United States v. Steffen

Defendant was indicted for bank fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud. The government alleged that Defendant's sale of collateral pledged as security for a loan from a bank and his failure to carry out his disclosure duties under the security agreement amounted to a scheme to defraud for purposes of the bank, mail, and wire fraud statutes. The district court dismissed the indictment, finding (1) a false representation is a required element of a federal fraud offense and the indictment failed to allege any express misrepresentation by Defendant; and (2) absent a statutory, fiduciary, or independent disclosure duty, nondisclosure was insufficient to state a fraud claim under any of the charged offenses. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the district court correctly dismissed the indictment for failure to state an offense, as the indictment failed to sufficiently allege a scheme to defraud under the mail, wire, and bank fraud statutes. View "United States v. Steffen" on Justia Law