Opinion ID: 169915
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Civil conspiracy to defraud Plaintiffs.

Text: Plaintiffs alleged that the Bank conspired with Yue and Gaowa, among others, to defraud Plaintiffs. To prove civil conspiracy, five elements must be shown: (1) a combination of two or more persons, (2) an object to be accomplished, (3) a meeting of the minds on the object or course of action, (4) one or more unlawful, overt acts, and (5) damages as a proximate result thereof. [29] Alta Indus. Ltd. v. Hurst, 846 P.2d 1282, 1290 n. 17 (Utah 1993) (quotation omitted). Further, conspiracy to defraud requires proof of the underlying fraud. Gildea v. Guardian Title Co. of Utah, 970 P.2d 1265, 1271 (Utah 1998). The district court determined that Plaintiffs had failed to prove any of these required elements. We agree. In particular, there was no evidence presented that the Bank entered into any agreement with the other alleged co-conspirators. Moreover, as we held above, there is no evidence that the Bank acted with the intent to defraud Plaintiffs.