let’s say the odds of prosecution are low … lower still for business entities.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
accountants are often the first to notice white-collar crime. they’re also the ones with access to the evidence. contrary to the cliché, numbers can lie, though not forever. when there’s something fishy in the figures, it’s an accountant who first notices.
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but then what happens? often the case gets reported to the federal department of justice. and then what?
odds are, nothing. in 2022, in 62 percent of referrals, the case was closed without a prosecution filed, according to a report from the transactional records access clearinghouse at syracuse university. that figure is lower than it was in 2020 when, because of the pandemic and partial federal shutdowns, federal criminal enforcement activities were sharply curtailed.
overall, federal attorneys prosecuted 70 percent of all criminal referrals in 2022. the rates varied widely according to the type of crime. immigration crimes were prosecuted 96 percent of the time, followed by drug offenses at 73 percent, with crimes involving weapons close behind at 68 percent.
best bet: civil rights crimes
if you ever feel like committing a federal crime, your best bet would be in the abuse of civil rights, where only 23 percent are prosecuted. terrorism’s a pretty safe bet, too, with three-quarters of cases closed without prosecutorial action.
those two categories, plus “official corruption,” were the only crimes less likely than white-collar crime to move from referral to prosecution, and 2022 saw the fewest of white-collar cases since tracking began during the reagan administration. the total as of september 2022 was 4,180.
the rate of white-collar prosecutions has generally declined since 2002, though the numbers rose during the obama years of 2008 through 2012, when it peaked at 10,162, nearly two and a half times the current rate.
the longest prosecutions
it’s not fair to blame any given president for changes in prosecution rates. prosecution of white-collar crime takes longer than any other category of federal crime, often beginning in one administration and continuing into the next, on average 3.6 times longer than all other federal prosecutions – long enough to transcend administrations.
for cases ending in 2022, the dreadfully drawn-out process between receipt of a referral to actual filing of prosecution took an average of 452 days.
at the other extreme, immigration crimes were pushed through in an average of 27 days. weapons charges were closed in an average of 103 days last year, and drug cases in 128 days.
the doj rarely goes after white-collar crimes committed by business organizations, with 99 percent of cases charged against individuals.
the alleged crimes of those individuals, however, often involve some kind of fraud or anti-trust violations within the structure and finances of financial and insurance institutions, health care providers, securities and commodities firms, or federal agencies or programs.
in 2022, only 31 of the 4,180 prosecutions extended to business entities, the lowest rate since tracking of organizational crime began in 2004. average time to file a business entity prosecution in 2022 was double that of individual cases, a staggering 1,025 days. the 1 percent rate comprising business entities has been consistent for almost 20 years.