White Collar Crime Prosecutions for June 2006
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2006 the government reported filing 577 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 5.3% 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 (-10.1 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 29.6 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 June 2006 was FBI accounting for 34 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: Secret Service (19% ), Postal Service (11%), IRS (7%). See Figure 2.
Lead Charge in White Collar Crime Prosecutions
US Magistrate Courts
In June 2006, 16 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 June the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 involving the "Bank fraud". This was the lead charge for 19.6 percent of all magistrate filings in June.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" (14.1%), "18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents" (10.9%), "18 USC 0641 - Public money, property or records" (9.8%), " 18 USC 0371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" (8.7%), "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (7.6%).
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 June 2006.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 72 1 2 2 18 USC 1344 - Bank fraud 59 2 1 1 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 44 3 5 3 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 32 4 4 4 18 USC 0656 - Theft/embezzlement/misapplication by bank off, emp 24 5 12 6 18 USC 0641 - Public money, property or records 23 6 9 11 18 USC 0371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 22 7 3 5 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 19 8 10 10 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 18 9 6 12 18 USC 0287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 15 10 14 17
Table 2: Top 10 charges filed
"Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" (18 U.S.C Section 1341) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. This statute was ranked 2nd a year ago as well as five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Bank fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344. This statute was ranked 1st a year ago as well as five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud and related activity - access devices" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029. This statute was ranked 5th a year ago, while it was the 3rd most frequently invoked 5 years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 51.3 percent—compared to one year ago was 18 U.S.C Section 287 that involves "False, fictitious or fraudulent claims ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase—57.1 %—when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 38.3 percent—was Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US (18 U.S.C Section 371 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 65.9 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 June 2006 the Justice Department said the government brought approximately 198.2 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.
Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson)—with 1851 prosecutions as compared with 198.2 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during June 2006. The district's position last year was 6th. Five years ago, the district's position was 17.
Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) ranked 2nd . Five years ago, the district's position was 4.
Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston) is now ranking 3rd . Five years ago, the district's position was 7.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland), now ranked 8th , and Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) at 10th. In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 19th one year ago and 25th and 51th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in white collar crime prosecutions compared to one year ago— 58.4 percent—was Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 85.1 percent—was Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh).
In the last year, the judicial district court recording the largest drop in white collar crime prosecutions— 26.2 percent—was Southern District of Florida (Miami). This was the same district that had the largest increase— 38.1 %—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 June 2006 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Lee, Tom Stewart Miss, S 10 1 144 18 Aldrich, Ann Ohio, N 9 2 194 384 Tarnow, Arthur J. Mich, E 8 3 443 100 Guirola, Louis Jr. Miss, S 8 3 - - Coughenour, John C. Wash, W 8 3 109 161 Garcia, Orlando Luis Texas, W 7 6 550 100 Dorsey, Peter Collins Conn 6 7 144 453 Huck, Paul C. Fla, S 6 7 3 161 Sharp, Allen Ind, N 6 7 109 453 Ishii, Anthony W. Cal, E 5 10 57 384
Table 4: Top 10 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 5 judges were from other districts.
Judge Tom Stewart Lee in the Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) ranked 1st with 10 defendants in new white collar crime cases.
Judge Ann Aldrich in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) ranked 2nd with 9 defendants in new white collar crime cases.
Judge Arthur J. Tarnow in Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit), Judge Louis Guirola Jr. in Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) and Judge John C. Coughenour in Western District of Washington (Seattle) tied for 3rd with 8 new white collar crime cases.
