Mail Fraud Elements of the Offense

To convict under 18 U.S.C. § 1341 the government must prove three things beyond a reasonable doubt, as a district court will frame them for a jury from the statutory text. First, that the defendant knowingly devised or participated in a scheme to defraud, or to obtain money or property by means of materially false or fraudulent pretences, representations, or promises. Second, that the defendant acted with the intent to defraud. Third, that the defendant placed or caused to be placed in the mail, or deposited or caused to be deposited with a private or commercial interstate carrier, some matter for the purpose of executing the scheme.

A failure on any one element defeats the count. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. has been practicing since 1997. To discuss a mail fraud charge, request a consultation at (888) 437-7747.

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Element One: A Scheme to Defraud

A scheme to defraud is a plan or course of conduct intended to deprive another of money or property through deception. No formal agreement, written plan, or second participant is required, and the scheme need not have succeeded.

The deception must be material, meaning capable of influencing the decision of a reasonable person in the position of the alleged victim. Immaterial inaccuracies, puffery, and statements of opinion or projection are distinguishable from false statements of existing fact.

The object must be money or property. Theories resting on the deprivation of something else, such as accurate information, have been the subject of substantial appellate attention and are narrower than once asserted.

Element Two: Intent to Defraud

The intent to defraud means an intent to deceive for the purpose of causing financial or property loss, existing at the relevant time. It cannot be established simply by showing that a venture failed or that a victim suffered a loss.

Good faith negates this element entirely, even where the defendant’s belief was mistaken or unreasonable. Reliance on professional advice, sought in good faith on full disclosure and followed, operates through the same element.

Because intent is a state of mind it is proved circumstantially, which in practice means through the contemporaneous documentary record rather than through recollection offered later.

Element Three: The Mailing

The government must prove that the defendant placed or caused to be placed in the mail, or deposited or caused to be deposited with a private or commercial interstate carrier, some matter for the purpose of executing the scheme.

Two features distinguish this from the wire element in § 1343. The mailing does not need to cross state lines, so a purely intrastate postal mailing suffices. But the mailing must be for the purpose of executing the scheme, which is a genuine requirement: mailings after the scheme reached fruition, routine business mailings that would have been sent regardless, and mailings the defendant neither made nor caused are all open to challenge.

Each qualifying mailing can support a separate count, and venue depends on where the mailings occurred.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many elements does mail fraud have?

Three: a knowing scheme to defraud or to obtain money or property by materially false pretences; the intent to defraud; and a mailing, or a deposit with a private or commercial interstate carrier, made or caused by the defendant for the purpose of executing the scheme. A failure on any one element defeats the count.

Does the mailing have to cross state lines?

No. Unlike the wire element in § 1343, which requires an interstate or foreign transmission, a purely intrastate mailing through the postal service satisfies § 1341. That difference is one reason both statutes are frequently charged together in the same indictment.

Does a commercial courier count?

Yes. The statute reaches matter deposited with a private or commercial interstate carrier as well as items placed in the mail, so a package sent by courier satisfies the element. That closes the argument that a scheme which avoided the postal service falls outside the statute.

What does “for the purpose of executing the scheme” mean?

That the mailing furthered the scheme rather than merely occurring during it. This is where the element has real content: mailings sent after the money was already obtained, routine documents that would have gone out regardless, and mailings made by third parties on their own initiative are all arguably outside the requirement.

Is materiality really an element?

Materiality is part of the first element. The false pretences must be capable of influencing the decision of a reasonable person in the position of the alleged victim, so a misstatement that could not have affected the decision is not material. Prosecutions built on peripheral or technical inaccuracies are vulnerable on this basis.

Do I have to have mailed it myself?

No. Causing a mailing is sufficient, so a defendant who set in motion a process that resulted in an item being mailed satisfies the element without having posted anything. The converse is also true and useful: a mailing that a third party made independently, without the defendant causing it, does not satisfy the element.

Working With Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C.

Reading a § 1341 indictment against the elements identifies which mailings the government has actually pleaded and whether each plausibly furthered the alleged scheme. That count-by-count reading is the analytical starting point in a mail fraud case.

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor and is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. The firm has been practicing since 1997. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle criminal defense matters across those jurisdictions, which matters in federal practice because a single investigation frequently reaches conduct, witnesses, and records in more than one state. Mr. Sris brings a background in accounting and information systems from George Mason University, applied to complex financial and technology-related cases.

The firm serves Northern Virginia from 1655 Fort Myer Dr, Suite 700, Room 719, Arlington, VA 22209 and central Virginia from 7400 Beaufont Springs Drive, Suite 300, Room 395, Richmond, VA 23225. By appointment. Call (888) 437-7747 to schedule. Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747.

This page provides general information about the elements of federal mail fraud and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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