White Collar Crime Prosecutions for May 2015
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2015 the government reported 437 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 31.8 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 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 2015 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-19.2%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 31.2 percent from levels reported in 2010.
The decrease 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 May 2015 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 26.1 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Federal Program" (12.4%), "Fraud-Tax" (10.8%), " Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (10.5%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (8.5%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (6.6%), "Fraud-Health Care" (5%), "Fraud-Other Business" (4.1%), "Fraud-Corporate" (2.7%), "Fraud-Computer" (2.5%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in May 2015 was FBI accounting for 24 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: SecServ (14% ), DHS (14%), IRS (13%), Postal (8%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In May 2015, 61 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 May the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 27.9 percent of all magistrate filings in May.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (9.8%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In May 2015, 376 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during May there were an additional 47 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 May.
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 May 2015.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 63 1 1 3 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 35 2 4 8 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 34 3 2 5 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 29 4 5 4 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 29 4 9 1 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 27 6 3 2 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 18 7 6 7 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 17 8 7 6 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 17 8 10 9 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 14 10 8 10 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"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 "Public money, property or records" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 641. "Public money, property or records" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 8 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 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 4.1 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 — 45.5 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Public money, property or records " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 35.8 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 — 69.3 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In May 2015 the Justice Department said the government brought 161.7 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 Maine 813 9 1 86 82 More W Virg, N 777 6 2 59 63 More Ala, S 719 5 3 36 56 More Ga, S 624 8 4 43 57 More N. Y., S 559 24 5 2 3 More Ken, E 552 10 6 55 57 More Penn, W 411 13 7 17 37 More N. Y., W 383 9 8 30 23 More Ga, M 358 6 9 69 70 More Mo, E 329 8 10 15 8 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Maine — with 813 prosecutions as compared with 161.7 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during May 2015.
The Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 10th , and Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) at 7th In the same order, these districts ranked 15th and 17th one year ago and 8th and 37th 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 — 133.3 percent — was Maine . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 75 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 21.9 percent — was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah). But over the past five years, Western District of New York (Buffalo) showed the largest drop — 35.2 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 May 2015 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Grimm, Paul W. Maryland 10 1 More Van Tatenhove, Gregory Frederick Ken, E 9 2 More Merryday, Steven Douglas Fla, M 7 3 More Hall, James Randal Ga, S 7 3 More Cote, Denise L. N. Y., S 6 5 More Boyko, Christopher A. Ohio, N 6 5 More Cercone, David S. Penn, W 6 5 More Gelpi, Gustavo Antonio, Jr. Puer Rico 6 5 More Singal, George Z. Maine 5 9 More Arcara, Richard Joseph N. Y., W 5 9 More Lindsay, Sam A. Texas, N 5 9 More Boyle, Jane J. Texas, N 5 9 More Table 4. Top Ten 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 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Paul W. Grimm in the District of Maryland ranked 1st with 10 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Gregory Frederick Van Tatenhove in the Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington) ranked 2nd with 9 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judges Steven Douglas Merryday in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) and James Randal Hall in the Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) ranked 3rd with 7 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: June 24, 2015
