 At least from the 1970s , and perhaps earlier , the federal appellate courts permitted mail fraud prosecutions of public officials deprive the public of their intangible right to honest services . According to Professor John C. Coffee , " [ t ] he mid 1970s saw the flowering of the ' intangible rights doctrine , ' an exotic flower that quickly overgrew the legal landscape in the manner of the kudzu vine until by the mid @-@ 1980s few ethical or fiduciary breaches seemed beyond its potential reach . " In McNally v. United States ( 1987 ) , the Supreme Court held that a " scheme or artifice to defraud " under the mail and wire fraud statutes did not include a scheme or artifice to defraud another of the intangible right to honest services . In 1988 , Congress responded by adding 18 U.S.C. § 1346 which provides : 
