the mailing just settled things between the bank and the hotels, not between Maze and the bank, or
Maze and the motels. Therefore, the Court said that the use of the mails was not in furtherance of the
scheme.
U.S. v. Sampson, 9 L.Ed. 2d 136 (1962), illustrates how the use of the mails after receipt of money
may still constitute "use of the mails" for the purpose of executing a scheme. The scheme in Sampson
consisted of a phony company which was supposed to arrange loans for businesses or to help
businessmen sell their businesses. The company's salesmen would con businessmen into paying an
advance fee for the company's work. The salesmen would convert the fees into cashier's checks and
then mail them to the home office. The home office would cash the checks and the money went into
the personal accounts of Sampson and others in the scheme. The home office would send letters to
the businessmen stating that the application had been accepted. The mailing also included a form
letter which stated that financial data had been forwarded to various lending institutions (this was true;
"rudimentary" data was sent to lending institutions). The letter also stated that there would be no
refund of any fees. The Court found that the cover letters were sent out to lull the victims by making
them think that services were being performed on their behalf. The Court noted that the indictments
alleged that the cover letters had been part and parcel of the original scheme. The Court said Section
1341 would cover such a scheme. The mails were used throughout the scheme and the scheme was
still ongoing even after the money was received.
M. 18 USC 1343 - Wire Fraud.
"Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining
money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representatives, or promises,
transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in
interstate or foreign commerce, any writing, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of
executing such scheme or artifice shall be fined not more than
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,000 or imprisoned not more than
five years, or both." Wire fraud and mail fraud are very similar. The main difference is the
requirement of interstate commerce under wire fraud. In other words, wire fraud must cross state
lines, mail fraud does not have to cross state lines.
With the exception of interstate or foreign commerce, the wire fraud statute is interpreted by the
courts in the same way as the mail fraud statute. It is given a broad interpretation as far as the
scheme, the intent to defraud, the use of wire transmissions, and the execution of the scheme.
N. 18 USC 1029 - Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Access Devices.
One of the things that this section does is to cover the opening left by U.S. v. Maze and cases like it.
There is now no argument over use of the mails with credit cards. It is the use of the card itself that is
penalized, and the courts do not need to consider the aftermath to determine if there was a violation.
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