White Collar Crime Prosecutions for May 2018
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2018 the government reported 459 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 8.4 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 2018 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-6.3%). 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 35.4 percent from levels reported in 2013.
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 2018 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 22 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (14.2%), "Fraud-Health Care" (12.6%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (11.1%), "Fraud-Tax" (9.6%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (9.2%), "Fraud-Other Business" (3.9%), "Fraud-Computer" (2.8%), "Fraud-Against Ins. Provider" (2.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (2.6%), "Fraud-Securities" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in May 2018 was FBI accounting for 25 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: Postal (15% ), IRS (11%), DHS (8%), HHS (7%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In May 2018, 80 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 1349 involving "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy". This was the lead charge for 25 percent of all magistrate filings in May.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft" (18.8%), "18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud" (18.8%), "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (11.3%), "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (6.3%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In May 2018, 379 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during May there were an additional 32 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 2018.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 59 1 1 1 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 32 2 5 5 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 32 2 3 2 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 32 2 8 9 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 30 5 6 3 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 26 6 2 7 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 23 7 4 4 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 13 8 9 6 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 13 8 10 10 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 12 10 11 14 More 19 USC 1341 - Interference with functions of Commission 12 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 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency were the lead charges "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371, "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 and "Health Care Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1347. "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago."Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago."Health Care Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1347 was ranked 8 a year ago, while it was ranked 9 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 5.8 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 that involves " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 10 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Aggravated Identity Theft " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 30.9 percent — was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 53.2 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In May 2018 the Justice Department said the government brought 152.6 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 N. Y., S 937 41 1 2 2 More Fla, S 574 35 2 1 1 More Idaho 428 6 3 56 84 More N Car, W 374 10 4 18 30 More Mo, E 369 9 5 3 13 More Texas, E 368 12 6 20 18 More Ohio, S 346 17 7 30 22 More Mich, W 309 9 8 43 57 More Ga, N 303 17 9 34 28 More N. J. 241 18 10 16 12 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) — with 937 prosecutions as compared with 152.6 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during May 2018. The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of Florida (Miami) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
District of Idaho is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were New Jersey , now ranked 10th , and Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 16th and 18th one year ago and 12th and 30th 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 — 124 percent — was Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 60 percent — was Idaho .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 38.7 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis). But over the past five years, Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) showed the largest drop — 57.6 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 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Gardephe, Paul G. N. Y., S 13 1 More Crotty, Paul Austin N. Y., S 12 2 More Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 12 2 More Conrad, Robert James, Jr. N Car, W 8 4 More Rose, Thomas M. Ohio, S 8 4 More Maloney, Paul Lewis Mich, W 7 6 More Lenard, Joan A. Fla, S 6 7 More Edmunds, Nancy Garlock Mich, E 6 7 More Cerezo, Carmen Consuelo Puer Rico 6 7 More Wilson, Stephen Victor Cal, C 5 10 More Martinez, Jose E. Fla, S 5 10 More Gayles, Darrin Phillip Fla, S 5 10 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 9 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 3 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Paul G. Gardephe in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 1st with 13 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judges Paul Austin Crotty in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) and Marcia A. Crone in the Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) ranked 2nd with 12 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: July 12, 2018
