Overview

• The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the fraud convictions of Alpha Painting & Construction and project manager Stamatios Kousisis for misrepresenting compliance with disadvantaged business enterprise requirements.
• The case centered on fraudulent-inducement theory, with the Court ruling that economic harm to the victim is not required under the federal wire fraud statute.
• Alpha Painting falsely claimed it partnered with a disadvantaged business, which acted only as a pass-through without contributing to the projects.
• Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s majority opinion emphasized that the scheme met the statutory definition of wire fraud by obtaining contracts through false representations.
• The decision marks a rare win for federal prosecutors, contrasting with recent Supreme Court rulings that narrowed the scope of white-collar fraud prosecutions.