Supreme Court Hears Key Wire Fraud Case Today

Today, November 9, 2004, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Pasquantino v. U.S.  This case raises the issue of whether the wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. 1343, applies to schemes that defraud a foreign government of tax revenues.  The Fourth Circuit had held that the wire fraud statute cannot be extended to such schemes, because it "would amount functionally to penal enforcement of Canadian customs and tax laws" through the U.S. criminal code.

For more detail on this case, click here.

Mark Godsey