White Collar Crime Prosecutions for September 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2017 the government reported 458 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 19.4 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 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was only slightly down (-0.7%). 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 27.5 percent from levels reported in 2012.
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 September 2017 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 20.7 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Financial Institution" (16.2%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (12%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (8.5%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (7%), "Fraud-Tax" (6.8%), "Fraud-Health Care" (6.3%), "Fraud-Other Business" (6.3%), "Fraud-Computer" (3.7%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in September 2017 was FBI accounting for 31 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: SecServ (14% ), DHS (10%), Postal (9%), IRS (8%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2017, 70 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 September the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 involving "Fraud by wire, radio, or television". This was the lead charge for 22.9 percent of all magistrate filings in September.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft" (15.7%), "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (10%), "18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud" (10%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2017, 388 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 40 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 September.
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 September 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 58 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 41 2 6 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 30 3 4 4 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 30 3 2 8 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 27 5 3 5 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 25 6 5 7 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 18 7 9 3 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 15 8 8 6 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 13 9 20 21 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 11 10 11 15 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 "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344. "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 was ranked 6 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd were "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 and "Fraud and related activity - access devices" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029. "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago."Fraud and related activity - access devices" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 8 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 34.4 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 that involves " Aggravated Identity Theft ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 64 % — 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 33.5 percent — was " Public money, property or records " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 63.5 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2017 the Justice Department said the government brought 158.9 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 Tenn, W 1,529 20 1 43 38 More Ala, M 1,251 12 2 65 27 More Fla, S 869 53 3 1 1 More La, E 571 8 4 40 58 More N. Y., S 457 20 5 2 4 More Mich, E 447 24 6 8 14 More Utah 393 10 7 26 59 More Ill, C 378 7 8 62 51 More Cal, S 343 10 9 21 20 More N. Y., W 300 7 10 48 14 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) — with 1529 prosecutions as compared with 158.9 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2017.
The Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of Florida (Miami) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of Florida (Miami) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Southern District of California (San Diego), now ranked 9th , and Utah at 7th In the same order, these districts ranked 21st and 26th one year ago and 20th 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 — 85.7 percent — was Western District of Tennessee (Memphis). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 28.6 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 39.4 percent — was Southern District of Florida (Miami). But over the past five years, Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) showed the largest drop — 56.5 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 September 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Lipman, Sheryl Halle Tenn, W 13 1 More Moreno, Federico A. Fla, S 7 2 More Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 7 2 More Godbey, David C. Texas, N 7 2 More Vance, Sarah S. La, E 6 5 More Corrigan, Timothy J. Fla, M 5 6 More Ungaro, Ursula Mancusi Fla, S 5 6 More Ramos, Edgardo N. Y., S 5 6 More Dimitrouleas, William P. Fla, S 4 9 More Cooke, Marcia G. Fla, S 4 9 More Treadwell, Marc Thomas Ga, M 4 9 More Myerscough, Sue Ellen Ill, C 4 9 More Vazquez, Martha Alicia N Mexico 4 9 More Arcara, Richard Joseph N. Y., W 4 9 More Smith, William E. R. I. 4 9 More Sparks, Sam Texas, W 4 9 More Waddoups, Clark Utah 4 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 11 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 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 17 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Sheryl Halle Lipman in the Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) ranked 1st with 13 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judges Federico A. Moreno in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) and David C. Godbey in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 2nd with 7 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: November 22, 2017
