White Collar Crime Convictions for November 2014
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2014 the government reported 472 new white collar crime convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 16.6 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 2014 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was only slightly down (-1.9%). 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 12.7 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 convictions is 0.7 percent instead of 12.7 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 November 2014 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 15.9 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Fraud-Tax" (14.4%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (11.4%), " Fraud-Financial Institution" (11%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (9.7%), "Fraud-Health Care" (7.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (7.2%), "Fraud-Other Business" (4.7%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (4%), "Fraud-Computer" (3.2%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.1%), " Fraud-Securities" (2.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime convictions in November 2014 was FBI accounting for 28 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime convictions were: IRS (16% ), SecServ (15%), DHS (10%), Postal (7%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In November 2014, 11 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 100 percent of all magistrate convictions in November.
White Collar Crime Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In November 2014, 461 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during November 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 November.
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 November 2014.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 50 1 1 3 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 39 2 6 7 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 34 3 2 1 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 33 4 5 10 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 29 5 8 4 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 28 6 3 6 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 27 7 4 2 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 25 8 7 5 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 25 8 9 8 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 17 10 10 9 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 "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 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 7 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344. "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 15.6 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 that involves " Fraud and related activity - id documents ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 90.8 percent — was registered for convictions under " Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 20.4 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 — 23.4 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 November 2014 the Justice Department said the government obtained 176.2 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 Ga, S 935 12 1 59 51 More Ala, S 719 5 2 25 51 More W Virg, N 647 5 3 65 74 More La, E 589 8 4 30 25 More Penn, E 539 26 5 8 17 More Ill, S 468 5 6 45 57 More Tenn, W 455 6 7 54 45 More Nebraska 453 7 8 26 49 More Maine 452 5 9 76 82 More Fla, S 398 23 10 1 1 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) — with 935 convictions as compared with 176.2 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during November 2014.
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) ranked 2nd.
Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Southern District of Alabama (Mobile), now ranked 2nd , and Nebraska at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 25th and 26th one year ago and 51st and 49th 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 — 68.2 percent — was Southern District of Georgia (Savannah). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 144.8 percent — was Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime convictions — 46.5 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 48.9 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 November 2014 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Edenfield, Berry Avant Ga, S 9 1 More Jonker, Robert James Mich, W 6 2 More Shubb, William B. Cal, E 5 3 More Middlebrooks, Donald M. Fla, S 5 3 More Schiller, Berle M. Penn, E 5 3 More Jones, Steve CarMichael Ga, N 4 6 More Lozano, Rodolfo Ind, N 4 6 More Sheridan, Peter G. N. J. 4 6 More Smith Camp, Laurie Smith Nebraska 4 6 More Smith, George Curtis Ohio, S 4 6 More Mays, Samuel H., Jr. Tenn, W 4 6 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 4 6 More Hittner, David Texas, S 4 6 More O'Grady, Liam Virg, E 4 6 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 5 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 9 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 14 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Berry Avant Edenfield in the Southern District of Georgia (Savannah) ranked 1st with 9 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Judge Robert James Jonker in the Western District of Michigan (Grand Rapids) ranked 2nd with 6 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Judges William B. Shubb in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento), Donald M. Middlebrooks in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Berle M. Schiller in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) ranked 3rd with 5 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Report Generated: January 22, 2015
