U.S. v. Nayak

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s motion to dismiss his honest-services mail fraud indictment arising out of alleged kickback scheme in which defendant paid physicians to refer patients to defendant’s outpatient surgery centers, even though govt. failed to allege any sort of tangible harm to patients in form of physical or monetary harm arising out of said referrals. Actual or intended tangible harm to victim is not element of offense of honest-services mail fraud. Moreover, although govt. conceded that no physical or monetary harm occurred to instant patients, intangible harm from fraud can be quite substantial in doctor/patient relationships, where patients depend on their doctors to provide them with honest medical services in their best interests.