White Collar Crime Prosecutions for July 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2012 the government reported 692 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 12.9% 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 (-22.2 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 11.1 percent from levels reported in 2007.
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 5.9 percent instead of 11.1 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 July 2012 was for "Fraud-Federal Program", accounting for 15.9 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Other" (15.2%), "Fraud-Tax" (12.7%), " Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (11.3%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (9%), "Fraud-Health Care" (6.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (5.5%), "Fraud-Computer" (4.9%), "Fraud-Other Business" (4%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (2.9%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in July 2012 was FBI accounting for 29 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: IRS (14% ), SecServ (14%), DHS (9%), Postal (8%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2012, 134 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 July the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving the "Fraud and related activity - id documents". This was the lead charge for 17.9 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft" (17.2%), "18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" (8.2%), "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (8.2 %), "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (7.5%), "18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud" (6%), "18 USC 201 - Bribery of public officials and witnesses" (5.2%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2012, 558 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 41 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 July.
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 July 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 56 1 6 7 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 55 2 4 1 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 50 3 2 2 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 50 3 3 4 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 47 5 8 6 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 39 6 9 5 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 37 7 1 16 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 28 8 10 10 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 27 9 5 3 More 18 USC 1014 - Fraud - Loan and credit applications etc 24 10 19 38 More Table 2: Top charges filed
"Public money, property or records" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Public money, property or records" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641) was ranked 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 7 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344. "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd were "Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 and "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343. "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."Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five y ears ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 58.3 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 that involves " Fraud and related activity - id documents ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—432 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 50.6 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— 31.4 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was " Bank Fraud " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 234.1 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 Ill, S 3,109 33 1 63 61 More Ala, S 2,617 18 2 33 41 More La, M 915 6 3 92 17 More Fla, S 540 30 4 2 1 More Mo, E 536 13 5 14 11 More Ga, S 493 6 6 63 75 More Penn, E 483 23 7 5 12 More Texas, E 476 14 8 25 20 More Iowa, N 460 5 9 77 91 More Virg, W 452 8 10 60 35 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis)—with 3109 prosecutions as compared with 234.1 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during July 2012.
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) ranked 2nd.
Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 5th , and Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 25th one year ago and 11th and 20th 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— 750 percent—was Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 245 percent—was Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions— 39.7 percent—was Eastern District of Texas (Tyler). But over the past five years, Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) showed the largest drop— 67.9 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 July 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Garcia-Gregory, Jay A. Puer Rico 20 1 490 155 More Hochberg, Faith S. N. J. 14 2 79 433 More Stiehl, William Donald Ill, S 10 3 490 433 More Reagan, Michael Joseph Ill, S 9 4 286 48 More Pratt, Tanya Walton Ind, S 8 5 - - More Diamond, Paul Steven Penn, E 8 5 374 120 More Steele, William H. Ala, S 7 7 141 253 More Feinerman, Gary Scott Ill, N 7 7 633 - More Herndon, David R. Ill, S 7 7 107 433 More Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 7 7 55 8 More Jackson, Raymond Alvin Virg, E 7 7 374 198 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 5 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Jay A. Garcia-Gregory in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 1st with 20 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Faith S. Hochberg in the District of New Jersey ranked 2nd with 14 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge William Donald Stiehl in the Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis) ranked 3rd with 10 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: October 1, 2012
