Wang pleaded guilty to violating the Commodity Exchange Act by Making a False Report in Connection with a Commodities Transaction in violation of 7 U.S.C. § 6b(a)(1)(B). The statute rendered it unlawful to "willfully [] make or cause to be made to the other person any false report or statement or willfully to enter or cause to be entered for the other person any false record.” Wang was ordered deported as a non-citizen convicted of a crime of fraud or deceit results in the loss of more than $10,000 to the victim. He challenged this finding on the ground that the statute does not require the false report or statement to be material, a necessity for the conviction to qualify as a crime of deceit or fraud.
The Third Circuit agreed that the term “false statement” does not have a settled common law meaning and “does not imply a materiality requirement." "The words of the statute do not give us any basis to conclude that materiality is a required element of the offense. Accordingly, for all of these reasons, we will hold that the Board erred by concluding Section 6b(a)(1)(B) requires evidence of materiality."
The full text of Wang v. Attorney General can be found here: