This subcommittee hearings, the first in a series on white-collar crime cases, explores the case of the United States v. E. F. Hutton, which involved a guilty plea to 2,000 counts of mail and wire fraud in the middle district of Pennsylvania. The basis of the charges was that Hutton deliberately and illegally overdrafted its depository accounts with a large number of banks, drawing out of these banks enormous amounts of money that had no relation to the deposit amounts in the accounts. Hutton also pleaded guilty to creating a series of chains of branch and regional banks to increase the time it would take to clear checks and thus generate and take advantage of the flow. Testimony by Hutton officials explains the nature of the offenses, how they involved middle-management personnels' departure from company-approved policy, and steps the company is taking to ensure such practices could not recur. Testimony by representatives of the Justice Department comments on aspects of the investigation and the decision not to prosecute Hutton officials involved in the offenses. Supplementary material, including a transcript of the hearing on the plea agreement.