Justia White Collar Crime Opinion Summaries

The defendant was convicted of wire fraud in connection with a fraudulent investment and mortgage brokerage business and sentenced to 144 months. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. Evidence turned over by the defendant's wife, who was the former corporate secretary and one of the business organizers, was properly admitted; she was not an agent for the government, which was unaware that she was collecting evidence, but acted for private reasons. It does not matter whether she had a right to take the documents, but the defendant did, in fact, share custody of the records with his wife and she had the right to consent to a search. There was sufficient evidence that the defendant intended to defraud his victims and the above-guidelines sentence was reasonable in light of evidence of criminal history and that the defendant was planning new fraudulent schemes.

The company filed civil claims under Massachusetts state laws and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. 1961 after discovering a scheme under which its employees and outsiders duped it into paying fraudulent invoices. Other defendants settled. After a trial, a former employee and an outsider, who advanced funds for the scheme, were found liable to the company. The First Circuit affirmed. There was sufficient evidence that the outsider knowingly and willfully participated in the scheme to support a verdict under RICO. That the jury did not find her liable for conspiracy to violate RICO is irrelevant. The evidence also supported a verdict of common law fraud; any error in a "willful blindness" jury instruction was harmless. Inclusion of anticipated attorney fees in an appeal bond was appropriate.