Source: https://www.shouselaw.com/federal-wire-fraud.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 07:13:00+00:00

Document:
Wire fraud is fraud that is carried out through any form of wire, radio, or television communication.1 These days, this also includes e-mail communication.2 So wire fraud can include certain forms of internet fraud as well.
For these reasons, it's important to get help from a California criminal defense attorney who is licensed to practice in the United States federal courts.
A misrepresentation, or lie, can't support wire fraud charges unless it is material.
A misrepresentation, or lie, can't support wire fraud charges unless it is material.7 In other words, it needs to be about something important or significant.
Example: Let's say that there HAVE been clinical studies done that show the medicine helps with weight loss...but the studies used hamsters, not mice (as Travis claimed). This is probably not a material misrepresentation that could lead to Travis being charged with fraud.
Also, a misrepresentation is not fraud unless it seems calculated to fool someone of "ordinary prudence"-or someone with a decent amount of common sense.8 Some lies are so outrageous that most prudent people would never believe them. It may be hard to get a wire fraud conviction based on those sorts of lies.
Example: As a practical joke, Travis launches a radio marketing scheme for a weight loss herbal medicine that, he claims, helps "nine out of ten unicorns lose weight." Most likely he will not be convicted under the federal wire fraud laws...because his lie would not have fooled anyone of "ordinary prudence."
Example: Dan is trying to start a software company and is looking for investors. He contacts several potential investors by phone and fax and tells them that Bill Gates, the software billionaire, has expressed interest in investing in the project. This is true...Bill Gates has "expressed interest." But after looking into the idea further, Bill Gates has already decided not to invest. Dan doesn't tell the potential investors this second fact.
Dan may be committing wire fraud...even though he did not actually say anything that was untrue. By failing to disclose the important fact that Bill Gates has decided not to invest in the company, he is misleading potential investors.
Travis and Dan in the above examples may be charged with wire fraud even if they never actually got anyone to give them money. The crime of wire fraud doesn't require that the scheme to defraud actually succeed.10 If you use the wires to try to pull off a fraud, you can be convicted of wire fraud even if no one else suffered any loss because of your actions.
Example: Adam is an executive at a company that makes nuclear power plants. Part of Adam's job involves choosing which companies get the lucrative contracts to make parts for the nuclear power plants.
Bob owns a manufacturing company. Adam and Bob make a deal: Adam will steer contracts to Bob's company, and Bob will secretly give a portion of the profits from these contracts back to Adam.
This is a kickback. If Adam and Bob use any form of wire communication to advance their deal or put it into practice, they may be charged with wire fraud.
Use of wire, radio, or television communication is of course a key element of the crime of wire fraud.
The communication by wire just needs to be made for the purpose of advancing the scheme to defraud....it doesn't need to play a crucial role in the scheme.20 What this means is that you can use the wires for something pretty trivial and still be convicted of wire fraud.
Example: Luis is named the administrator of his grandmother's estate after she dies. He is supposed to distribute the money in the estate to several relatives. Instead, though, he wires the funds to a new bank account. Luis uses this bank account as a personal piggy bank, buying himself a new car and writing checks for large purchases.
Example: Ellen comes up with a scheme to market a new kind of face cream she has invented. Her plan is to have people pay her for a license to market and sell the face cream to their friends and acquaintances in return for the right to keep a portion of the profits from all sales.
Ellen sends emails designed to convince people to take advantage of this "business opportunity." In the emails, she says that her face cream is more effective than any other cream on the market. But she has never tested it against any other face creams and has no way of knowing if this is true.
Ellen did not lie per se in her emails...but she may still be charged with wire fraud, because her statements showed a reckless indifference to the truth.
Fortunately, there are multiple legal defenses that you may assert against a wire fraud charge. These may be asserted during your trial or, if you are convicted and then file an appeal, as part of the federal criminal appeals process.
Lack of intent and mistake of fact are two of the most helpful legal defenses to federal wire fraud charges.
As we discussed above, you cannot be convicted of wire fraud unless the prosecutor can show beyond a reasonable doubt that you specifically intended to commit fraud.
This can be a difficult element for the prosecutor to prove, just because it is hard to determine with certainty what another person was thinking when they acted a certain way. For this reason, lack of intent can be a very powerful defense.
Example: Joan is married to James. James runs a scam in which he travels around the country selling popcorn machines, takes payment for the machines from customers, and then doesn't deliver the machines.
Joan has only a ninth grade education and worked as a waitress before marrying James. Now she works as the secretary for his company. She takes telephone calls from his "customers" and tells them the machines are on their way. But she has no idea that James' business is built on fraud and that his customers will never receive their popcorn machines.
The mistake of fact defense applies to most crimes, and wire fraud is no different.
