Pasquantino v. United States

Summary

The Court held that the federal wire fraud statute criminalizes schemes to defraud a foreign government of tax revenue, and this interpretation does not violate the common-law revenue rule. The opinion affirms the convictions of petitioners who smuggled liquor into Canada to evade taxes. Justice Ginsburg, dissenting, would have reversed, finding the statute does not extend to foreign tax laws under the presumption against extraterritoriality and the revenue rule.