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Irregularities in state court proceedings generally do not violate the mail or wire fraud statutes. “t is settled law that ‘a promise of future action or a prediction of future events cannot, standing alone, be a basis for fraud because it is not a representation, there is no right to rely on it, and it is not false when made.'” Hall v. 2010) (“a plaintiff must allege that some kind of deceptive conduct occurred in order to plead a RICO violation predicated on mail fraud”). As general rule, a scheme to defraud must relate to past or presently existing facts. Catholic Health Systems of Long Island, Inc. Mailings that increase the probability that the perpetrator will be detected and apprehended are not in furtherance of a scheme to defraud and do not constitute mail fraud. There are other significant limitations on the mail and wire fraud statutes. Absent an independent duty, such as a fiduciary duty or an explicit statutory duty, failure to disclose cannot be the basis of a mail or wire fraud violation. A mail or wire fraud violation can be premised on a non-disclosure if there is an independent duty of disclosure that the defendant has breached. One may violate the mail or wire fraud statutes even if there is no affirmative misrepresentation. As a result, almost any business that allegedly engages in common law fraud can theoretically be sued under the RICO Act. Because every business or corporation in the United States uses the mails or wires to make money, any business who allegedly engages in common law fraud arguably violates the federal mail and wire fraud statutes. Note that the fraudulent statements themselves need not be transmitted by mail or wire it is only required that the scheme to defraud be advanced, concealed or furthered by the use of the U.S. The mail and wire fraud statutes essentially make it criminal for any one to use the mails or wires in furtherance of a scheme to defraud. The extensive use of RICO in the civil context is almost solely attributable to the inclusion of mail and wire fraud as predicate acts.