White Collar Crime Prosecutions for November 2018
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2018 the government reported 402 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 6.5 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 2018 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-3.7%). 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 31.1 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.
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 2018 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 17.4 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Financial Institution" (12.9%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (10.7%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (10.7%), "Fraud-Tax" (10.4%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (6.7%), "Fraud-Health Care" (6.5%), "Fraud-Computer" (5%), "Fraud-Other Business" (4.5%), "Fraud-Securities" (3.2%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in November 2018 was FBI accounting for 30 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: DHS (12% ), IRS (12%), Postal (10%), SecServ (9%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In November 2018, 64 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 25 percent of all magistrate filings in November.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 286 - Conspiracy to defraud the Government claims" (14.1%), "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (14.1%), "18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud" (7.8%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In November 2018, 338 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during November there were an additional 49 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 2018.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 45 1 2 3 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 40 2 5 7 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 35 3 1 1 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 26 4 3 2 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 21 5 7 5 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 17 6 6 9 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 16 7 9 8 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 14 8 11 10 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 13 9 12 15 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 12 10 4 6 More 42 USC 408 - Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties 12 10 14 19 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Bank Fraud" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Bank Fraud" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "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 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 7 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343. "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 92.3 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 42 U.S.C Section 408 that involves " Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 78.6 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 34.6 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 prosecutions — 60.2 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Attempt to evade or defeat tax " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In November 2018 the Justice Department said the government brought 142.6 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 Idaho 629 9 1 47 87 More Fla, S 468 29 2 1 1 More Penn, W 451 14 3 18 34 More La, E 427 6 4 29 52 More Conn 401 12 5 25 41 More Tenn, W 382 5 6 22 59 More N Mexico 345 6 7 47 74 More Iowa, S 330 5 8 77 77 More Mo, E 328 8 9 7 13 More Ken, E 326 6 10 44 62 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Idaho — with 629 prosecutions as compared with 142.6 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during November 2018.
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.
Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), now ranked 3rd , and Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 18th and 22nd one year ago and 34th and 59th 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 — 157.1 percent — was Southern District of Iowa (Des Moines). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 260 percent — was Idaho .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 31.3 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 26.7 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 of this type during November 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Korman, Edward Robert N. Y., E 8 1 More Gayles, Darrin Phillip Fla, S 6 2 More Wu, George H. Cal, C 5 3 More O'Neill, Lawrence Joseph Cal, E 5 3 More Moreno, Federico A. Fla, S 5 3 More Winmill, B. Lynn Idaho 5 3 More Browning, James O. N Mexico 5 3 More Feuerstein, Sandra J. N. Y., E 5 3 More Carney, Cormac J. Cal, C 4 9 More Curiel, Gonzalo Paul Cal, S 4 9 More Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 4 9 More Pallmeyer, Rebecca R. Ill, N 4 9 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 Edward Robert Korman in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) ranked 1st with 8 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Darrin Phillip Gayles in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 2nd with 6 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judges George H. Wu in the Central District of California (Los Angeles), Lawrence Joseph O'Neill in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento), Federico A. Moreno in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), B. Lynn Winmill in the District of Idaho, James O. Browning in the District of New Mexico and Sandra J. Feuerstein in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) ranked 3rd with 5 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: January 11, 2019
