White Collar Crime Prosecutions for July 2024
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2024 the government reported 306 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 4.4 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 up (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 25.7 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 July 2024 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 26.1 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Health Care" (13.7%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (12.1%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (10.5%), "Fraud-Computer" (7.5%), "Fraud-Tax" (6.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (6.5%), "Fraud-Securities" (3.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (2.3%), "Fraud-Other Business" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in July 2024 was FBI accounting for 41 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: HHS (9% ), IRS (9%), Postal (8%), DHS (5%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2024, 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 July the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving "Fraud and related activity - id documents". This was the lead charge for 10.7 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2024, 278 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 21 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 July.
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 July 2024.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 91 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 30 2 2 3 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 25 3 3 2 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 22 4 6 6 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 14 5 5 5 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 11 6 11 4 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 9 8 4 7 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 8 9 8 9 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 7 10 13 10 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 7 10 9 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 3 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 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 prosecutions — up 187.5 percent — compared to one year ago was Title U.S.C Section that involves "Other US Code Section ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 206.7 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 24.1 percent — was " Health Care Fraud " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1347 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 66.3 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 July 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 107.7 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 R. I. 768 7 1 64 30 More W Virg, S 705 5 2 51 86 More Tenn, E 394 9 3 35 63 More Fla, S 320 20 4 2 1 More Penn, M 296 8 5 26 63 More N. Y., E 276 19 6 6 12 More N. Y., S 254 11 7 3 3 More Mo, E 247 6 8 22 23 More Virg, E 241 13 9 10 8 More S Car 227 10 10 16 17 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Rhode Island — with 768 prosecutions as compared with 107.7 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during July 2024.
The Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston) ranked 2nd.
Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were South Carolina , now ranked 10th , and Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 16th and 22nd one year ago and 17th and 23rd 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 — 107.5 percent — was Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 141.7 percent — was Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 28.6 percent — was Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston). But over the past five years, Southern District of New York (Manhattan) showed the largest drop — 50.8 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 of this type during July 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Azrack, Joan Marie N. Y., E 8 1 More McConnell, John James, Jr. R. I. 6 2 More Wilson, Stephen Victor Cal, C 5 3 More Jonker, Robert James Mich, W 5 3 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 5 3 More Ruiz, Rodolfo Armando, II Fla, S 4 6 More Wigenton, Susan Davis N. J. 4 6 More Martinotti, Brian R. N. J. 4 6 More Smith, Rodney Fla, S 3 9 More Arleo, Madeline C. N. J. 3 9 More Irizarry, Dora L. N. Y., E 3 9 More Chen, Pamela Ki Mai N. Y., E 3 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 7 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 5 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Joan Marie Azrack in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) ranked 1st with 8 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge John James McConnell, Jr. in the District of Rhode Island ranked 2nd with 6 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judges Stephen Victor Wilson in the Central District of California (Los Angeles), Robert James Jonker in the Western District of Michigan (Grand Rapids) and John Andrew Ross in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 3rd with 5 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: September 9, 2024
