White Collar Crime Prosecutions for September 2024
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2024 the government reported 379 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 4.1 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 (5.7%). 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 23.5 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 September 2024 was for "Fraud-Federal Program", accounting for 20.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Other" (17.7%), "Fraud-Health Care" (15.6%), "Fraud-Tax" (12.1%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (6.3%), "Fraud-Other Business" (5.5%), "Fraud-Computer" (4.7%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (4.7%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (4%), "Fraud-Securities" (3.4%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in September 2024 was FBI accounting for 32 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: IRS (14% ), HHS (12%), Labor (9%), Postal (8%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2024, 22 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 September the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1343 involving "Fraud by wire, radio, or television". This was the lead charge for 22.7 percent of all magistrate filings in September.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2024, 357 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 45 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 September.
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 September 2024.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 90 1 1 1 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 48 2 5 4 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 34 3 4 6 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 26 4 2 3 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 20 5 8 10 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 18 6 3 2 More 26 USC 7202 - Willful failure to collect or pay over tax 14 7 13 18 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 12 8 9 11 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 10 10 25 17 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 "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 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371. "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 6 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 311.1 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1001 that involves " Fraud/false statements or entries generally ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 205 percent — was registered for prosecutions under "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 23.7 percent — was " Fraud and related activity - id documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 36.6 % — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 144.7 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 Mo, E 865 21 1 23 18 More Mich, E 519 28 2 8 8 More Ala, N 397 10 3 14 24 More Miss, S 325 5 4 42 67 More Fla, S 304 19 5 1 2 More N. J. 298 23 6 5 11 More Mass 292 17 7 20 6 More Okla, W 275 5 8 32 77 More Texas, W 200 13 9 12 19 More N. Y., E 174 12 10 10 10 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) — with 865 prosecutions as compared with 144.7 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2024.
The Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) ranked 2nd. The Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) was ranked 8 a year ago, while it was ranked 8 for most frequent use five years ago.
Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Western District of Texas (San Antonio), now ranked 9th , and Northern District of Alabama (Birmingham) at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 14th one year ago and 19th and 24th 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 — 169 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 200 percent — was Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of white collar crime prosecutions — 8.7 percent — was Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City). But over the past five years, Massachusetts showed the largest drop — 42.9 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 September 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Carreņo-Coll, Silvia Luisa Puer Rico 11 1 More Stafford, Elizabeth A. Mich, E 9 2 More Ross, John Andrew Mo, E 7 3 More Leitman, Matthew Frederick Mich, E 6 4 More Ruiz, Rodolfo Armando, II Fla, S 5 5 More Amon, Carol Bagley N. Y., E 5 5 More Delgado Hernandez, Pedro Alberto Puer Rico 5 5 More Gleason, Sharon Louise Alaska 4 8 More Sorokin, Leo T. Mass 4 8 More Levy, Judith Ellen Mich, E 4 8 More DeGiusti, Timothy D. Okla, W 4 8 More Pittman, Mark Timothy Texas, N 4 8 More Bennett, Alfred Homer Texas, S 4 8 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 4 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 9 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 14 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Silvia Luisa Carreņo-Coll in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 1st with 11 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge Elizabeth A. Stafford in the Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) ranked 2nd with 9 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judge John Andrew Ross in the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 3rd with 7 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: November 1, 2024
