A.G.Order No. 817-79
Feb. 8, 1979

Attorneys offices in other districts, to assist in setting
priorities to develop methods of preventing economic
crime, and to improve the capability to identify,

investigate and prosecute potential criminal activities.
As additional Criminal Division positions become available,
they will be similarly assigned to assist the Economic
Crime Enforcement Units as well as to provide additional
operational litigation support to the United States
Attorneys offices in each region.

8. Evaluation and Reports.

9.

a. The Criminal Division shall periodically, but not less than once a year, prepare for the Attorney General an overall evaluation of this program.

b. The Criminal Division shall exercise program responsibility in coordinating and monitoring the activities of the Economic Crime Enforcement Units. A monthly reporting system shall be established by the Criminal Division to facilitate this effort. It shall include specific information regarding investigative and litigative activity of the units.

c. The Criminal Division shall be responsible for reviewing and evaluating the Economic Crime Enforcement Unit activities and shall advise each Economic Crime Enforcement Unit of needed improvements and modifications in unit operations. Each Economic Crime Enforcement Unit shall promptly notify the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division of the corrective action taken.

Staffing. The Assistant Attorney General for United States Attorneys and Trial Advocacy shall give due consideration to the suggestions of the Criminal Division in its recommendations for the allotment of Assistant United States. Attomey positions.

10. Training. The Criminal Division and the Office for United States Attorneys and Trial Advocacy shall establish an ongoing training program for enforcement and prosecution personnel which will provide training in the most recent developments in the investigation and prosecution of

A.G.Order No. 817-79
Feb. 8, 1979

economic crime cases.

11. Office of Economic Crime Enforcement. There is hereby established within the Criminal Division an Office of Economic Crime Enforcement to carry out the provisions of this Order. This Office shall be staffed by a Director and such other personnel as the Assistant Attorney Genera! designates.

12. Responsibility for Compliance.

It is the responsibility of

the Deputy Attorney General to ensure compliance with this
Order.

Date:

2/8/79

Griffin B. Bell
Attorney General

On February 8, 1979 Attorney General Bell signed a
Departmental Order establishing Economic Crime Enforcement
Units in United States Attorney's offices and within the
Criminal Division. A copy of the Order is enclosed although
it has also been distributed generally. You will recall
that this concept was discussed at the three United States
Attorney meetings in 1978 and has also been the subject of
discussion of several United States Attorney Advisory
Committee meetings.

We plan to have a conference for the United States Attorney offices involved in the early stages. This memorandum will serve to give to you additional information in advance of that time and the direct involvement of all offices.

To begin the implementation of the Economic Crime
Enforcement Units there must be a recognition of the generally
excellent work being done in the area of fraud and corruption
by the United States Attorneys and the Criminal Division.
There must also be a recognition that this program is not
intended to be an overstated, high visibility, cosmetic
action that unfairly raises expectations. Great care must
be taken to avoid a supervisory or management role in this
program that diverts energy, attention and manpower from
sound investigation, thorough analysis, and good prosecution.
There is, however, a clear need for more to be done about
fraud and corruption by the Federal government and in a
coordinated fashion.

This program is a recognized departure from the historical manner of functioning by the Department. There is no intention of establishing separate entities such as the Strike Forces or other Division's Regional offices. This is a Department wide step to address the problem of fraud and corruption with a forthright and consistent approach.

The proper balance between the Criminal Division and the United States Attorney's efforts requires having an overall mission and an objective approach to ensure that national priorities are established by the Department for all Federal law enforcement agencies and are being fully implemented. The mission of this program is to maximize the efficient utilization of personnel in the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of economic crime offenders by first identifying and articulating national and local priorities for each Federal judicial district and by then focusing on those identified priorities. Within the broad areas of public corruption and white-collar crime it is expected that each Federal judicial district will find differences in priorities and in needed approaches and that they will change from time to time.

Each designated United States Attorney shall form an Economic Crime Enforcement Unit consisting of experienced Assistant United States Attorneys assigned on a full-time basis to the unit for a minimum period of eighteen months. The number of attomeys to be assigned to each unit shall be determined by the United States Attorney after consultation with the Assistant Attorney General, United States Attorneys and Trial Advocacy, but shall in each case be at least three unless otherwise agreed to by the Deputy Attorney General. The Criminal Division will provide an Economic Crime Enforcement Specialist to work in the designated United States Attorneys offices and such other positions as they become available. All Criminal Division personnel assigned to the units will be appointed as Special Assistant United States Attorneys, such appointments being subject to the joint approval of the United States Attorney for the relevant district and the Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division.

The intent of the program is to provide a national focus by allocating approximately 150 attorneys over the next two years in twenty-seven offices that will cover the

50 states and the District of Columbia. However,

in light of the present budgetary constraints it is possible to begin the program only through reallocation within the Criminal Division of 10 attorney positions to the newly

created Office of Economic Crime Enforcement, seven of which will be housed in United States Attorney offices.

To avoid having too much territory to cover or being subsumed in the largest offices, the initial selection of Federal districts focuses on the medium sized office, with each Economic Crime Enforcement Specialist operating in a maximum of two states. The initial areas are: WashingtonOregon (3 districts); Mississippi-Alabama (5 districts); Colorado-New Mexico (2 districts); Indiana-Ohio (4 districts); Connecticut-Rhode Island (2 districts); North CarolinaSouth Carolina (4 districts); and Central District of California. The specific intent in the initial selection process was to avoid an office with an existing special unit and to achieve a geographic spread. The exception to this is of course the Central District of California. One large office with an existing-special unit was selected to assess the differing needs or approaches in such an office.

In addition there are Fraud, Corruption, or Special Prosecution Units presently existing in 16 United States Attorney offices. These will be linked with the Criminal Divisions' Office of Economic Crime Enforcement and the new ECE Units through the establishment of national priorities, periodic enforcement conferences and the use of direct liaison between the Washington office and regional investigati offices of key agencies. Units have been identified as existing during December, 1978 in the following United States Attorney offices: Massachusetts, Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, District of Columbia, Eastern District of Virginia, Southern District of Florida, Eastern District of Michigan, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern District of Louisiana, Arizona, Central District of California, Southern District of California, and western District of Texas.

The next phase, to be implemented as resources are available, will involve placing Economic Crime Enforcement Specialists in the following districts: Southern District of California, Arizona, Northern District of Texas, Illinois (3 districts), Michigan (2 districts), Georgia (3 districts, Florida (3 districts), Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, and Massachusetts. The third phase will involve placing Specialists in the Northern and Eastern Districts of California, Southern and Eastern District of Texas, Missouri (2 districts), Louisiana (3 districts), and one for the area including the Western District of Pennsylvania, West Virginia (2 districts), and the Western District of Virginia. The fourth phase will involve additional Specialists branching out into other districts not yet covered for a servicing and coordination role, but remaining in their home districts. Due to the unique roles the Districts of Columbia, Maryland and Eastern Virginia play in relation to the national scene a special arrangement will be made between those offices and the Criminal Division during the second phrase. -97