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What is wire transfer fraud
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek, with over 40 years of combined experience handling federal criminal defense cases. If you’ve heard of us, it’s probably because of the high-profile cases we’ve handled – cases like Anna Delvey’s, which became a Netflix series, or our representation of the juror in the Ghislaine Maxwell misconduct case. We take on cases other law firms won’t touch.
Wire transfer fraud is one of the most aggressively prosecuted federal crimes right now. If you’re being investigated or charged, you’re facing serious prison time – we’re talking 20 to 30 years per count. This article explains what wire transfer fraud actually is under federal law, the penalties you’re facing in 2025, and why the government treats these cases like they’re hunting down organized crime bosses.
What Wire Transfer Fraud Is Under Federal Law
Wire fraud is defined under 18 USC Section 1343 – and it’s one of the broadest criminal statutes the Department of Justice has in its arsenal. The law makes it a federal crime to use any wire communication in interstate or foreign commerce as part of a scheme to defraud someone or obtain money through false pretenses.
What does that mean in practice? Any email, phone call, text message, online transfer, social media message, fax – basically any electronic communication that crosses state lines or international borders can trigger federal wire fraud charges. Send an email from New York to New Jersey with false information to get money? That’s wire fraud. Make a phone call to a bank in another state to move funds based on lies? Wire fraud again.
The government doesn’t need to prove you succeeded in stealing money. On May 22, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in Kousisis v. United States that prosecutors can charge wire fraud even if the victim didn’t lose money – all they need to prove is that you made material misrepresentations using electronic communications with intent to defraud. This decision massively expanded the government’s power to prosecute wire fraud cases.
Federal prosecutors love this statute because it’s so broad. Almost every fraud scheme these days involves electronic communications at some point – which is why the DOJ considers wire fraud one of their most potent weapons for prosecuting white-collar crime.
Real Wire Fraud Schemes Federal Prosecutors Target in 2025
PPP loan fraud is still getting people sentenced to federal prison in 2025. During COVID-19, hundreds of defendants were charged for submitting fake loan applications through online portals, using PPP funds for luxury cars and vacations instead of payroll. Every online application submission was a separate count of wire fraud – prosecutors stacked charges quickly.
Business email compromise schemes are another massive target. These involve hacking into company email accounts or impersonating executives to trick employees into wiring money to fraudulent accounts. FinCEN data shows these schemes result in millions of dollars in losses annually, and the FBI prioritizes these investigations because they often involve international criminal networks.
Cryptocurrency kiosk fraud exploded in 2024 and 2025. Scammers convince victims they’re helping law enforcement, fixing computer problems, or paying off fake warrants – then direct them to send cash through crypto kiosks. In 2024 alone, the FBI received over 10,956 complaints involving cryptocurrency kiosks, with victim losses around $246.7 million. FinCEN issued a notice in 2025 warning financial institutions about these schemes – and federal prosecutors are charging defendants with wire fraud for every fraudulent transaction instruction sent electronically.
Investment fraud and Ponzi schemes remain on the DOJ’s priority list. The Department of Justice announced its White-Collar Enforcement Plan on May 12, 2025, explicitly prioritizing “fraud that victimizes US investors, individuals, and markets including, but not limited to, Ponzi schemes, investment fraud, elder fraud.” If you sent emails or made calls to investors with false promises about returns, each communication is a separate wire fraud count.
Government contract fraud triggers wire fraud charges when contractors submit false invoices or fake documentation electronically. Healthcare fraud – Medicare fraud, Medicaid fraud – gets charged as wire fraud when billing submissions go through electronic systems. The common thread is simple: if you used electronic communication to further any fraudulent scheme, federal prosecutors will charge wire fraud.
Federal Penalties for Wire Fraud in 2025
A single count of wire fraud carries up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. That’s the baseline – but penalties escalate fast. If your wire fraud affects a financial institution or connects to federal disaster relief programs, you’re facing up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine per count.
Here’s what makes wire fraud so dangerous: every separate electronic communication can be charged as a separate count. Sent ten emails as part of your scheme? That’s ten counts, each carrying 20 years. Made fifteen phone calls? Fifteen more counts. Federal prosecutors routinely charge dozens of wire fraud counts in a single indictment – and those sentences can run consecutively, meaning they stack on top of each other.
