thingofthings.substack.com/p/fraudsters-turn-yourself-in-fad
1 correction found
In the U.S. at least, fraud sentences are based on how much money you stole, which is determined by how much money was supposed to be there, not how much money you actually misappropriated.
Federal fraud sentencing does not use a blanket rule based on what "was supposed to be there." Under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, loss is generally the greater of actual loss or intended loss, and it is reduced by money returned or collateral recovered in many cases.
Full reasoning
This sentence misstates how federal fraud sentencing works in the United States.
Under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the relevant loss figure for many fraud cases is not simply "how much money was supposed to be there." The Commission's official text says that for §2B1.1, "Loss is the greater of actual loss or intended loss". It further defines actual loss as the "reasonably foreseeable pecuniary harm that resulted from the offense" and intended loss as the pecuniary harm the defendant purposely sought to inflict.
That directly contradicts the article's blanket rule that the amount is determined by "how much money was supposed to be there, not how much money you actually misappropriated." In addition, the Guidelines say loss shall be reduced by money returned before detection and by certain recovered collateral, which is also inconsistent with a simple "supposed to be there" measure.
Loss amount is an important driver of federal fraud sentences, but the governing rule is a legal definition of actual or intended pecuniary loss, with credits and special rules—not a universal accounting-shortfall rule.
2 sources
- 827 | United States Sentencing Commission
Section 2B1.1(b)(1) ... 'Loss is the greater of actual loss or intended loss.' 'Actual loss' means the reasonably foreseeable pecuniary harm that resulted from the offense. 'Intended loss' means the pecuniary harm that the defendant purposely sought to inflict.
- Annotated 2025 Chapter 2 A-C | United States Sentencing Commission
Credits Against Loss.—Loss shall be reduced by the following: (i) The money returned ... to the victim before the offense was detected ... (ii) ... the amount the victim has recovered at the time of sentencing from disposition of the collateral, or ... the fair market value of the collateral at the time of sentencing.