SCOTUS to Address Scope of Federal Mail, Wire Fraud Statutes (1)

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by a government contractor and one of its former employees asking it to address the validity of the so-called fraudulent inducement theory of mail and wire fraud.

Under the fraudulent inducement theory, all fraudulent schemes “to obtain” property or to induce a commercial exchange are a form of property fraud, even if the completed scheme would only harm intangible interests. The theory is endorsed by six circuits and rejected by five others.

Alpha Painting and Construction Co. and its former project manager, Stamatios Kousisis, were criminally charged and convicted of ...