White Collar Crime Convictions for February 2014
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2014 the government reported 591 new white collar crime convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 3.7% 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 convicted for 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 2014 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (5.3 percent). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 8.8 percent from levels reported in 2009.
The increase from the levels five years ago in white collar crime convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of white collar crime convictions 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 convictions of these matters in February 2014 was for "Fraud-Tax", accounting for 14.7 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Fraud-Other" (12.9%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (10.8%), " Fraud-Federal Program" (10.5%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (10.2%), "Fraud-Mortgage" (9.8%), "Fraud-Health Care" (7.6%), "Fraud-Other Business" (6.3%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (5.6%), "Fraud-Computer" (2.9%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime convictions in February 2014 was FBI accounting for 31 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime convictions were: IRS (16% ), SecServ (13%), DHS (9%), Postal (8%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2014, 19 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 February the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving the "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 68.4 percent of all magistrate convictions in February.
White Collar Crime Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2014, 572 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February there were an additional 0 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 February.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of white collar crime matters filed in U.S. District Court during February 2014.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 74 1 1 5 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 52 2 2 1 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 49 3 3 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 44 4 4 2 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 36 5 7 6 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 31 6 8 8 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 29 7 6 7 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 26 8 5 11 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 26 8 11 9 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 22 10 9 4 More Table 2: Top charges for convictions
"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 5 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 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341. "Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions—up 47.4 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206 that involves " Fraud and False statements ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—187.1 percent—was registered for convictions under " Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1349 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago—down 15.3 percent—was Health Care Fraud (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1347 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions— 26.8 percent—was for convictions where the lead charge was " Fraud and related activity - id documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In February 2014 the Justice Department said the government obtained 218.7 white collar crime convictions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of white collar crime convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 white collar crime convictions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Ala, S 2,301 16 1 44 54 More Ala, M 1,777 17 2 39 82 More W Virg, S 904 7 3 67 62 More Ga, M 597 10 4 88 42 More Fla, S 571 33 5 1 1 More Nevada 565 13 6 43 70 More Ill, S 468 5 7 21 70 More Texas, E 457 14 8 14 25 More Miss, S 449 7 9 39 5 More Mo, W 425 11 10 18 19 More Table 3: Top 10 districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile)—with 2301 convictions as compared with 218.7 convictions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during February 2014.
The Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Texas (Tyler), now ranked 8th , and Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 18th one year ago and 25th and 19th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of white collar crime convictions compared to one year ago— 760 percent—was Middle District of Georgia (Macon). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 412.5 percent—was Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime convictions— 39.2 percent—was Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis). But over the past five years, Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) showed the largest drop— 68.7 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 resulting in convictions of this type during February 2014 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Thompson, Myron Herbert Ala, M 8 1 More DuBose, Kristi K. Ala, S 8 1 More Wimes, Brian Curtis Mo, W 7 3 More Watkins, William Keith Ala, M 6 4 More Steele, William H. Ala, S 6 4 More Skretny, William M. N. Y., W 6 4 More Crone, Marcia A. Texas, E 6 4 More Johnston, Thomas E. W Virg, S 6 4 More Conley, William Martin Wisc, W 6 4 More Cooke, Marcia G. Fla, S 5 10 More Treadwell, Marc Thomas Ga, M 5 10 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
A total of 9 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of white collar crime convictions per capita, while the remaining 2 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Myron Herbert Thompson in the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) and Kristi K. DuBose in the Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) ranked 1st with 8 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Judge Brian Curtis Wimes in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 3rd with 7 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Report Generated: April 24, 2014
