White Collar Crime Prosecutions for October 2018
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2018 the government reported 403 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 9.8 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 2018 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was only slightly down (-1.1%). 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 32.9 percent from levels reported in 2013.
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 October 2018 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 22.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (12.4%), "Fraud-Tax" (9.2%), "Fraud-Health Care" (8.2%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (8.2%), "Fraud-Federal Program" (7.9%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (7.7%), "Fraud-Other Business" (6.2%), "Fraud-Computer" (4%), "Fraud-Securities" (3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in October 2018 was FBI accounting for 30 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: SecServ (13% ), IRS (11%), DHS (11%), SSA (8%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2018, 78 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 October the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 involving "Aggravated Identity Theft". This was the lead charge for 19.2 percent of all magistrate filings in October.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices" (16.7%), "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television" (12.8%), "18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally" (9%), "18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud" (7.7%).
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2018, 325 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there were an additional 41 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 October.
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 October 2018.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 57 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 35 2 5 8 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 29 3 7 4 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 24 4 2 2 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 23 5 4 3 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 20 6 9 5 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 14 7 10 10 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 13 8 3 6 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 13 8 7 9 More 18 USC 1028A - Aggravated Identity Theft 13 8 11 16 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 "Fraud and related activity - access devices" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029. "Fraud and related activity - access devices" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029 was ranked 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 8 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Public money, property or records" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 641. "Public money, property or records" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 641 was ranked 7 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 47.8 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 26 U.S.C Section 7206 that involves " Fraud and False statements ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 76 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Aggravated Identity Theft " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 30.2 percent — was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 60.1 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 October 2018 the Justice Department said the government brought 134.8 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 La, E 498 7 1 32 51 More Penn, W 419 13 2 17 37 More La, W 388 7 3 64 73 More N. Y., S 362 16 4 2 2 More Fla, S 355 22 5 1 1 More Iowa, S 330 5 6 81 79 More Mo, E 287 7 7 4 23 More Tenn, E 229 5 8 36 40 More Fla, M 216 21 9 5 9 More Ala, N 208 5 10 32 21 More N Car, E 208 7 10 36 40 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans) — with 498 prosecutions as compared with 134.8 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2018.
The Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) ranked 2nd.
Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), now ranked 2nd , and Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans) at 1st In the same order, these districts ranked 17th and 32nd one year ago and 37th and 51st 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 — 160 percent — was Southern District of Iowa (Des Moines). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 39.5 percent — was Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 34.9 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis). But over the past five years, Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) showed the largest drop — 51.4 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 October 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Baxter, Susan Paradise Penn, W 6 1 More Mattice, Harry Sandlin, Jr. Tenn, E 5 2 More Kovachevich, Elizabeth Anne Fla, M 4 3 More Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 4 3 More Gayles, Darrin Phillip Fla, S 4 3 More Hicks, S. Maurice, Jr. La, W 4 3 More Bissoon, Cathy Penn, W 4 3 More Fitzwater, Sidney Allen Texas, N 4 3 More Carney, Cormac J. Cal, C 3 9 More O'Neill, Lawrence Joseph Cal, E 3 9 More Jackson, Richard Brooke Colorado 3 9 More Schlesinger, Harvey Erwin Fla, M 3 9 More Covington, Virginia Maria Hernandez Fla, M 3 9 More Cooke, Marcia G. Fla, S 3 9 More Melgren, Eric F. Kansas 3 9 More Beer, Peter Hill La, E 3 9 More Fallon, Eldon E. La, E 3 9 More Maloney, Paul Lewis Mich, W 3 9 More Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein Mo, E 3 9 More Irizarry, Dora L. N. Y., E 3 9 More Gordon, Andrew Patrick Nevada 3 9 More Leeson, Joseph F., Jr. Penn, E 3 9 More Delgado-Colon, Aida M. Puer Rico 3 9 More Miller, Gray Hampton Texas, S 3 9 More Martinez, Ricardo S. Wash, W 3 9 More Peterson, James Donald Wisc, W 3 9 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 13 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 13 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 26 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Susan Paradise Baxter in the Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) ranked 1st with 6 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Harry Sandlin Mattice, Jr. in the Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) ranked 2nd with 5 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judges Elizabeth Anne Kovachevich in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), Darrin Phillip Gayles in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. in the Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport), Cathy Bissoon in the Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) and Sidney Allen Fitzwater in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 3rd with 4 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: December 6, 2018
