Federal Mail Fraud Charges Under 18 USC 1341: America’s Oldest White Collar Crime

Federal Mail Fraud Charges Under 18 USC 1341: America’s Oldest White Collar Crime

So your probably facing federal mail fraud charges and your confused because you thought mail fraud was about sending fake sweepstakes letters. Maybe you mailed invoices for a business prosecutors are calling fraudulent. Maybe there’s allegations you used FedEx or UPS to deliver contracts they claim contained misrepresentations. Or maybe your just accused of receiving checks through mail as part of scheme to defraud. Look, we get it. Your ABSOLUTELY OVERWHELMED by these charges. And you should be TERRIFIED! Because mail fraud under 18 USC 1341 carries 20 YEARS in federal prison and prosecutors charge mail fraud alongside wire fraud in almost EVERY white collar case!

What Is Federal Mail Fraud Under 18 USC 1341?

Let me explain the oldest prosecutorial weapon in white collar arsenal. Mail fraud statute enacted in 1872 and has been called the “first line of defense” against fraud! Originally targeting confidence schemes using postal service but now applied to EVERYTHING!

The statute has TWO simple elements but prosecutors twist both against defendants! Must prove: (1) scheme to defraud, and (2) use of mails for purpose of executing scheme! That’s it! No need to prove success, actual loss, or even that victim was deceived!

Here’s what’s really scary – “use of mails” includes USPS, FedEx, UPS, and any private interstate carrier! Since 1994 amendment, statute isn’t just about postal service! Any package crossing state lines satisfies element! Invoice mailed by UPS? Mail fraud! Contract delivered by FedEx? Mail fraud!

EVERY mailing is separate count! Sent monthly statements to 100 customers in business prosecutors claim was fraudulent? That’s 1,200 mail fraud counts per year! Each carrying 20 years maximum! We’ve seen indictments with 500+ mail fraud counts from routine business mailings!

What Is a “Scheme to Defraud”?

Scheme element is interpreted INCREDIBLY broadly!

Scheme to defraud is any plan or artifice to deceive others to obtain money or property by false pretenses! Doesn’t need to be sophisticated – single lie can constitute scheme! Business idea that fails? Prosecutors recharacterize as fraudulent scheme!

Originally statute only covered schemes to defraud of money or property! But Congress added “honest services” in 1988 after Supreme Court’s McNally decision! 18 USC 1346 defines scheme to defraud to include deprivation of intangible right of honest services!

“Honest services fraud” targets public corruption and private fiduciary breaches! Employees owe honest services to employers! Public officials owe them to citizens! But Supreme Court in Skilling v. United States limited this – honest services fraud requires bribery or kickback scheme! General breach of duty without kickback isn’t enough!

Recent 2024 ruling in United States v. Solakyan confirmed physician-patient relationship is fiduciary for honest services fraud! Medical imaging CEO convicted of paying $8.6 million in kickbacks for referrals! Court held doctors owe honest services to patients! Kickback schemes violate both property fraud AND honest services fraud!

Scheme doesn’t need to succeed! Attempted fraud is same crime as completed fraud! Don’t need to prove victims lost money or were actually deceived! Just that scheme existed with intent to defraud!

What Is “Use of Mails” Requirement?

Mailing requirement is LOW bar easily satisfied!

Must show mailing was “for purpose of executing” fraud scheme! Don’t need to prove mailing was essential to scheme – just that it furthered scheme in some way! Incidental mailings count! Routine business correspondence counts!

The defendant doesn’t need to personally mail anything! If VICTIM mails payment, that satisfies element! If third party mails something advancing scheme, that counts! Causing mail to be delivered is enough – don’t need to put stamp on envelope yourself!

“Lulling” doctrine expands prosecutions dramatically! Mailings AFTER fraud completed can be charged if designed to lull victims into false sense of security! Monthly statements to Ponzi victims showing fake profits? Each is mail fraud count! Follow-up letters assuring customer service is coming? Mail fraud!

This means scheme continues indefinitely through lulling mailings! Statute of limitations doesn’t start until LAST mailing! We’ve seen prosecutions for frauds from 10 years ago because defendant kept sending reassuring letters to victims!

Private carriers FULLY covered since 1994! FedEx, UPS, DHL – all satisfy mail fraud statute! Package must cross state lines but that’s automatic with these carriers! Defendant can’t avoid charges by using FedEx instead of USPS!