The Federal Sentencing Guidelines start wire fraud at a base offense level of 7 under Section 2B1.1, which translates to 0 to 21 months for someone with no criminal history. But – and this is critical – the loss amount dramatically increases your offense level. Fraud involving $6,500 to $15,000 adds 2 levels. $150,000 to $250,000 adds 12 levels. Over $65 million adds 30 levels to your base offense level. The guidelines can quickly push sentences into decades.
Beyond prison time and fines, wire fraud convictions come with restitution orders – you’ll be ordered to pay back every dollar victims lost, plus interest. Asset forfeiture is common, the government will seize property connected to the fraud. Professional licenses get revoked. Security clearances disappear. Your ability to work in finance, healthcare, government contracting – basically any regulated industry – ends.
The sentencing guidelines are technically advisory after United States v. Booker, but federal judges still use them as the starting point for calculating sentences. In wire fraud cases, judges regularly impose sentences at or above the guidelines range because these cases often involve sophisticated planning, multiple victims, and abuse of trust.
How the DOJ Prosecutes Wire Fraud Cases
Federal prosecutors treat wire fraud investigations like organized crime cases. The FBI, Secret Service, Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation – they all work wire fraud cases, often in task forces with FinCEN analysts tracking financial flows through Bank Secrecy Act reports.
The government starts building cases long before you know you’re under investigation. They subpoena bank records, email accounts, phone records. They interview witnesses and co-conspirators. They analyze financial transactions going back years, looking for patterns. By the time you receive a target letter or get arrested, federal prosecutors typically have a case file inches thick.
Wire fraud cases often involve cooperating witnesses – co-defendants who flipped and agreed to testify against you in exchange for reduced sentences under substantial assistance motions. The government offers 5K1.1 departures to cooperators, sometimes cutting their sentences in half or more. This creates enormous pressure on defendants to cooperate early, which is why having a lawyer from day one of an investigation matters.
Federal prosecutors also charge wire fraud alongside other offenses: money laundering, conspiracy, bank fraud, tax evasion. Each additional charge increases your sentencing exposure and gives the government more leverage to force a plea deal. The government’s conviction rate in federal court is over 90% – they don’t bring charges unless they believe they can win.
At Spodek Law Group – we’ve seen how federal prosecutors operate in these cases. They’re aggressive, they’re well-resourced, and they view wire fraud as a priority crime. Our team includes former federal prosecutors who understand how the government builds these cases from the inside. We know their playbook.
Why You Need a Federal Defense Lawyer Immediately
If you’re under investigation for wire fraud, every decision you make from this moment forward affects your case outcome. Talking to federal agents without a lawyer present is the fastest way to destroy your defense – agents will use your statements against you, even if you think you’re explaining your innocence. Federal prosecutors will quote your words in their indictment and at trial.
The timing of your legal representation matters enormously. If we’re involved before charges are filed, we can sometimes negotiate with prosecutors, present exculpatory evidence, and potentially avoid indictment altogether. Once you’re indicted, your options narrow – though we still fight cases at trial and win.
Wire fraud cases involve complex financial evidence, electronic communications, expert testimony about banking systems and cryptocurrency. You need lawyers who understand both the technology and the law. We work with forensic accountants, digital forensics experts, and investigators to challenge the government’s case at every point.
Federal sentencing in fraud cases requires sophisticated advocacy. The difference between a guidelines sentence and a downward variance can be decades of your life. We prepare detailed sentencing memoranda, present mitigation evidence, challenge loss calculations – because the government always inflates loss amounts, and we fight to get those numbers down.
At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled federal fraud cases that other lawyers said were unwinnable. Todd Spodek represented Anna Delvey in one of the most publicized fraud trials in recent history – a case that became a Netflix series. We represented the Ghislaine Maxwell juror in the misconduct scandal that made national headlines. We secured a six-month sentence for a client in a $12 million Ponzi scheme case with 40 victims – a result that shocked prosecutors who expected years in federal prison.
Our approach is different from other firms. We only take cases we believe we can impact meaningfully. We’re available 24/7 because federal investigations don’t operate on business hours – agents execute search warrants at dawn, and you need a lawyer who answers the phone. We’ve been featured in the New York Post, Newsweek, Bloomberg, Business Insider for our federal defense work, and we have former prosecutors on our team who know how the government thinks.
Wire fraud charges are serious – twenty to thirty years serious, career-ending serious, life-changing serious. The federal criminal justice system is not forgiving, and federal prosecutors have nearly unlimited resources to pursue convictions. You need lawyers who match that intensity, who have the experience to challenge their evidence, and who will fight for you at every stage. That’s what we do.