Efforts to prosecute white collar crime may have suffered in recent months from the diversion of resources and personnel to fight the war on terrorism.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday (“Evidence Lacking as Probe of Scientist in Anthrax Scare Intensifies”) that "[m]ore than a dozen FBI agents have been diverted from white-collar criminal cases in the past two weeks to work on the intensifying investigation of whether bioterror expert Steven Hatfill had any role in last fall's anthrax attacks, according to law enforcement sources."

In a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee hearing on white collar crime held on July 10, subcommittee chair Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) pointed out that the FBI has reassigned more than 500 agents out of the criminal justice area dealing with violent crime and white collar crime for the war on terrorism.

There is little indication that the Department of Justice has responded to the recent epidemic of corporate crime by prioritizing enforcement efforts for this area in the future.

The Department of Justice's Strategic Plan for 2001 – 2006, recently posted on its web site (http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/mps/strategic2001-2006/index.htm), explains (in Appendix B), that the department’s 2003 Performance Evaluation Report (also on the web site) "translates the broadly-stated goals and objectives of the Strategic Plan into specific annualized performance goals (or targets) linked to the Department's budget."

Section 2.4 of the FY 2003 Performance Evaluation Report (see http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/annualreports/pr2001/Section02.htm#SG2.4) addresses the Department’s goals and budget to fight white collar crime. According to that report, the Department is requesting only a 3% increase in its white collar crime budget for FY 2003.

White collar and corporate crime are not identified as a "critical management issue" in the Department’s 2001-2006 Strategic Plan (see Appendix C). Nor are they mentioned in the 2003 Budget Request Highlights document, also on their web site.

“As others have testified before the Senate’s Judiciary subcommittee, tougher enforcement penalties are unlikely to be an effective substitute for the more-difficult-to-achieve alternative of effective detection and prosecution. The Administration needs to recognize this by increasing the Department’s budget to fight white collar crime by 50 percent and raising its long-term importance in the Department’s strategic plans,” says Citizen Works president Theresa Amato.

“The FBI should at least be required to do an annual white collar crime report, as an analogue to its current Crime in America report, which is focused on street crime only,” Amato added.