Reliance not required. I know. It's hornbook law that in order to prove a case for fraud, you have to show reliance. Well, according to the Second Circuit in Ideal Steel Supply Corp. v. Anza, reliance is not required to state a RICO claim based on mail or wire fraud. In that case, Ideal's competitior was gaining a competitive advantage by not charging tax to customers who paid in cash. The competitor sent fraudulent tax information to the government. This practice was put in place, according to Ideal, to give its competitor a competitive advantage over Ideal and to gain customers it would not be able to obtain absent the practice. The District Court dismissed the complaint, holding that because Ideal did not rely on the fraudulent tax information, it lacked standing. The Second Circuit held that reliance was not necessary. What was necessary was a showing that Ideal was an intended victim of the fraud and that its injury was proximately caused by the fraud. The decision can be found at the Second Circuit website. The decision came down on July 2, 2004.