Fraud Without Economic Loss—Supreme Court Expands Scope of Federal Fraud Statutes

White Collar partners Joel Cohen and Brent Wible, counsel Marietou Diouf and associate Elisha Mvundura published a byline in The National Law Journal examining the US Supreme Court's decision in Kousisis v. United States, which determined that "a defendant commits fraud when he uses a material misstatement to trick a victim into parting with property, even when the defendant provides something of value in return and does not seek to cause the victim economic loss."

The article notes that this decision marks a "rare step of broadly interpreting a federal fraud statute" for the Supreme Court and expands "the tools available to federal prosecutors to pursue fraud cases."

Looking ahead at how this decision will impact fraud prosecutions, the authors explained that "Federal prosecutors can now pursue fraud cases even where the victim received valuable goods or services if the defendant fraudulently induced the victim to enter into a commercial transaction," including fraud in public preference programs and frauds against private parties involving a deeply held preference.

The authors conclude by stating that this decision "underscores the need for companies participating in commercial transactions to ensure the accuracy of their representations, as the Supreme Court has broadened the scope of criminal liability for wire fraud."

Read the full article here.

Press contact
For more information please speak to your local media contact.