White Collar Crime Prosecutions for January 2026
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2026 the government reported 203 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 29 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 2026 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-7.8%). 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 10.1 percent from levels reported in 2021.
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 January 2026 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 26.6 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Federal Program" (20.2%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (13.8%), "Fraud-Health Care" (9.9%), "Fraud-Tax" (5.9%), "Fraud-Computer" (4.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (3.9%), "Fraud-Securities" (3.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (2.5%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in January 2026 was FBI accounting for 41 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: IRS (11% ), Postal (10%), SSA (6%), DHS (6%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2026, 25 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 January 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 28 percent of all magistrate filings in January.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2026, 178 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 18 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 January.
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 January 2026.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 55 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 17 2 2 3 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 15 3 5 4 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 13 4 3 2 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 9 6 4 6 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 8 7 8 8 More 26 USC 7206 - Fraud and False statements 6 8 10 11 More 18 USC 1014 - Fraud - Loan and credit applications etc 5 9 18 24 More 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and related activity - access devices 4 10 15 11 More 18 USC 1030 - Fraud and related activity - computers 4 10 11 14 More 18 USC 1348 - Securities Fraud 4 10 37 33 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 4 10 19 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 "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 3 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 5 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 200 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1348 that involves " Securities Fraud ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 338.5 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 58.3 percent — was " Fraud and related activity - computers " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1030 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 52.3 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Fraud and related activity - access devices " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1029 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 69.2 white collar crime prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the 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 of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank Cal, C 9 1 More Ill, N 9 1 More Fla, M 7 3 More Ga, N 7 3 More Mo, W 7 3 More N. J. 7 3 More Ohio, S 7 3 More Cal, S 6 8 More Fla, S 5 9 More Ind, S 5 9 More Ken, W 5 9 More Mass 5 9 More N. Y., E 5 9 More Ohio, N 5 9 More Penn, E 5 9 More Texas, S 5 9 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Central District of California (Los Angeles) and Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) — with 9 prosecutions — were the most active during January 2026.
Middle District of Florida (Tampa), Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), Western District of Missouri (Kansas City), District of New Jersey and Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) are now ranking 3rd.
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 January 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Stivers, Gregory N. Ken, W 5 1 More Hopkins, Jeffery Paul Ohio, S 5 1 More Brady, Holly Ann Ind, N 4 3 More Kays, David Gregory Mo, W 4 3 More Sabraw, Dana Makoto Cal, S 3 5 More Kim, Young B. Ill, N 3 5 More Nugent, Donald C. Ohio, N 3 5 More Presnell, Gregory A. Fla, M 2 8 More Winsor, Allen Cothrel Fla, N 2 8 More Brown, Michael Lawrence Ga, N 2 8 More Pallmeyer, Rebecca R. Ill, N 2 8 More Young, Richard L. Ind, S 2 8 More Brookman, Matthew P. Ind, S 2 8 More Williamson, Karen M. N. J. 2 8 More Donnelly, Ann Marie N. Y., E 2 8 More Dlott, Susan J. Ohio, S 2 8 More White, Ronald A. Okla, E 2 8 More DeGiusti, Timothy D. Okla, W 2 8 More Slomsky, Joel Harvey Penn, E 2 8 More Barker, J. Campbell Texas, E 2 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 15 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of white collar crime filings , while the remaining 5 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 20 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Gregory N. Stivers in the Western District of Kentucky (Louisville) and Jeffery Paul Hopkins in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 1st with 5 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judges Holly Ann Brady in the Northern District of Indiana (South Bend) and David Gregory Kays in the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) ranked 3rd with 4 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: April 16, 2026
