White Collar Crime Prosecutions for February 2023
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2023 the government reported 254 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 24.9 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 (-6.4%). 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 26.7 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 February 2023 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 28 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Financial Institution" (14.2%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (9.8%), "Fraud-Tax" (8.7%), "Fraud-Health Care" (7.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (5.5%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (4.7%), "Fraud-Computer" (4.3%), "Fraud-Other Business" (3.9%), "Fraud-Securities" (3.1%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.8%), "Fraud-Corporate" (2.4%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in February 2023 was FBI accounting for 39 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: IRS (11% ), SecServ (11%), DHS (8%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In February 2023, 9 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 371 involving "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US". This was the lead charge for 11.1 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2023, 245 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February there were an additional 28 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 prosecutions of white collar crime matters filed in U.S. District Court during February 2023.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 70 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 26 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 23 3 4 3 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 19 4 8 9 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 14 5 7 5 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 13 6 5 6 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 12 7 6 6 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 8 8 12 12 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 8 8 10 10 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 7 10 3 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 "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 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "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 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 30.4 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 that involves " Public money, property or records ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 42.4 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 55.7 percent — was " Health Care Fraud " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1347 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 55.2 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 February 2023 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 98.7 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 Middle District of Florida (Tampa) and Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta) — with 13 prosecutions — were the most active during February 2023.
Central District of California (Los Angeles), District of New Jersey, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) and Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) are 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 February 2023 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Broomes, John Wesley Kansas 6 1 More Immergut, Karin Johanna Oregon 5 2 More Miller, Brian Stacy Ark, E 4 3 More Arterton, Janet Bond Conn 4 3 More Dalton, Roy Bale, Jr. Fla, M 4 3 More Cummings, Jeffrey Ill, N 4 3 More Stinnett, Matthew A. Ken, E 4 3 More Knepp, James R., II Ohio, N 4 3 More Frizzell, Gregory Kent Okla, N 4 3 More Dominguez, Daniel R. Puer Rico 4 3 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 6 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 4 judges were from other districts.
Judge John Wesley Broomes in the District of Kansas ranked 1st with 6 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Karin Johanna Immergut in the District of Oregon ranked 2nd with 5 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judges Brian Stacy Miller in the Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock), Janet Bond Arterton in the District of Connecticut, Roy Bale Dalton, Jr. in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Jeffrey Cummings in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago), Matthew A. Stinnett in the Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington), James R. Knepp, II in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland), Gregory Kent Frizzell in the Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa) and Daniel R. Dominguez in the District of Puert ranked 3rd with 4 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: April 6, 2023
