Opinion ID: 197458
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Becher second determination.

Text: 21 Ahmed attempts to resuscitate his claim under the second determination approach we adopted in Becher, 829 F.2d at 290. We said there that Rule 9(b) has a special gloss in the RICO context in cases where a plaintiff's specific allegations make it likely that a defendant has used interstate mails or wire, and where this information is in the exclusive control of the defendant: before granting a motion to dismiss, a district court should make a second determination as to whether further discovery is warranted and, if so, the plaintiff should be provided with the opportunity to amend the complaint after the completion of this discovery. See id. Ahmed contends that the magistrate judge and the district court judge erred in not conducting such a second determination. We disagree. 22 We must stress again that the application of the Becher second determination is neither automatic, nor of right, for every plaintiff. See Feinstein, 942 F.2d at 44. Furthermore, not every use of the mails or wires in furtherance of an unlawful scheme to deprive another of property constitutes wire or mail fraud. See McEvoy, 904 F.2d at 791. Ahmed failed to supply specific allegations which would indicate that critical information was in the sole possession of the defendants, and hence that further discovery or the opportunity to amend his complaint was warranted. 6 Ahmed therefore was not entitled to a Becher second determination. 23