Lying for a contract? Still wire fraud - even if the job gets done.

 In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held that defrauding the government to win a contract is still federal wire fraud - even if the government gets what it paid for. The case involved a Pennsylvania contractor who falsely claimed to use a disadvantaged business to meet federal diversity requirements, but instead funneled millions through a sham “pass-through” entity.

The contractor argued that since the state got the full value of the work, no harm, no foul. The Court wasn’t buying it. Justice Jackson, writing for the majority, clarified that under the wire fraud statute (18 U.S.C. §1343), it’s the material deception used to obtain money - not whether the victim ultimately suffered economic loss - that matters.

This decision shuts the door on a popular defense in government contract fraud and reinforces that compliance with public program rules is not optional.