White Collar Crime Prosecutions for May 2019
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2019 the government reported 443 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 10 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 2019 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-7.9%). 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 34.3 percent from levels reported in 2014.
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 May 2019 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 18.7 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Financial Institution" (12.2%), "Fraud-Health Care" (12.2%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (10.4%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (8.8%), "Fraud-Securities" (7.2%), "Fraud-Tax" (7%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (6.5%), "Fraud-Other Business" (4.3%), "Fraud-Computer" (3.2%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.3%), "Fraud-Federal Procurement" (2%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in May 2019 was FBI accounting for 34 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: DHS (12% ), Postal (10%), SecServ (8%), IRS (8%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In May 2019, 69 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 May the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 27.5 percent of all magistrate filings in May.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (15.9%), "18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud" (13%), "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (11.6%), "18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" (7.2%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In May 2019, 374 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during May there were an additional 32 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 May.
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 May 2019.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 71 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 49 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 28 3 3 3 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 23 4 8 9 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 22 5 5 4 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 22 5 4 7 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 18 7 10 13 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 13 8 10 6 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 11 9 22 49 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 11 9 12 12 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 "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 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344. "Bank Fraud" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1344 was ranked 3 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 31.6 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 that involves " Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 316.7 % — 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 22.7 percent — was " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 59.2 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Fraud and related activity - id documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In May 2019 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 149.6 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 533 33 1 1 1 More N Car, M 523 13 2 29 49 More N. Y., S 498 22 3 2 2 More La, E 427 6 4 42 44 More Ken, W 374 7 5 59 77 More Nevada 360 9 6 54 66 More Ala, N 334 8 7 36 28 More S Car 334 14 7 13 20 More Tenn, M 333 7 9 73 44 More Mo, E 328 8 10 7 15 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Florida (Miami) — with 533 prosecutions as compared with 149.6 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during May 2019. The Southern District of Florida (Miami) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro) ranked 2nd.
Southern District of New York (Manhattan) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of New York (Manhattan) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were South Carolina , now ranked 7th , and Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro) at 2nd In the same order, these districts ranked 13th and 29th one year ago and 20th and 49th 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 — 111.1 percent — was Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 100 percent — was Western District of Kentucky (Louisville).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 30.8 percent — was Southern District of New York (Manhattan). But over the past five years, Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) showed the largest drop — 38.7 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 of this type during May 2019 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Kugler, Robert B. N. J. 7 1 More Hicks, Larry R. Nevada 7 1 More Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 6 3 More Tucker, Josephine Staton Cal, C 4 4 More Rosenberg, Robin Lee Fla, S 4 4 More Jennings, Rebecca Grady Ken, W 4 4 More Saris, Patti B. Mass 4 4 More Shields, Anne Y. N. Y., E 4 4 More Furman, Jesse Matthew N. Y., S 4 4 More Fischer, Nora Barry Penn, W 4 4 More McBryde, John H. Texas, N 4 4 More Crawford, Geoffrey William Vermont 4 4 More O'Grady, Liam Virg, E 4 4 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 5 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 8 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 13 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Robert B. Kugler in the District of New Jersey and Larry R. Hicks in the District of Nevada ranked 1st with 7 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) ranked 3rd with 6 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: July 9, 2019
