Wire Fraud

Wire fraud is carried out through any form of wire, radio, television or digital communication. Wire fraud is a serious federal crime and falls under 18 U.S. Code Section 1343. Charges for this offense are filed by the federal Department of Justice rather than by state prosecutors. The potential penalties are severe and include a fine of up to $1,000,000, a prison sentence of up to 30 years, or both.

The prosecutor must prove all of the following elements of wire fraud:

1. A scheme to commit fraud
2. Use of wire, radio, television or digital communication to further that scheme
3. Specific intent to commit fraud

Take note, to be convicted of wire fraud, you don’t necessarily need to have actively told a lie; you can also be convicted based on a negative misrepresentation, i.e., omission.

To be convicted of wire fraud, you don’t need to have actually succeeded in defrauding people; You only need to have used the wires to try and defraud people. That is the requisite specific intent. No actual loss is required.

​Examples of Defenses Against Wire Fraud

One common defense against a wire fraud charge is to argue that the defendant had no scheme or plan to commit fraud. A fraud requires someone to knowingly or recklessly tell a lie (a ‘misrepresentation’) in order to deceive the individual. The misrepresentation must be material. That is to say that it must be about something important or significant. If we can prove that you did not lie about anything material, you cannot be convicted of wire fraud.

Simply participating in a wire fraud scheme is not enough to be convicted. The prosecutor needs to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you knew about the scheme and had the specific goal of committing fraud.

You can be convicted of wire fraud even if you lacked specific intent but acted with ‘reckless indifference’ as to whether the statements that you made were true.