Brief filed: 08/12/2024
Documents
United States v. Shetty
W.D. Wash.; Case No. 2:23-cr-00084-TL
Argument(s)
For decades, the Supreme Court has steered a consistent campaign to rein in over-broad constructions of the federal fraud statutes like the interpretation the government urges this Court to adopt. The Supreme Court has intervened again and again—often unanimously—to check overzealous prosecutors’ attempts to criminalize purportedly fraudulent conduct that falls outside the lines Congress has drawn. Amicus National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) believes this case reflects yet another improper attempt by the government to stretch the wire-fraud statute beyond its breaking point. In this instance, the government is attempting to criminalize an allegedly selfinterested investment decision made by an executive with the authority to make such an investment—simply because he allegedly did not disclose complete and accurate information to others at the company. That is not wire fraud, as evidenced by the governments’ moving-target attempts to characterize the purported criminality. And even if the Court ultimately concludes that this case falls within the grey area of the fraud statute’s ambit, it should nevertheless dismiss as a matter of statutory interpretation, due process, and lenity.
Author(s)
James Anglin Flynn, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Boston, MA; Aaron Brecher, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Seattle, WA
