Mark Thomas Emery

Supreme Court narrows 'honest services' fraud statute

The Supreme Court has vacated a ruling affirming a former Enron executive's conviction under the 'honest services' component of the federal ban on mail and wire fraud. The decision curbs a widely used prosecutorial tool by limiting the scope of the statute to fraud involving bribery and kickbacks, but does not eliminate ambiguity as to who is covered and the source of the underlying fiduciary obligations.