U.S. Appellate Court Upholds Application of Wire Fraud Laws to Foreign Tax Fraud

On December 5, 1997, U.S. law enforcement and revenue officials obtained a victory when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overruled the dismissal of an indictment that alleged money laundering conspiracy in connection with an alleged series of financial transactions designed to promote a scheme to defraud the Canadian government of tax revenue, in violation of the wire fraud statute, 18 U.S. Sec. 1343. As a result of the First Circuit decision in United States v. Boots, there is now a split in the circuits that indicates the matter may eventually wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court... [more]