White Collar Crime Prosecutions for October 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during October 2025 the government reported 350 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 3.6 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 2025 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (7.3%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 14.9 percent from levels reported in 2020.
The increase 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 2025 was for "Fraud-Other", accounting for 38 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Fraud-Federal Program" (11.4%), "Fraud-Financial Institution" (8.6%), "Fraud-Health Care" (7.1%), "Fraud-Tax" (6.9%), "Fraud-Other Business" (5.4%), "Fraud-Computer" (4.6%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Aggravated" (3.7%), "Fraud-Consumer" (2.9%), "Fraud-Securities" (2.9%), "Fraud-Identity Theft-Other" (2.3%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for white collar crime prosecutions in October 2025 was FBI accounting for 35 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of white collar crime referrals were: DHS (14% ), SecServ (10%), IRS (9%), Postal (6%). See Figure 3.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In October 2025, 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 October 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 October.
White Collar Crime Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In October 2025, 325 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during October there were an additional 33 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 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television 124 1 1 1 More 18 USC 1349 - Mail Fraud - Attempt and Conspiracy 40 2 3 2 More 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud 15 4 2 3 More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 12 5 4 7 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 11 6 6 6 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 11 6 12 10 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 10 8 5 5 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 8 9 17 17 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 6 10 14 13 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 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section. "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section was ranked 7 a year ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 125 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1956 that involves " Laundering of monetary instruments ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 381.5 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 48.7 percent — was " Fraud/false statements or entries generally " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1001 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 38.2 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 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 126.3 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 Miss, S 1,038 16 1 20 71 More Mo, E 574 14 2 5 15 More S Car 438 20 3 14 21 More Fla, S 319 21 4 1 9 More N Car, W 272 8 5 36 24 More Ind, N 270 6 6 72 67 More Penn, E 236 12 7 21 19 More Texas, S 225 20 8 18 17 More N. Y., E 215 15 9 8 24 More Cal, S 207 6 10 13 32 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) — with 1038 prosecutions as compared with 126.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during October 2025.
The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) ranked 2nd. The Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) was ranked 5 a year ago.
District of South Carolina is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Southern District of California (San Diego), now ranked 10th , and South Carolina at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 13th and 14th one year ago and 32nd and 21st 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 — 187.5 percent — was Northern District of Indiana (South Bend). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 857.1 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 — 46.3 percent — was Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis). But over the past five years, Utah showed the largest drop — 53.8 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 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Moore, Kevin Michael Fla, S 7 1 More Hoyt, Kenneth M. Texas, S 7 1 More Martinez, Jose E. Fla, S 4 3 More Cogburn, Max Oliver, Jr. N Car, W 4 3 More Shelby, Robert James Utah 4 3 More Thurston, Jennifer L. Cal, E 3 6 More Bloom, Beth Francine Fla, S 3 6 More Fleissig, Audrey Goldstein Mo, E 3 6 More Slomsky, Joel Harvey Penn, E 3 6 More Gibney, John Adrian, Jr. Virg, E 3 6 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 7 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 3 judges were from other districts.
Judges Kevin Michael Moore in the Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Kenneth M. Hoyt in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 7 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Judges Jose E. Martinez in the Southern District of Florida (Miami), Max Oliver Cogburn, Jr. in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) and Robert James Shelby in the District of Utah ranked 3rd with 4 defendants in white collar crime cases.
Report Generated: February 19, 2026
