“Honest Services” Fraud – Strong Medicine for “Pay to Play”

This article provides brief guidance as to the manner in which courts have interpreted 18 U.S.C. _ 1346, which generally provides that for purposes of federal mail and wire fraud statutes (18 U.S.C. __ 1341 and 1343, respectively), a “scheme or artifice to defraud” includes a “scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right to honest services.” Specifically, this article examines the manner in which courts have interpreted the broad language of _ 1346 in circumstances that do not involve the explicit bribery of public officials.