Wire Fraud Statute Applies to Any Fraudulent Electronic Transmission Between the US and Another Country

United States v. McClellan, US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, February 27, 2018

The United States charged the defendant McClellan with criminal violations of the securities laws and wire fraud. Among other defenses, McClellan argued that he could not be charged with wire fraud because the “majority” of the subject trades were conducted outside the US, and thus outside the statute’s geographic reach. The Court disagreed. It noted that 18 USC § 1343 proscribes the use of fraudulent wire communications “in interstate or foreign commerce,” and concluded that this express reference made the wire fraud statute apply – as alleged in the indictment – to any fraudulent wire transmission with another country either made or received by McClellan in the US.