Scheme to defraud in the second degree · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 190.60 Scheme to defraud in the second degree.
1. A person is guilty of a scheme to defraud in the second degree when he engages in a scheme constituting a systematic ongoing course of conduct with intent to defraud more than one person or to obtain property from more than one person by false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises, and so obtains property from one or more of such persons.
2. In any prosecution under this section, it shall be necessary to prove the identity of at least one person from whom the defendant so obtained property, but it shall not be necessary to prove the identity of any other intended victim.
Scheme to defraud in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor.
A person commits second-degree scheme to defraud by carrying out a systematic, ongoing course of conduct intended to defraud more than 1 person or obtain property from more than 1 person through false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, and thereby obtaining property from at least 1 of them. ★ Prosecutors must identify at least 1 person from whom property was obtained, but need not identify every intended victim. It is a class A misdemeanor.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.