Opinion ID: 777147
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: RICO: Mail & Wire Fraud

Text: 75 To maintain a viable private RICO action, Orr must establish that BOA engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity. 18 U.S.C. § 1962(a)-(c); Schreiber Distrib. Co. v. Serv-Well Furniture Co., 806 F.2d 1393, 1398-99 (9th Cir.1986). Racketeering activity is defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(B) as any act indictable under enumerated criminal statutes, including 18 U.S.C. § 1341, which criminalizes mail fraud, and 18 U.S.C. § 1343, which criminalizes wire fraud. See 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(B). The elements of mail and wire fraud consist of (1) a scheme or artifice devised with (2) the specific intent to defraud and (3) use of the United States mail or interstate telephone wires in furtherance thereof. See Franciscan Ceramics, Inc., 818 F.2d at 1469. 76 Orr contends BOA engaged in a scheme to defraud the organizers of Tahoe Bank by submitting negative information about her to the FDIC in an attempt to prevent the formation of Tahoe Bank. However, Orr has presented no admissible evidence to substantiate this claim. Indeed, Orr cannot establish that BOA was ever in possession of her polygraph test results or the corresponding FBI memo that allegedly suspected her of criminal conduct. 77 Nor can Orr establish that BOA submitted negative information about her to the FDIC. The only evidence supporting this accusation is contained in Exhibits B and S, which are inadmissible hearsay. In the absence of evidence of a scheme to defraud, Orr cannot establish a pattern of racketeering activity. Thus, Orr's RICO claim fails. See Rothman v. Vedder Park Mgmt., 912 F.2d 315, 316 (9th Cir.1990); Franciscan Ceramics, Inc., 818 F.2d at 1469.