---
type: "LegalText"
title: "18 U.S.C. § 1346"
description: "Definition of “scheme or artifice to defraud”"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 18
title_name: "CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE"
chapter_number: "63"
chapter_name: "MAIL FRAUD AND OTHER FRAUD OFFENSES"
section: "1346"
citation: "18 U.S.C. § 1346"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc18@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t18/s1346"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-18/usc18.xml"
source_hash: "4d1465ff46150dc0b955dd501a94ebdd59f7c04292800f1f31ad1bd427ab5cab"
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text_hash: "7320f75d6f2d36ff6ec239238620141a25c21874b267ab64ef864c1df5b1e075"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 18 U.S.C. § 1346 - Definition of “scheme or artifice to defraud”

## Text

For the purposes of this chapter, the term “scheme or artifice to defraud” includes a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services.

(Added Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7603(a), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4508.)