White Collar Crime Prosecutions for November 2016

Number Latest Month 350
Percent Change from previous month -2.2
Percent Change from 1 year ago -21.5
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
-44.8
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
-40.2
Table 1. Criminal White Collar Crime Prosecutions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2016 the government reported 350 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 2.2 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.

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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 2016 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-21.5%). 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 44.8 percent from levels reported in 2011.

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.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in White Collar Crime Prosecutions

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 2016 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 22.6 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Financial Institution" (10.6%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (10%), "Fraud-Tax" (8.3%), "Fraud-Health Care" (6.6%), "Fraud-Other Business" (6.6%), "Fraud-Against Ins. Provider" (6.3%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (5.7%), "Fraud-Bankruptcy" (3.7%), "Fraud-Computer" (2.6%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (2%). See Figure 2.

The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in November 2016 was FBI accounting for 30 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: IRS (15% ), Postal (11%), SecServ (8%), DHS (6%). See Figure 3.

Pie chart of progcatlabel

Figure 2. Specific Types of Prosecutions
Pie chart of agenrevgrp

Figure 3. Prosecutions by Investigative Agency

White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In November 2016, 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 November 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 32.8 percent of all magistrate filings in November.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (11.5%), "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (9.8%).

White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In November 2016, 289 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during November there were an additional 26 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 2016.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 51 1 1 1 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 42 2 5 3 More
18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 31 3 7 7 More
18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 22 4 2 2 More
18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 18 5 6 6 More
18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 16 6 3 4 More
18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 14 7 4 5 More
18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 13 8 8 8 More
26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 13 8 10 10 More
18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 12 10 9 9 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 was the lead charge "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 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.

  • Ranked 3rd was "Fraud and related activity - access devices" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029. "Fraud and related activity - access devices" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029 was ranked 7 a year ago, while it was ranked 7 five years ago.

Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 200 percent — compared to one year ago was that involves " ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 26 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Health Care Fraud " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1347 ).

Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 54.9 percent — was " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 69.8 % — when compared with five years ago.

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In November 2016 the Justice Department said the government brought 117.6 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 846 37 1 2 4 More
W Virg, N 644 5 2 64 65 More
Texas, N 436 26 3 20 29 More
S Car 392 16 4 23 5 More
Tenn, W 381 5 5 58 53 More
Ken, W 377 7 6 52 46 More
Mo, E 286 7 7 7 16 More
La, W 277 5 8 35 43 More
Virg, W 274 5 9 52 76 More
Ind, N 232 5 10 42 61 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)

  • The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) — with 846 prosecutions as compared with 117.6 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during November 2016. The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 for most frequent use five years ago.

  • The Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) ranked 2nd.

  • Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) is now ranking 3rd.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth), now ranked 3rd , and South Carolina at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 20th and 23rd one year ago and 29th and 5th 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 — 68.4 percent — was Western District of Kentucky (Louisville). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 76.2 percent — was Northern District of Indiana (South Bend).

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 31.6 percent — was Western District of Virginia (Roanoke).  But over the past five years, South Carolina showed the largest drop — 57.5 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 2016 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Fitzwater, Sidney Allen Texas, N 22 1 289 74 More
Rakoff, Jed Saul N. Y., S 10 2 163 380 More
Hughes, Lynn Nettleton Texas, S 6 3 211 233 More
Failla, Katherine Polk N. Y., S 5 4 19 - More
Humetewa, Diane Joyce Arizona 4 5 391 - More
Benitez, Roger T. Cal, S 4 5 391 292 More
Merryday, Steven Douglas Fla, M 4 5 76 86 More
Sharp, George Kendall Fla, M 4 5 76 - More
Stivers, Gregory N. Ken, W 4 5 163 - More
Castel, P. Kevin N. Y., S 4 5 60 380 More
Cercone, David S. Penn, W 4 5 289 233 More
Morgan, Henry Coke, Jr. Virg, E 4 5 533 233 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 filings per capita, while the remaining 7 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)

  • Judge Sidney Allen Fitzwater in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 1st with 22 defendants in white collar crime cases.

  • Judge Jed Saul Rakoff in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 2nd with 10 defendants in white collar crime cases.

  • Judge Lynn Nettleton Hughes in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 6 defendants in white collar crime cases.

Report Generated: December 20, 2016
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Copyright 2016, TRAC Reports, Inc.

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