Opinion ID: 778518
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Facilitation

Text: 37 The third requirement is that the debtor's vulnerability or susceptibility facilitated the defendant's crime in some manner; that is, there was `a nexus between the victim's vulnerability and the crime's ultimate success.' Iannone, 184 F.3d at 220 (quoting Monostra, 125 F.3d at 190). Sometimes a victim's vulnerability makes him sympathetic but does not facilitate the crime. See Monostra, 125 F.3d at 191 (finding no indication that victim's visual impairment facilitated defendant's efforts to defraud banks). In this case, however, a clear causal connection exists. The debtors' particular vulnerabilities made it much more likely that Zats' heavy-handed methods would succeed. It is difficult to conceive that debtors with more financial resources, less urgent personal circumstances, or a better understanding of their rights would have agreed to his demands. In many cases, Zats collected from debtors who owed no debt or less than he claimed. In other cases, he apparently collected funds that were legally exempt from collection. Less vulnerable debtors might have refused to cooperate and in any event would have been better able to protect their rights. 38 Completing the causal chain, the ability to collect from vulnerable debtors allowed Zats to commit the crimes to which he pled guilty — defrauding the creditors who were his clients. Thus, the vulnerabilities that Zats exploited in the debtors sufficiently facilitated his offenses.