Judge John Keenan
A sealed complaint and indictment charged Wolf with wire fraud, violating 18 USC §1343, by enticing a victim into wiring him $10 million with the promise that the money would be invested and, after 18 months, yield a return "several times" the victim’s investment. Wolf spent the money on himself instead of investing it. The court denied Wolf the indictment’s dismissal or, alternatively, a bill of particulars providing details about the alleged fraud. Although the indictment does not provide much factual detail, the alleged fraud was spelled out in greater detail in the criminal complaint, to which Wolf has access. The complaint also answered questions that Wolf argued must be answered before a fraud scheme could be alleged. The court denied Wolf’s suppression of certain telephone conversations with his victim. Citing United States v. Willoughby, the court observed that the recordings involved were made with the victim’s consentindeed some had been made by the victim. Wolf’s assertion that the government forced the victim to record evidence of the alleged fraud was belied by the victim’s written consent that an FBI agent record the conversations, and by the fact that the victim himself made some of the recordings.
