White Collar Crime Convictions for March 2016
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2016 the government reported 814 new white collar crime convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 63.5 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 convicted for 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 2016 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was only slightly down (-0.4%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 17.4 percent from levels reported in 2011.
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 convictions is 8.6 percent instead of 17.4 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 convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of white collar crime convictions 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 convictions of these matters in March 2016 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 16.2 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Fraud-Tax" (15.6%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (12.8%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (11.8%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (9%), "Fraud-Health Care" (7.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (7.5%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (3.6%), "Fraud-Other Business" (3.4%), "Fraud-Other Investment" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime convictions in March 2016 was FBI accounting for 26 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime convictions were: IRS (17% ), SecServ (13%), Postal (10%), DHS (8%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2016, 24 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 March the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 75 percent of all magistrate convictions in March.
White Collar Crime Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2016, 790 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 0 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 March.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of white collar crime matters filed in U.S. District Court during March 2016.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 118 1 1 3 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 67 2 4 1 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 56 3 3 7 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 54 4 8 8 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 53 5 2 4 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 51 6 7 5 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 50 7 6 2 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 49 8 5 6 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 48 9 10 10 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 38 10 9 11 More Table 2. Top Charges for Convictions
"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 "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 was "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349. "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 7 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 33.1 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029 that involves " Fraud and related activity - access devices ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 42.3 percent — was registered for convictions under " Fraud by wire, radio, or television " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 19.7 percent — was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 38.8 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2016 the Justice Department said the government obtained 297.3 white collar crime convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of white collar crime convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 white collar crime convictions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Fla, S 1,514 90 1 1 1 More Mo, W 1,110 29 2 22 27 More La, M 1,018 7 3 48 78 More Mo, E 983 24 4 23 14 More Okla, W 863 15 5 62 52 More Ill, S 848 9 6 29 68 More La, E 795 11 7 32 31 More W Virg, N 645 5 8 58 65 More La, W 554 10 9 62 44 More Miss, N 536 5 10 86 78 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Florida (Miami) — with 1514 convictions as compared with 297.3 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 2016. The Southern District of Florida (Miami) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 2nd.
Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Missouri (Kansas City), now ranked 2nd , and Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 22nd and 23rd one year ago and 27th and 14th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of white collar crime convictions compared to one year ago — 166.7 percent — was Northern District of Mississippi (Oxford). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 138.5 percent — was Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime convictions — 52.5 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 52.5 percent — 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. The judges recorded with the largest number of new white collar crime crime cases resulting in convictions of this type during March 2016 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Lindsay, Sam A. Texas, N 15 1 More Wimes, Brian Curtis Mo, W 14 2 More Ishii, Anthony W. Cal, E 9 3 More Hurley, Daniel T. K. Fla, S 9 3 More Bloom, Beth Francine Fla, S 9 3 More Dimitrouleas, William P. Fla, S 8 6 More Fenner, Gary A. Mo, W 8 6 More Ungaro, Ursula Mancusi Fla, S 7 8 More Zloch, William J. Fla, S 7 8 More Cohn, James I. Fla, S 7 8 More Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 7 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 8 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of white collar crime convictions per capita, while the remaining 3 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Sam A. Lindsay in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 1st with 15 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Judge Brian Curtis Wimes in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 2nd with 14 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Judges Anthony W. Ishii in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento), Daniel T. K. Hurley in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Beth Francine Bloom in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 3rd with 9 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Report Generated: May 3, 2016
