United States v. Abrahams
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
493 F. Supp. 296 (1980)
- Written by Brett Stavin, JD
Facts
From July 1, 1976, through January 15, 1978, Alan Herbert Abrahams (defendant) operated a business named Lloyd, Carr & Company (Lloyd). Abrahams allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to defraud investors by representing that Lloyd would use their funds to purchase options regarding certain commodity futures, although in fact such options were never purchased. The federal government (plaintiff) investigated Abrahams’s actions and later charged Abrahams with mail fraud and wire fraud, alleging that Abrahams devised the scheme to defraud the public using the mail and wire communications. Abrahams moved to dismiss the indictment on the theory that mail and wire fraud involving commodity options could be criminally prosecuted only under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), and not the general mail- and wire-fraud statutes. Abrahams contended that the CEA’s comprehensive regulatory framework for commodities trading impliedly repealed the more general mail- and wire-fraud statutes for actions involving alleged commodities fraud. The federal government contended that such fraudulent schemes could be prosecuted under either the general mail- and wire-fraud statutes or the CEA.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Connor, J.)
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