National White Collar Crime Center.


MENU TITLE: White Collar Crime Center Fact Sheet
Series: BJA
Published: November 1995
3 pages
4,624 bytes

Bureau of Justice Assistance Fact Sheet

National White Collar Crime Center

The National White Collar Crime Center, through
funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
of the U.S. Department of Justice provides national
support for the prevention, investigation, and
prosecution of white collar and economic crimes.
The Center is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia,
and has a training and research institute
associated with West Virginia University in
Morgantown, West Virginia. Center staff include
enforcement analysts, intelligence technicians,
research analysts, computer crime specialists, and
training coordinators. 

The Center's mission is to maintain a formally
structured national support system for State and
local law enforcement and regulatory agency members
and to facilitate multi-State investigations of
white-collar and economic crimes. These crimes
include, but are not limited to, investment fraud,
telemarketing fraud, boiler room operations,
securities fraud, commodities fraud, and advanced-
fee loan schemes.

The Center operates under the direction of an
elected board of directors, and has a membership
composed of State and local law enforcement,
prosecution, and regulatory agency professionals
with criminal investigative authority. The Center
operates under BJA funding guidelines and meets the
requirements for operating a criminal information
pointer database, as established in 28 CFR Part 23.

Background

The Center's predecessor, the Leviticus Project,
was initially formed by 14 agencies from 7 States
that were experiencing a high incidence of criminal
activity in the Appalachian coal industry. The
project expanded in 1987 and 1988 to cover criminal
activity in the oil, natural gas, and
precious-metals industries. In 1992, BJA mandated a
broader scope of activities to include all
white-collar and economic crime, and, with
Leviticus Project participation, the Center was
founded.

Program Services 

The Center provides a number of no-cost services to
its members, including: 

o Information sharing--Computerized databases
maintained by the Center disseminate case and
investigative information on individuals and
organizations suspected of involvement in economic
crimes. Analytical services are conducted by center
staff trained in areas such as financial analysis,
check analysis, qualitative compilations, and
background information gathering for specific
member agency investigations.

o Case funding--Limited financial assistance is
provided to selected multijurisdictional member
agency investigations.

o Training and research--The Center operates a
national training and research institute that
serves as a national resource in combating economic
crime by developing partnerships with public and
private agencies to address white-collar crime.
Training sessions covering a range of white collar
crime issues are held at the Center and at
locations around the country for white collar crime
investigators and prosecutors. Some of these
training sessions are open to nonmembers for a fee.
For additional information about Center training
sessions, refer to the address and telephone number
listed in the "For Further Information" section
below.

As consultant to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Bureau of Consumer Protection, the Center analyzes
information on telemarketing frauds stored in the
FTC's automated database. The Center provides other
research services as well.

Program Accomplishments 

Between January 1, 1989, and June 30, 1995, member
agency cases assisted by Center services resulted
in the following recoveries:

o $29 million in assessed fines.
o $349 million in ordered restitution.
o $4 million in recovered property.
o $330 million referred to the IRS from tax fraud
cases.

For Further Information

To learn more about the National White Collar Crime
Center, contact:

The National White Collar Crime Center
Suite 450
1001 Boulders Parkway 
Richmond, VA 23225-5513
Tel: 1-800-221-4424 or 1-804-323-3563

Discretionary Grants Program Division

Bureau of Justice Assistance
633 Indiana Avenue NW.
Washington, DC 20531
Tel: 1-202-514-5943

Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
Tel: 1-800-688-4252
Fax: 1-301-251-5212
Internet: look@ncjrs.aspensys.com

U.S. Department of Justice Response Center
Tel: 1-800-421-6770