White Collar Crime Prosecutions for December 2020
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2020 the government reported 273 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.
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 2020 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-22.9%). 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 34.2 percent from levels reported in 2015.
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 December 2020 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 20.5 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Health Care" (16.8%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (10.3%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (9.9%), "Fraud-Tax" (8.8%), "Fraud-Other Business" (7.7%), "Fraud-Computer" (5.5%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (4.8%), "Fraud-Telemarketing" (2.6%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.2%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (2.2%), "Fraud-Other Investment" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in December 2020 was FBI accounting for 40 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: IRS (15% ), SecServ (11%), Postal (6%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In December 2020, 28 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 December 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 17.9 percent of all magistrate filings in December.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In December 2020, 245 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during December there were an additional 16 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 December.
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 December 2020.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 58 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 34 2 3 6 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 24 3 2 3 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 15 4 6 9 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 14 5 9 4 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 12 6 5 8 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 12 6 4 2 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 10 8 8 11 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 9 9 7 5 More 18 USC 1030 - Fraud and related activity - computers 9 9 14 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 "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349. "Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 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 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 10.1 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 that involves " Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 22 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 66.4 percent — was " Fraud and related activity - access devices " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 80.2 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In December 2020 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 95.4 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 D. C. 850 5 1 52 52 More N. Y., S 439 19 2 3 2 More Ga, N 361 21 3 9 15 More N Car, W 253 7 4 24 28 More Mo, E 246 6 5 12 7 More Tenn, E 226 5 6 43 74 More Wisc, E 175 5 7 67 68 More Minnesota 170 8 8 33 56 More N. J. 162 12 9 5 10 More Fla, S 144 9 10 2 1 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 850 prosecutions as compared with 95.4 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during December 2020.
The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta) is now ranking 3rd. The Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta) was ranked 9 a year ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 5th , and Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 24th one year ago and 7th and 28th 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 — 191.3 percent — was Minnesota . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 294.1 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 — 67.2 percent — was Southern District of Florida (Miami). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 74.8 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 December 2020 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Cohen, Mark Howard Ga, N 12 1 More Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 7 2 More Seybert, Joanna N. Y., E 6 3 More Wilson, Stephen Victor Cal, C 5 4 More McFadden, Trevor Neil D. C. 4 5 More Greer, J. Ronnie Tenn, E 4 5 More Gee, Dolly Maizie Cal, C 3 7 More Honeywell, Charlene Vanessa Edwards Fla, M 3 7 More Arleo, Madeline C. N. J. 3 7 More Hendrix, James Wesley Texas, N 3 7 More Yeakel, Earl Leroy, III Texas, W 3 7 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 6 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Mark Howard Cohen in the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta) ranked 1st with 12 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Max Oliver Cogburn, Jr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) ranked 2nd with 7 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Joanna Seybert in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) ranked 3rd with 6 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: January 20, 2021
