White Collar Crime Prosecutions for December 2023
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2023 the government reported 256 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 10.8 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 2023 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-11.1%). 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 35.9 percent from levels reported in 2018.
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 2023 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 26.2 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Federal Program" (16.8%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (12.5%), "Fraud-Tax" (8.2%), "Fraud-Health Care" (7.4%), "Fraud-Computer" (6.3%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (5.5%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (5.1%), "Fraud-Other Investment" (2.3%), "Fraud-Securities" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in December 2023 was FBI accounting for 39 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: SecServ (13% ), IRS (12%), DHS (7%), Postal (7%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In December 2023, 12 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 33.3 percent of all magistrate filings in December.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In December 2023, 244 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during December there were an additional 19 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 2023.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 69 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 27 2 4 2 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 24 3 3 5 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 20 4 2 3 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 12 5 6 6 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 9 6 13 4 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 8 7 14 17 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 8 7 12 13 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 7 10 7 11 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 7 10 10 10 More 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 7 10 51 35 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 7 10 8 8 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 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Public money, property or records" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 641. "Public money, property or records" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 266.7 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1543 that involves " Forgery or false use of passport ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 47.1 percent — was registered for prosecutions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 20 percent — was " Aggravated Identity Theft " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 81.6 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 December 2023 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 94.7 white collar crime prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the 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 of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) — with 19 prosecutions — was the most active during December 2023.
The Central District of California (Los Angeles) ranked 2nd.
District of Puerto Rico is now ranking 3rd.
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 2023 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Rodriguez, Xavier Texas, W 10 1 More Harjani, Sunil R. Ill, N 5 2 More Bell, Kenneth Davis, Sr. N Car, W 5 2 More Klausner, Robert G. Cal, C 4 4 More Olguin, Fernando M. Cal, C 4 4 More Oetken, James Paul N. Y., S 4 4 More Velez-Rive, Camille L. Puer Rico 4 4 More Haikala, Madeline H. Ala, N 3 8 More Adams, Henry Lee, Jr. Fla, M 3 8 More Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein Mo, E 3 8 More Besosa, Francisco Augusto Puer Rico 3 8 More Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 3 8 More Norris, Mark Saalfield, Sr. Tenn, W 3 8 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 3 8 More Pitman, Robert Texas, W 3 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 13 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of white collar crime filings , while the remaining 2 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 15 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Xavier Rodriguez in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 10 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judges Sunil R. Harjani in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) and Kenneth Davis Bell, Sr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) ranked 2nd with 5 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: February 7, 2024
