Fraud Cases

March 27, 2020. As we see an increase in prosecutions for “coronavirus-related fraud,” it appears that law enforcement’s efforts are becoming more formal. Today, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia announced that he has appointed a federal prosecutor to investigative suspected fraud schemes related to the COVID-19 outbreak. The move comes after […]

March 25, 2020. On Wednesday, the FBI arrested a man in California and charged him with federal fraud offenses. The man was allegedly soliciting investments for a fake cure for the coronavirus. To date, there is no cure for those infected with the virus. According to an article on ABC News, the federal government is […]

March 24, 2020. On Sunday, the Department of Justice released a press release announcing its first enforcement action to “combat fraud related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.” The federal government filed the action in Austin, TX accusing operators of the website “coronavirusmedicalkit.com” of engaging in wire fraud. The website operators were fraudulently advertising that they […]

The DOJ announced that it has arrested 24 people for their involvement in a large-scale fraud and money laundering operation involving phishing scams, romance fraud scams, and retirement account scams. The defendants are accused of serving as money launderers for a variety of other individuals who engaged in cyber-enabled fraud. The defendants and their co-conspirators […]

In a case involving mail fraud and falsifying immigration forms, the Court held that the district court correctly applied the Guidelines for fraud under 2B1.1 rather than for falsifying immigration forms under 2L2.1, explaining that “the heart” of the defendant’s scheme was enriching themselves by cheating undocumented immigrants.

The Court vacated the defendant’s convictions for aggravated identity theft based on the trial court violating his Fifth Amendment right to be tried on offenses charged by the grand jury. The indictment against him was defective in alleging that he committed “attempted” aggravated identity theft, a non crime, and the district court erred in removing the “attempt” language from its jury instructions.

The Court found that there was sufficient evidence to convict the defendant for bribery based on evidence that he took money from an undercover agent to perform an official act, even though the defendant lacked the actual ability to exert the promised influence necessary to perform the official act. The Court explained that the Government does not have to prove that a bribery defendant actually has the ability to achieve the promised outcome since the crime of bribery is based on the agreement, not the outcome.

The Court held that the sentencing court committed plain error by applying the general-fraud Guidelines under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 because the defendant’s mail fraud conviction also established a visa fraud offense specifically covered under U.S.S.G. § 2L2.1, the Guideline for visa fraud.

The Court held that confidential, nonpublic information generated and held by a government agency constitutes “property” in Title 18 fraud offenses. The Court also held, unlike in Title 15 securities fraud cases, a defendant charged with securities or wire fraud under Title 18 does not have to receive a personal benefit to be convicted.

Among other rulings on other issues, the Court reversed the defendant’s conviction for bankruptcy fraud, holding that the income from his second religious temple, opened after the first temple filed a petition for bankruptcy and providing the same services as the first temple, did not constitute post-petition property of the first temple’s estate since the temples otherwise operated as two separate entities and the government did not try to pierce the corporate veil.