Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

RICO — Failure to Allege Racketeering Activity as Enumerated in 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1) Is Fatal to RICO Claim — List of Predicate Acts in Statute Is Exhaustive

Ghosh v. Uniti Bank, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 6146 (9th Cir. Mar. 31, 2014):

We first address Ghosh's claims. A civil RICO plaintiff must allege a pattern of racketeering activity in order to state a claim under 18 U.S.C. § 1962. Sedima S.P.R.L. v. Imrex Co., Inc, 473 U.S. 479, 481-82 (1985). Ghosh and Investments, however, alleged only that Uniti engaged in fraudulent and predatory lending practices--acts that are not among the statutorily enumerated examples of racketeering activity provided by 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(B). See 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(B). Because the list of criminal acts in § 1961(1)(B) is exhaustive, the district court properly dismissed Ghosh's and Investments' complaint for failure to state a RICO claim upon which relief may be granted.

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