Opinion ID: 197346
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Picking up the Tab.

Text: 64 It is apodictic that restitution only can be ordered to redress a loss to a victim. See United States v. Gibbens, 25 F.3d 28, 33 (1st Cir.1994). Using this truism as a lever, Fonseca and Yeghian question whether the VWPA allows the court to order restitution to the FDIC for losses originally sustained by the (now failed) Bank. The question is easily answered. 65 Following existing circuit precedent, we hold that the benefit of the VWPA's remedial provisions extends to a government agency which, in the exercise of duly delegated powers, steps into the shoes of the original victim. See id. at 32-35. Thus, if a failed bank was a victim of the defendant's criminal activity, the FDIC, as its insurer and receiver, itself qualifies as a victim for purposes of a restitutionary order under the VWPA. See United States v. Phaneuf, 91 F.3d 255, 265 (1st Cir.1996). 66