Kousisis v. United States
Issues
Does a private contractor cause “harm” as required for mail or wire fraud when it fraudulently misrepresents to the government that it hired a socially disadvantaged business as promised?
This case asks the Court to determine whether a private contractor’s fraudulent misrepresentation to a government agency regarding the contractor’s subcontracting duties causes harm sufficient for a conviction of wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Kousisis argues that the fraudulent-inducement theory that formed the basis for his conviction expands the notion of a property interest beyond the language of § 1343. Kousisis claims that expansion would convert all purposeful breaches of contract into federal crimes with harsh sentences, increasing the size of the federal prison population. The United States argues that the fraudulent-inducement theory fits within the statute and the Court’s precedent. In any event, the United States claims that the government agency overspent on the project because of Kousisis’s misrepresentations, and the government has an interest in protecting against such harms. The United States asserts that overcriminalization is not an issue, and that contractors should not escape prosecution for misrepresentations to obtain government contracts.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
(1) Whether deception to induce a commercial exchange can constitute mail or wire fraud, even if inflicting economic harm on the alleged victim was not the object of the scheme; (2) whether a sovereign’s statutory, regulatory, or policy interest is a property interest when compliance is a material term of payment for goods or services; and (3) whether all contract rights are “property.”
The federal Department of Transportation (“DOT”) funds infrastructure projects overseen by state agencies throughout the country. United States v. Kousisis at 233. DOT also operates a program to increase the participation of businesses run by the socially and economically disadvantaged—called “Disadvantaged Business Enterprises” (“DBEs”)—in federally funded projects.
Additional Resources
- Chuck Kreindler et al., All Lies Are Not the Same: The Federal Fraud Statute Under Attack, New York Law Journal at Law.com (July 05, 2024).
- Daniel Ahn & Kendra Perkins Norwood, Federal Fraud Reconsidered: What’s at Issue in Kousisis v. United States, and What are the White-Collar and Government Contracts Implications? Reed Smith (July 1, 2024).
- Kristy Bleizeffer, Still Free: U.S. Supreme Court Throws Disgraced Former Temple Fox Dean a Lifeline, Yahoo (June 14, 2024).