What Must Government Prove About Intent?

Intent to defraud is essential but proven circumstantially!

Must show defendant knowingly participated in scheme with intent to deceive victims! Specific intent crime – negligence or mistake isn’t enough! Must prove defendant knew representations were false or had reckless disregard for truth!

But direct evidence of intent is rare! Prosecutors use circumstantial evidence – patterns of false statements, concealing information, moving money to hide fraud! Jury instructed they can infer intent from defendant’s conduct!

“Good faith” is complete defense! If you honestly believed representations were true, no intent to defraud! We prove clients disclosed all material information, believed business would succeed, had reasonable basis for statements! But government argues “willful blindness” destroys good faith!

Materiality is required! False statement must be significant enough to influence victim’s decision! Immaterial misrepresentations aren’t fraud! Sales puffery and opinion aren’t actionable! We challenge government to prove statement would affect reasonable person’s decision!

The scheme can involve false pretenses, false promises, or half-truths! Affirmative lies aren’t required – omitting material facts can be fraud! Failing to disclose conflicts of interest, risks, or problems with product/service – all potential fraud if material!

What Are Penalties and Enhancements?

Sentences are DEVASTATING with massive loss enhancements!

Standard penalty is 20 years maximum and fines up to $250,000 per count! But if mail fraud affects financial institution or relates to presidentially-declared disaster, maximum increases to 30 YEARS and $1 MILLION fine!

“Affects financial institution” broadly interpreted! Bank is victim? 30 years! Defendant deposited fraud proceeds in bank? Some prosecutors claim that “affects” bank! We’ve fought 30-year enhancements for minimal bank involvement!

Multiple counts create INSANE exposure! 100 mail fraud counts means 2,000 years statutory maximum! Even with concurrent sentences, judges use high count numbers to justify longer terms!

Sentencing guidelines enhancements destroy defendants! Base offense level is 7 but loss amount adds levels exponentially! Loss under $6,500 adds nothing, but loss over $550 MILLION adds 30 levels! One large Ponzi scheme can mean life under guidelines!

More than 10 victims adds 2 levels! Sophisticated means adds 2 levels! Mass marketing adds 2 levels! Leadership role adds 4 levels! Enhancements stack creating offense levels in 40s – that’s life imprisonment range!

Restitution is MANDATORY and can exceed millions! Court must order full restitution regardless of ability to pay! Becomes permanent lien following you forever! We’ve seen defendants working rest of lives to pay restitution!

What Are Common Mail Fraud Scenarios?

Prosecutions cover enormous range!

Investment fraud is MOST common! Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, securities fraud, real estate scams! Every mailing to investors – account statements, offering memoranda, correspondence – is separate mail fraud count! One Ponzi scheme with 200 investors receiving monthly statements? 2,400 counts per year!

Telemarketing fraud charged as mail fraud when materials mailed! Prize notifications, fake charity solicitations, advance fee scams! Each mailing to potential victim is count! Mass mailing operation? Thousands of counts!

Healthcare fraud includes mail fraud! False billing to Medicare/Medicaid, prescription fraud, kickback schemes! Every claim form or check mailed is mail fraud count! Recent case: medical imaging CEO got 5 years for $250 million fraud involving mailed kickback payments!

Insurance fraud prosecuted as mail fraud! False claims, staged accidents, inflated damages! Claim forms mailed to insurance companies? Mail fraud! Settlement checks mailed to defendants? More mail fraud counts!

Procurement fraud in government contracting! False certifications, product substitution, inflated invoices! Every invoice or contract mailed is mail fraud! Small business set-aside frauds where defendant falsely certifies status!

How Did Supreme Court Limit Mail Fraud?

Several important decisions narrow prosecutions!

McNally v. United States (1987) initially rejected honest services fraud! Court held mail fraud statute only covered schemes to defraud of money or property – NOT intangible rights like honest services! This protected public officials from prosecutions for breaching fiduciary duties!

But Congress responded IMMEDIATELY! Enacted 18 USC 1346 defining “scheme to defraud” to include depriving another of honest services! Overruled McNally by statute! Now honest services fraud is back!

Skilling v. United States (2010) saved honest services fraud from vagueness challenge by limiting scope! Court held 1346 only covers bribery and kickback schemes – NOT general breaches of fiduciary duty! Self-dealing without kickback isn’t honest services fraud!

