White Collar Crime Prosecutions for June 2016
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during June 2016 the government reported 533 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 23.7 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 2016 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-12.7%). 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 45.8 percent from levels reported in 2011.
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.
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 June 2016 was for "Fraud-Health Care", accounting for 28.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Other" (12%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (9.8%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (8.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (8.6%), "Fraud-Tax" (6.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (6%), "Fraud-Other Business" (4.9%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.8%), "Fraud-Securities" (2.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in June 2016 was FBI accounting for 40 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: IRS (10% ), HHS (9%), DHS (8%), SecServ (6%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In June 2016, 85 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 June the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 15.3 percent of all magistrate filings in June.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (12.9%), "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (12.9%), "18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records" (8.2%), "18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" (7.1%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In June 2016, 448 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during June there were an additional 75 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 June.
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 June 2016.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 61 1 7 7 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 60 2 5 5 More 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 60 2 1 3 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 57 4 4 1 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 36 5 6 8 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 35 6 3 4 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 30 7 10 9 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 28 8 2 6 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 19 9 8 2 More 15 USC 78j - Use/employ any manipulative/deceptive device/ in contravention 13 10 28 31 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 13 10 9 10 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Health Care Fraud" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1347) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Health Care Fraud" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1347) was ranked 7 a year ago, while it was ranked 7 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency were the lead charges "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 and "Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343. "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago."Fraud by wire, radio, or television" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 was ranked 1 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 208.3 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 15 U.S.C Section 78 that involves " Use/employ any manipulative/deceptive device/ in contravention ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 164.3 % — 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 36.4 percent — was " Fraud and False statements " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 69.9 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 June 2016 the Justice Department said the government brought 195.3 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 Fla, S 1,425 86 1 1 2 More N. Y., S 1,394 61 2 2 8 More Mo, E 1,103 27 3 6 14 More Idaho 363 5 4 56 75 More La, W 332 6 5 54 65 More Texas, S 317 25 6 7 5 More Penn, M 302 8 7 77 40 More S Car 294 12 8 15 3 More Kansas 288 7 9 48 12 More Okla, W 285 5 10 66 30 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Florida (Miami) — with 1425 prosecutions as compared with 195.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during June 2016. The Southern District of Florida (Miami) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 8 for most frequent use five years ago.
Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) is now ranking 3rd. The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) was ranked 6 a year ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were South Carolina , now ranked 8th , and Kansas at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 15th and 48th one year ago and 3rd and 12th 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 — 266.7 percent — was Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 50 percent — was Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 29.4 percent — was Southern District of Texas (Houston). But over the past five years, Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) showed the largest drop — 68.9 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 June 2016 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Moreno, Federico A. Fla, S 15 1 More Marrero, Victor N. Y., S 12 2 More Moore, Kevin Michael Fla, S 9 3 More Covington, Virginia Maria Hernandez Fla, M 8 4 More Cooke, Marcia G. Fla, S 8 4 More Scola, Robert Nichols, Jr. Fla, S 8 4 More Gayles, Darrin Phillip Fla, S 8 4 More Abrams, Ronnie N. Y., S 8 4 More Williams, Kathleen Mary Fla, S 7 9 More Perry, Catherine D. Mo, E 7 9 More Forrest, Katherine Bolan N. Y., S 7 9 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 7 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 11 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 1 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Federico A. Moreno in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 1st with 15 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Victor Marrero in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ranked 2nd with 12 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Kevin Michael Moore in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 3rd with 9 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: August 5, 2016
