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America’s Corporate Crime Capitals

Detroit, St. Louis, Flint, Oakland, and Camden may be the most dangerous cities in the United States when it comes to street crime.

But Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and Newark are the corporate crime capitals of the United States.

That’s according to an analysis released today by the CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER, a print weekly legal newsletter based in Washington, D.C.

“Every year, the FBI releases its Crime in the United States report,” said Russell Mokhiber, editor of CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER. “This report is misnamed. It is actually a report on street crime in the United States. It ignores corporate crime. So, while the Crime in the United States report documents rape, robbery, murder, robbery and assault ­ it ignores health care fraud, bribery, environmental crimes, and other major corporate crime prosecutions.”

Congressional Quarterly created a stir last week when it crunched the 2006 street crime statistics from the FBI’ s Crime in the United States report and put out a ranking of America’s most dangerous cities.

“We believe that America deserves to know not only where most of the street crime is ­ but also where most of the corporate crime is being prosecuted,” Mokhiber said.

The FBI keeps no centralized corporate crime database.

CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER conducted a survey of announced 2006 prosecutions, settlements and sentences of corporate defendants by federal prosecutors in major metropolitan areas of the United States and came up with its top six corporate crime capitals of the United States.

“These are the cities where most of the corporate crimes are being prosecuted,” Mokhiber said. “New York is an obvious hub ­ that’s where Wall Street is and that’s where the money is. Washington is also an obvious contender ­ corporations rip off the government and government prosecutors act to recover the defrauded funds.”

“Federal prosecutors in Boston have developed perhaps the premiere health care fraud prosecution team in the country ­ outside of Washington,” Mokhiber said. “The U.S. Attorneys’ offices in Los Angeles and Philadelphia have both developed white collar and corporate crime expertise.”

The survey looked at number of announced cases brought against corporate entities in 2006 by federal prosecutors in each city.

“Washington took the top prize as the corporate crime capital of the world ­ because that’s where the money is,” Mokhiber said. “And that’s where the Justice Department headquarters is.”

Washington came in first with 93 corporate cases, followed by New York with 18 (counting cases from both the Southern District and Eastern District of New York), Los Angeles with 14, Philadelphia with 12, and Boston and Newark tied at 9.

CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER is located in Washington, DC. They can be reached through their website