White Collar Crime Prosecutions for April 2024
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during April 2024 the government reported 340 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 5.6 percent over the previous month.
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 2024 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-4.9%). 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 30 percent from levels reported in 2019.
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 April 2024 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 16.8 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Federal Program" (14.1%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (13.8%), "Fraud-Tax" (11.2%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (10.9%), "Fraud-Other Business" (7.1%), "Fraud-Health Care" (6.2%), "Fraud-Computer" (4.1%), "Antitrust-Other" (3.5%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (3.2%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in April 2024 was FBI accounting for 29 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: IRS (15% ), DHS (14%), SecServ (11%), Postal (9%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In April 2024, 38 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 April 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 26.3 percent of all magistrate filings in April.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally" (18.4%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In April 2024, 302 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during April there were an additional 31 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 April.
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 April 2024.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 84 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 33 2 13 9 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 23 3 7 10 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 22 4 2 3 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 21 5 4 5 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 21 5 3 2 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 15 7 8 8 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 11 8 5 7 More 18 USC 1030 - Fraud and related activity - computers 10 9 16 15 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 7 10 12 4 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 "Aggravated Identity Theft" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud and False statements" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206. "Fraud and False statements" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206 was ranked 7 a year ago, while it was ranked 10 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 155.6 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 — 46.9 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 40.8 percent — was " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 75.3 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Fraud and related activity - access devices " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In April 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 119.9 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 La, W 1,207 21 1 75 91 More Iowa, N 1,081 12 2 68 76 More Mo, E 412 10 3 20 14 More Ind, N 363 8 4 75 58 More Ala, N 358 9 5 27 29 More N. Y., S 347 15 6 3 3 More Fla, N 307 5 7 82 61 More N. Y., W 299 7 8 53 61 More Utah 284 8 9 16 64 More Virg, E 259 14 10 13 12 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport) — with 1207 prosecutions as compared with 119.9 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during April 2024.
The Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria), now ranked 10th , and Utah at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 13th and 16th one year ago and 12th and 64th 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 — 283.3 percent — was Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 1050 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 — 20.3 percent — was Southern District of New York (Manhattan). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 45.4 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 April 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Hornsby, Mark L. La, W 21 1 - - More Strand, Leonard T. Iowa, N 10 2 - 445 More Berger, Wendy Williams Fla, M 9 3 206 - More Altman, Roy Kalman Fla, S 7 4 9 - More Simon, Philip P. Ind, N 7 4 - 208 More Reyes, Ramon E., Jr. N. Y., E 7 4 321 - More Howard, Marcia Morales Fla, M 5 7 321 445 More Williamson, Karen M. N. J. 5 7 23 - More Moss, Randolph Daniel D. C. 4 9 84 - More Bell, Kenneth Davis, Sr. N Car, W 4 9 18 - More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 4 9 321 445 More Parrish, Jill N. Utah 4 9 206 306 More Miller, Douglas E. Virg, E 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 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 13 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Mark L. Hornsby in the Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport) ranked 1st with 21 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Leonard T. Strand in the Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) ranked 2nd with 10 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Wendy Williams Berger in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) ranked 3rd with 9 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: June 17, 2024
