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As the article explains, wire fraud is about defrauding consumers, and securities fraud is about deceiving investors. Tesla is under investigation for both.
by bunderbunder 2y ago
As the article explains, wire fraud is about defrauding consumers, and securities fraud is about deceiving investors. Tesla is under investigation for both.
- paxys 2y agoWire fraud is nowadays just a catch-all for "crime involving money". Regardless of all other specifics of the case, it is a certainty that at some point someone sent a text message or used a computer, so that's what the feds will go after. Ran a scammy crypto exchange out of the Bahamas? Took money from investors for a failed blood testing company? Raised money for a political campaign but spent it on hookers? Paid a hitman to kill your spouse? All wire fraud.
- bryanlarsen 2y agoAnd pretty much everything a public company does is securities fraud: [1] To oversimplify, a company is required to disclose risks, and everything is a risk, so it's security fraud if it's not in the disclosure, or if it's misrepresented in the disclosure. 1: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-06-26/everything-everywhere-is-securities-fraud https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-06-26/everyt...
- rtkwe 2y agoNot just a computer but just using the phone is also a wire fraud trigger too. It is basically any fraud these days though given how much communication happens through some 'wire'.
- bunderbunder 2y agoYup. It's a straightforward consequence of how society has evolved over time. "Wire fraud" specifically means using electronic communication channels to defraud something. Since most business is conducted over electronic communication channels nowadays, it all falls into that category. IANAL, but I doubt that there's any great alternative that doesn't involve rewriting 100 years' worth of legislation and case law, which generally distinguishes categories of fraud by the medium over which they occur.