White Collar Crime Prosecutions for May 2006
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2006 the government reported filing 614 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 8.5% 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 (-9 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 28.4 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 May 2006 was FBI accounting for 37 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: Secret Service (21% ), IRS (8%), Postal Service (6%). See Figure 2.
Lead Charge in White Collar Crime Prosecutions
US Magistrate Courts
In May 2006, 17 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 May the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 involving the "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy". This was the lead charge for 15.5 percent of all magistrate filings in May.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1344 - Bank fraud" (12.6%), "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (9.7%), "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (9.7%), " 18 USC 0371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" (6.8%), "18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents" (5.8%).
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 May 2006.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1344 - Bank fraud 76 1 1 1 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 53 2 2 2 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 48 3 4 6 18 USC 0641 - Public money, property or records 47 4 9 11 18 USC 0371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 39 5 3 3 18 USC 0287 - False, fictitious or fraudulent claims 22 6 13 15 18 USC 0513 - Securities of the States and private entities 21 7 15 14 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 14 8 5 4 18 USC 0656 - Theft/embezzlement/misapplication by bank off, emp 12 9 13 5 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements generally 12 9 11 13 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 12 9 6 12 26 USC 7206 - Taxes: Fraud and False statements 12 9 7 8
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 "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343. This statute was ranked 4th a year ago, while it was the 6th most frequently invoked 5 years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions—up 54.3 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—62.3 %—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 40.7 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— 64.4 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 May 2006 the Justice Department said the government brought approximately 208.8 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.
Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge)—with 1647 prosecutions as compared with 208.8 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during May 2006.
Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) ranked 2nd . This marked a rise from North Carolina West 's 22thplace ranking just one year ago. Five years ago, the district's position was 8.
Montana is now ranking 3rd .
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Kansas , now ranked 4th , and Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) at 5th. In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 15th one year ago and 34th and 29th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in white collar crime prosecutions compared to one year ago— 75 percent—was Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 41.9 percent—was Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland).
In the last year, the judicial district court recording the largest drop in white collar crime prosecutions— 30.4 percent—was Kansas . But over the past five years, Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) showed the largest drop— 55.1 percent.
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 May 2006 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Antoon, John II Fla, M 12 1 37 - O`Malley, Kathleen M. Ohio, N 10 2 55 244 Robinson, Julie A. Kansas 9 3 - - Ishii, Anthony W. Cal, E 7 4 37 370 Quist, Gordon Jay Mich, W 7 4 73 155 Walls, William H. N. J. 7 4 249 74 Marbley, Algenon L. Ohio, S 7 4 550 195 Messitte, Peter Jo Maryland 6 8 550 195 Schell, Richard A. Texas, E 6 8 91 66 Cummings, Samuel Ray Texas, N 6 8 44 195
Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 3 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.
Judge John Antoon II in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) ranked 1st with 12 defendants in new white collar crime cases.
Judge Kathleen M. O`Malley in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) ranked 2nd with 10 defendants in new white collar crime cases.
Judge Julie A. Robinson in Kansas ranked 3rd with 9 new white collar crime cases.
