NCJ Number
126270
Date Published
1990
Length
78 pages
Annotation
Modern statutes against mail and wire fraud have been enacted against a history of the court struggling with three tensions: between legality and morality, between judicial lawmaking and the doctrine that there are no common law crimes, and between Federal law and the right of the States to have primary criminal jurisdiction.
Abstract
There are two basic elements of this type of fraud. The meaning of "scheme to defraud" covers a range of issues including consumer fraud, trade secrets, insurance fraud, franchise and investment frauds, regulatory and tax prosecutions, fiduciary breaches, and rights to privacy. The second element, jurisdictional means, is comprised of mail fraud and wire fraud. In order to obtain a conviction, the government must show that the defendant had not only participated in the scheme to defraud, but had a specific intent to defraud through knowledge of the falsity of the representations he made. A variety of defenses are available in mail and wire fraud prosecutions including the good faith defense, puffing, lack of authority, constructive frauds, statute of limitations, and preemption. Two other tactics discussed in this article are injunctions and discovery. 284 notes