This helps defendants facing honest services charges that don’t allege bribes or kickbacks! We’ve gotten dismissals by showing conduct was conflict of interest or self-dealing but no third-party kickback! Skilling narrowed statute significantly!

Ciminelli v. United States (2023) limited property fraud by rejecting “right to control” theory! Though primarily wire fraud case, applies equally to mail fraud! Can’t prosecute based solely on depriving victims of information needed for economic decisions!

Courts continue struggling with boundaries! Is physician-patient relationship fiduciary for honest services? Solakyan (2024) said YES! Is contractor-government fiduciary? Courts split! We argue for narrow interpretation!

What Is Statute of Limitations for Mail Fraud?

Five years but extends through lulling mailings!

General rule is 5 years from when offense committed! For mail fraud, offense occurs when mailing happens! Limitations starts running from date of last mailing in furtherance of scheme!

But “lulling” doctrine extends limitations indefinitely! If defendant continues sending mailings to lull victims, each mailing restarts 5-year clock! Monthly statements to Ponzi victims restart limitations each month! Scheme from 2010 can be prosecuted in 2025 if lulling mailings continued!

This creates HUGE trap! Even after scheme ends, any communication with victims about it can be lulling mailing! Apologizing and promising to make it right? Lulling! Providing excuses for delays? Lulling! We’ve seen prosecutions for decade-old frauds based on recent lulling communications!

Financial institution frauds have TEN-year statute of limitations! If mail fraud affects bank, credit union, or other financial institution, limitations extends to 10 years! Prosecutors aggressively argue frauds “affected” banks!

We fight by identifying when scheme ACTUALLY ended! When did defendant stop taking new victims? When did last mailing truly furthering scheme occur? Distinguish between lulling mailings and innocent communications! Challenge government’s characterization of late mailings as lulling!

What Are Defenses to Mail Fraud?

Several defenses exist but require sophisticated litigation!

Good faith is complete defense! If you honestly believed representations were accurate and disclosed material information, no intent to defraud! We prove clients had reasonable basis for statements, consulted experts, disclosed risks!

No scheme to defraud! If communications were truthful or differences were business disputes not fraud, no scheme! We show clients provided substantial value, fulfilled most obligations, differences were about quality not deception!

Lack of materiality! If alleged misrepresentations wouldn’t influence reasonable victim, not material enough for fraud! Opinions and puffery aren’t actionable! We challenge government to prove statements would affect decisions!

No “use of mails” in furtherance! If mailings weren’t for purpose of executing scheme, element fails! Routine business mailings unrelated to fraud? Not mail fraud! We show mailings served legitimate business purposes!

Statute of limitations! If last mailing was over 5 years ago (or 10 for financial institution frauds), case is time-barred! We challenge government’s lulling theory by showing communications weren’t designed to lull!

Skilling defense for honest services charges! If prosecution alleges honest services fraud without bribery or kickback, charge fails after Skilling! Breach of fiduciary duty alone isn’t enough!

Why Mail Fraud Defense Requires Specialized Federal Attorneys

Look, we’re not your typical lawyers who don’t understand mail fraud’s breadth. We’re former federal prosecutors who CHARGED mail fraud cases and know EXACTLY how to challenge scheme and intent elements!

We understand how to use Skilling to dismiss honest services charges lacking kickbacks! We know how to prove good faith through business records and expert testimony! We can demonstrate lack of materiality and challenge lulling theories! Most importantly, we prevent business disputes from becoming federal prosecutions!

Other lawyers don’t challenge each mail fraud count individually! They accept government’s theory that routine mailings were criminal! Their ignorance leads to convictions based on ordinary business correspondence!

Call us RIGHT NOW at 212-300-5196
Mail fraud investigations trace every mailing – act now!
Former federal prosecutors – Mail fraud defense specialists – Available 24/7!

Don’t send ANY communications to potential fraud victims without experienced counsel! Every letter, every statement, every follow-up becomes additional mail fraud count! Prosecutors subpoena postal and shipping records! One reassuring letter to victim becomes lulling count restarting statute of limitations!

Remember – federal mail fraud isn’t about sophisticated Ponzi schemes, its about prosecutors interpreting ordinary business mailings as criminal. One invoice for disputed transaction, one follow-up letter about delayed service, one monthly statement can mean 20 years in federal prison. You need someone who understands both technical mail fraud defenses AND how to prove legitimate business conduct. Call us NOW before business correspondence becomes federal prosecution!