The ‘Right to Control’ Wire Fraud Theory Should Be Eliminated

Patterson Belknap Partner Harry Sandick and Associate Ian Eppler authored an article in Business Crimes Bulletin titled, "The 'Right to Control' Wire Fraud Theory Should Be Eliminated."

Judge Jed Rakoff famously noted that, “[t]o federal prosecutors of white collar crime, the mail fraud statute is our Stradivarius, our Colt 45, our Louisville Slugger, our Cuisinart — and our true love.” Jed S. Rakoff, The Federal Mail Fraud Statute (Part 1), 18 Duq. L. Rev. 771 (1980). This effusive enthusiasm for the federal mail and wire fraud statutes is rooted largely in their “adaptability.” Id. In recent decades, the federal prosecutors of the Second Circuit have demonstrated, and the Second Circuit has affirmed, that adaptability by broadly using the federal fraud statutes to penalize even conduct that does not and could not result in a transfer of tangible property from the victim to the defendant. These prosecutions have relied on the theory that a defendant can fraudulently deprive a victim of the intangible “right to control” its assets, even if the victim is not deprived of any tangible money or property.

To continue reading Harry Sandick and Ian Eppler's article in Business Crimes Bulletin, please click here.