"Because specific intent is an element of the crime of wire fraud, you cannot be convicted if you can show that you committed the acts in question while you were mistaken about certain key facts. This can be a particularly useful defense in wire fraud cases, because the underlying facts are often complicated and hard to understand."
Let's say you transmitted a fax containing a false statement, but you actually believed that the statement was true. If this is the case, then the prosecution will not likely be able to show that you had specific intent to defraud.
Wire fraud is a federal crime. Therefore, it could result in time in federal prison (not the California state prison system).
Suppose someone tries to make a wire transfer of money obtained through fraud, but the bank gets suspicious and does not process the wire. This person may be guilty of an attempted crime, because they unsuccessfully attempted to use the wires to carry out a fraud.
Example: Paula, Carol, and Connie get together and make plans to carry out a fraudulent scheme that involves use of the wires. Only Paula actually initiates communications by wire. But Carol and Connie may be prosecuted for wire fraud too, because they are conspirators.
The only real difference between mail fraud and wire fraud is that, instead of the use of wire communications, mail fraud requires the use of the United States mails in furtherance of the scheme to defraud.34 Because an elaborate fraud scheme may involve both the use of wire communications like the telephone and the use of mail, wire fraud and mail fraud are often charged together.
Securities fraud laws cover a wide range of behavior involving investment securities, including making false or misleading statements in connection with the sale or purchase of securities.
Securities fraud laws cover a wide range of behavior involving investment securities, including making false or misleading statements in connection with the sale or purchase of securities.36 Thus, if someone uses the wires to advance a fraudulent scheme involving securities, they may be charged with both wire fraud and securities fraud.
Internet fraud, or cybercrime, consists of fraud that is carried out through the internet or email.
Other forms of internet fraud can be prosecuted under either federal crime or California state criminal law.42 These include "phishing"-obtaining other people's personal or credit card information over the internet and using it for fraudulent purposes-and unauthorized access to computers or computer data, sometimes through hacking.
California's criminal fraud laws cover a wide range of specific offenses, such as health care fraud and real estate fraud.
Depending on the facts of the particular case, a person could be charged with wire fraud in federal court AND with another form of fraud in the California courts.
If you or loved one is charged with federal wire fraud and you are looking to hire an attorney for representation, we invite you to contact us at Shouse Law Group. We can provide a free consultation in office or by phone. We have local offices in Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, Long Beach, Orange County, Ventura, San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and throughout California.
To learn about wire fraud and other federal crimes in Nevada, go to our page on federal wire fraud laws in Nevada.
Our California and federal criminal defense attorneys have local Los Angeles law offices in Beverly Hills, Burbank, Glendale, Lancaster, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Pomona, Torrance, Van Nuys, West Covina, and Whittier. We have additional law offices conveniently located throughout the state in Orange County, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, San Jose, Oakland, the San Francisco Bay area, Sacramento, and several nearby cities.
United States v. Schwartz, (2d Cir. 1991) 924 F.2d 410, 420 (explaining that the government does not have to prove "that the intended victim of the fraud was actually harmed; it is enough to show defendants contemplated doing actual harm, that is, something more than merely deceiving the victim").
See United States v. Garlick, (9th Cir. 2001) 240 F.3d 789, 794.
See Sibley v. United States, (5th Cir. 1965), 344 F.2d 103, 104.
See United States v. Garner, (9th Cir. 1981) 663 F.2d 834, 838.
See United States v. McNeill, (9th Cir. 2003) 320 F.3d 1034, 1040.
Based on United States v. Pelisamen, (9th Cir. 2011) 641 F.3d 399, 409.
Loosely based on United States v. Garner, (9th Cir. 1981) 663 F.2d 834, 838.
Based on United States v. Price, (9th Cir. 1980) 623 F.2d 587, 591-92 (overruled on other grounds by United States v. De Bright, (9th Cir. 1984) 730 F.2d 1255, 1259).
Ventura criminal defense lawyer John Murray defends against criminal charges throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
18 U.S.C. § 1341 - Frauds and swindles.
See United States v. Selby, (2009) 557 F.3d 968, 979.
See Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2010 Internet Crime Report.
See Penal Code 530.5 PC - Unauthorized use of personal identifying information of another person; attempt to obtain credit, goods, services, real property or medical information; commission of crime; punishment for first, subsequent or multiple offenses; sale of information; mail theft; liability of computer service or software providers; Penal Code 484e PC - Theft of access cards or account information; Business & Professions Code 22948.2 BPC - Unlawful requests by misrepresentation; 18 U.S.C. § 1028 - Fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents, authentication features, and information; 18 U.S.C. § 1029 - Fraud and related activity in connection with access devices; Penal Code 502 PC - Unauthorized access to computers, computer systems and computer data; and 18 U.S.C. § 1030 - Fraud and related activity in connection with computers.

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