Wire Fraud

• who has devised or intends to devise a scheme or artifice to
  • defraud, or
  • to obtain money or property by means of false or fraudulent
    • pretenses
    • representations, or
    • promises
• to transmit, or cause to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication, any
• writings
• signs
• signals
• pictures, or
• sounds
• for the purpose of executing the scheme or artifice. 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (2005).

Much like the wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1341, it is simpler to say that wire fraud consists of devising a scheme or artifice to defraud and then using the nation's telecommunications networks to carry that scheme out.

A violation of section 1343 can be punished by

• a fine,
• imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or
• both.

If a violation of section 1343 affects a financial institution, the punishment will be

• a fine of not more than $ 1,000,000,
• imprisonment for not more than 30 years, or
• both. 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (2005).

The essential elements of a violation of section 1343 are fairly simple. To sustain a charge of wire fraud under section 1343, the government must prove two things: 1) the existence of a scheme to defraud, and 2) the use of wires for the purpose of executing the scheme. See United States v. Andrade, 788 F.2d 521, 527 (8th Cir. 1986); United States v. Gordon, 780 F.2d 1165, 1171 (5th Cir. 1986); United States v. Cen-Card Agency, F. Supp. 313, 316 (D.N.J. 1989).