White Collar Crime Convictions for March 2022
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2022 the government reported 494 new white collar crime convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 41.5 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 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 2022 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (26.6%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 26.5 percent from levels reported in 2017.
The decrease 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.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in White Collar Crime Convictions
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 March 2022 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 25.3 percent of convictions. Convictions were also filed for "Fraud-Federal Program" (13%), "Fraud-Health Care" (12.6%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (11.7%), "Fraud-Tax" (9.5%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (5.7%), "Fraud-Other Business" (4.7%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (3.8%), "Fraud-Computer" (3.6%), "Fraud-Securities" (2.6%), "Fraud-Other Investment" (2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime convictions in March 2022 was FBI accounting for 36 percent of convictions. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime convictions were: IRS (12% ), Postal (11%), SecServ (9%), SSA (8%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2022, 6 defendants in white collar crime cases for these matters were convicted 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 March 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 33.3 percent of all magistrate convictions in March.
White Collar Crime Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2022, 488 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March 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 March.
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 March 2022.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 110 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 47 2 2 6 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 39 3 3 7 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 33 4 5 4 More 18 USC 1347 - Health Care Fraud 32 5 4 9 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 27 6 7 5 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 24 7 9 2 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 18 8 11 10 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 16 9 10 11 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 14 10 11 8 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 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 6 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 7 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 77.2 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 that involves " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 32.8 percent — was registered for convictions 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 convictions compared to one year ago — down 14.3 percent — was " Attempt to evade or defeat tax " (Title 26 U.S.C Section 7201 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 52.8 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 March 2022 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government obtained 178.4 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 D. C. 1,870 11 1 49 51 More Ala, N 662 16 2 12 54 More R. I. 566 5 3 68 86 More Mo, E 533 13 4 14 8 More Ark, W 522 6 5 40 60 More Mich, E 483 26 6 40 5 More Fla, S 465 29 7 6 1 More Ohio, N 358 17 8 18 11 More Penn, W 358 11 8 16 20 More Penn, M 338 9 10 9 39 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 1870 convictions as compared with 178.4 convictions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 2022.
The Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) ranked 2nd.
District of Rhode Island is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham), now ranked 2nd , and Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) at 4th In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 14th one year ago and 54th and 8th 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 — 434.2 percent — was Southern District of Florida (Miami). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 250 percent — was Rhode Island .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime convictions — 18.8 percent — was Middle District of Pennsylvania (Scranton). But over the past five years, Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) showed the largest drop — 49.3 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 March 2022 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Gwin, James S. Ohio, N 8 1 More Burke, Liles Clifton Ala, N 6 2 More Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 6 2 More Brooks, Timothy Lloyd Ark, W 5 4 More Hood, Denise Page Mich, E 5 4 More Parker, Linda Vivienne Mich, E 5 4 More Kronstadt, John Arnold Cal, C 4 7 More Bucklew, Susan C. Fla, M 4 7 More Howard, Marcia Morales Fla, M 4 7 More Martinez, Jose E. Fla, S 4 7 More Altman, Roy Kalman Fla, S 4 7 More Foote, Elizabeth Erny La, W 4 7 More O'Toole, George A., Jr. Mass 4 7 More Clark, Stephen Robert, Sr. Mo, E 4 7 More Carreņo-Coll, Silvia Luisa Puer Rico 4 7 More Jones, James Parker Virg, W 4 7 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 8 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 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 16 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge James S. Gwin in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) ranked 1st with 8 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Judges Liles Clifton Burke in the Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) and Pedro Alberto Delgado Hernandez in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 2nd with 6 convicted in white collar crime convictions.
Report Generated: May 3, 2022
