Bascuñán v. Elsaca

Plaintiffs filed suit alleging that defendants, while located in foreign nations, used the mail or wires to order fraudulent asset transfers from plaintiffs' New York bank accounts to defendants' own accounts. The district court held that all but one of the schemes were impermissibly extraterritorial under either civil RICO, 18 U.S.C. 1964(c), or the mail, wire, and bank fraud statutes plaintiffs cited as predicates to the civil RICO cause of action. The district court found the remaining scheme, standing alone, did not constitute a pattern of racketeering activity under RICO. At issue was whether the conduct violating the predicate statutes was extraterritorial, the application of civil RICO to plaintiff's alleged injuries was extraterritorial, and whether the surviving schemes amounted to a pattern of racketeering activity.The Second Circuit held that each of the schemes to defraud, except for the Sham Management Fees Scheme, calls for domestic applications of 18 U.S.C. 1962(c), 1962(d), 1341, 1343, and 1344(2). The court also held that the district court abused its discretion by dismissing the state law claims for lack of supplemental jurisdiction. Therefore, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "Bascuñán v. Elsaca" on Justia Law