No. 23-909October Term 2024Decided May 22, 2025
Stamatios Kousisis and Alpha Painting and Construction Co., Inc., Petitioners v. United States
The Supreme Court affirmed a conviction for wire fraud, ruling that a defendant can be guilty of fraud for inducing a victim to enter a transaction through material lies, even if the defendant did not intend to cause the victim any financial loss.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released May 22, 2025
- What it's about
The Supreme Court affirmed a conviction for wire fraud, ruling that a defendant can be guilty of fraud for inducing a victim to enter a transaction through material lies, even if the defendant did not intend to cause the victim any financial loss. The case involved a scheme to secure government contracts by falsely claiming to use disadvantaged business enterprises.
Question presented
Can deception to induce a commercial exchange constitute mail or wire fraud, even if inflicting economic harm on the alleged victim was not the object of the scheme?
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit / Decision released May 22, 2025
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Timing
Decided May 22, 2025
The Court released its decision 164 days after oral argument on December 9, 2024. The median for cases argued in December is 148 days.
Documents
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Mar 30, 2026
- Method
- Methodology
Primary materials9
Supreme Court docket 23-909
docket | Mar 30, 2026
Primary case document
Supreme Court document | Mar 30, 2026
CourtListener docket record
docket | Mar 30, 2026
Questions Presented
brief | Mar 8, 2026
opinion
opinion | May 22, 2025
Kousisis
opinion | May 22, 2025
Oral Arguments - Kousisis
audio | Dec 9, 2024
Petition
brief | Feb 20, 2024
Lower Court Orders/Opinions
order | Dec 8, 2023