Chang

Ming-Chu Chang, Kang-Jye Chen, Ching-Chieh Chang and A.C.I. Trading, Inc. (collectively “Appellants”) appeal a district court decision that dismissed their second amended complaint without leave to amend. Appellants brought their action against Eugene Gabrych, Marian Gabrych and Eddie Lin (collectively “Appellees”) for alleged violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-68 (1988), arising out of a series of real estate transactions conducted in 1989 and 1990. The district court dismissed the complaint, finding that Appellants failed to allege a cognizable RICO enterprise.

This appeal raises the issue whether the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576 , 101 S.Ct. 2524 , 69 L.Ed.2d 246 (1981), requires a RICO enterprise to have an ascertainable structure separate and apart from that inherent in the pattern of racketeering activity, or whether Turkette permits a RICO enterprise to be no more than the sum of the predicate racketeering acts. We hold that a RICO enterprise must have an ascertainable structure separate and apart from the structure inherent in the conduct of the pattern of…