White Collar Crime Prosecutions for November 2014
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2014 the government reported 536 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 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 2014 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-17.8%). 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 23.9 percent from levels reported in 2009.
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 prosecutions is 18 percent instead of 23.9 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 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 November 2014 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 21.1 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Financial Institution" (15.1%), "Fraud-Federal Program" ( 12.3%), "Fraud-Tax" (10.3%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (9.1%), "Fraud-Other Business" (7.1%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (6.9%), "Fraud-Health Care" (5.2%), "Fraud-Federal Procurement" (2.2%), "Fraud-Securities" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in November 2014 was FBI accounting for 28 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: SecServ (21% ), IRS (10%), DHS (8%), Postal (7%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In November 2014, 94 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 November the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 14.9 percent of all magistrate filings in November.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud" (14.9%), "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (10.6%), "18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" (8.5%), " 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (5.3%), "18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents" (5.3%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In November 2014, 442 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during November there were an additional 25 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 November.
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 November 2014.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 72 1 1 3 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 44 2 3 1 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 41 3 6 4 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 40 4 5 9 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 40 4 4 2 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 30 6 15 14 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 22 7 2 6 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 15 8 8 8 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 15 8 7 7 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 11 10 11 11 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 "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344. "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371. "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 was ranked 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 53.7 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 that involves " Aggravated Identity Theft ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 63.5 percent — was registered for prosecutions 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 prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 38.9 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 — 57.8 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Bank Fraud " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In November 2014 the Justice Department said the government brought 178.5 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 Dakota 1,198 7 1 87 82 More Idaho 1,128 15 2 87 70 More S Car 813 32 3 8 6 More Ga, S 779 10 4 74 50 More Minnesota 669 30 5 74 27 More N. Y., S 535 23 6 3 4 More Tenn, W 531 7 7 59 24 More Iowa, N 453 5 8 80 82 More N Mexico 403 7 9 74 86 More Fla, M 396 35 10 9 3 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of North Dakota — with 1198 prosecutions as compared with 178.5 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during November 2014.
The District of Idaho ranked 2nd.
District of South Carolina is now ranking 3rd. The District of South Carolina was ranked 8 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Tennessee (Memphis), now ranked 7th , and Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 59th and 74th one year ago and 24th and 50th 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 — 869.2 percent — was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 366.7 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 — 10.4 percent — was Southern District of New York (Manhattan). But over the past five years, Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) showed the largest drop — 38 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 November 2014 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Noel, Franklin L. Minnesota 25 1 - - More Karas, Kenneth M. N. Y., S 15 2 320 574 More Winmill, B. Lynn Idaho 10 3 434 115 More Corrigan, Timothy J. Fla, M 8 4 320 16 More Smith, G. R. Ga, S 8 4 320 19 More Schlesinger, Harvey Erwin Fla, M 7 6 - 574 More Howard, Marcia Morales Fla, M 7 6 434 44 More Reeves, Danny C. Ken, E 7 6 - 202 More Robreno, Eduardo C. Penn, E 7 6 434 452 More Wolford, Elizabeth Ann N. Y., W 6 10 - - More Brann, Matthew William Penn, M 6 10 434 - More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 7 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 4 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Franklin L. Noel in the District of Minnesota ranked 1st with 25 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Kenneth M. Karas in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 2nd with 15 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge B. Lynn Winmill in the District of Idaho ranked 3rd with 10 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: January 22, 2015
