1001 that involves "Fraud/false statements or entries generally ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—12.2 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 32.1 percent—was Fraud and False statements (26 U.S.C Section 7206). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 54 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was "Bank fraud " (18 U.S.C Section 1344).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions by Judicial District
In July 2006 the Justice Department said the government brought approximately 172.9 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. Districts must have at least 5 white collar crime prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Western District of Missouri (Kansas City)—with 829 prosecutions as compared with 172.9 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during July 2006. The district's position last year was 7th. Five years ago, the district's position was 34.
Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) ranked 2nd . This marked a rise from Pennsylvania East 's 16thplace ranking just one year ago. Five years ago, the district's position was 47.
Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport) is now ranking 3rd . It moved up in its rankings from a year ago when it ranked 20th. Five years ago, the district's position was 27.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 8th , and Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) at 2nd. In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 16th one year ago and 13th and 47th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in white collar crime prosecutions compared to one year ago— 83.6 percent—was Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 68.7 percent—was Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia).
In the last year, the judicial district court recording the largest drop in white collar crime prosecutions— 35.7 percent—was Southern District of Florida (Miami). This was the same district that had the largest increase— 31.7 %—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. For the entire nation, the judges recorded with the largest number of new white collar crime crime cases during July 2006 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Sachs, Howard Frederic Mo, W 13 1 71 168 Surrick, R[ichard] Barclay Penn, E 11 2 93 462 Baylson, Michael M. Penn, E 10 3 146 - Ponsor, Michael Adrian Mass 6 4 425 325 Heartfield, Thad Texas, E 6 4 549 218 Ishii, Anthony W. Cal, E 5 6 34 325 Dimitrouleas, William P. Fla, S 5 6 24 25 Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 5 6 30 - Forester, Karl Spillman Ken, E 5 6 146 101 England, Morrison C. Jr. Cal, E 4 10 71 260 Gottschall, Joan B. Ill, N 4 10 24 218 Sharp, Allen Ind, N 4 10 146 543 Murguia, Carlos Kansas 4 10 425 462 James, Robert Gillespie La, W 4 10 425 218 Greenaway, Joseph A. Jr. N. J. 4 10 253 101 Nealon, William Joseph Jr. Penn, M 4 10 - -
Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 10 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. (Because of ties, there were a total of 16 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Howard Frederic Sachs in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 1st with 13 defendants in new white collar crime cases.
Judge R[ichard] Barclay Surrick in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) ranked 2nd with 11 defendants in new white collar crime cases.
Judge Michael M. Baylson in Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) ranked 3rd with 10 new white collar crime cases.
