Opinion ID: 200991
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Scheme # 1: The Purchase of the Horse Farm

Text: 5 On April 6, 2000, McCann provided Rossman at Winniman & Winniman a counterfeit $2 million check (purportedly drawn on an Italian bank) and asked her to deposit the check into the firm's trust account. McCann advised Rossman that he planned to use this money to pay for, inter alia, his purchase of a horse farm in Windsor, Connecticut. Based on these representations, Rossman prepared a deposit ticket and immediately issued to McCann several checks drawn on the trust account, including a $1 million check for the purchase of the horse farm. Rossman and McCann then traveled together to the firm's bank to deposit the check, but Rossman left to run errands before they reached the teller. McCann left the bank without depositing the $2 million check. 6 Later that day, McCann (posing as D. Dacques Sonner, the Chairman of International Land & Livestock) finalized an earlier-agreed-upon purchase of the horse farm by providing Dennis McCormack (an attorney for the seller's trust) with the $1 million check drawn on the Winniman & Winniman trust account. McCormack advised McCann that the deed would be delivered once the check had cleared. The following day, McCormack mailed Winniman & Winniman a letter stating that he was depositing the check into the seller's trust account and that he would disburse funds from that account on April 12th unless he heard otherwise. Hearing nothing, McCormack thereafter wrote checks on the seller's trust account. When these checks bounced (because the $1 million check never cleared), McCormack immediately phoned McCann, who then promised to straighten out what he alleged was a mix-up at the bank. 7 Meanwhile, McCann (posing as attorney Danny Combs with Winniman & Winniman) had been in simultaneous loan negotiations with West Coast businessman William Abraczinskas. McCann was seeking from Abraczinskas a quick infusion of approximately $2 million in show money — money needed merely to show the sellers that Combs's client ( i.e., McCann) had the wherewithal to purchase the farm — that would immediately be repaid, together with $1 million interest. Abraczinskas was told that the show money would not be released without his permission and that it would simply remain in the Winniman & Winniman trust account until repaid. 1 8 Abraczinskas eventually agreed and, on April 13, 2000, wired $1.56 million to the trust account. The account now being funded (albeit with show money), McCann met with McCormack on April 14th and provided him with a $1 million certified check (which McCormack deposited). It was only after McCann had withdrawn the show money and received a deed to the horse farm that a concerned Abraczinskas, in an effort to protect himself, entered into a purchase-repurchase agreement with McCann. This agreement provided, inter alia, that Abraczinskas was to take title to the farm (and five horses) until McCann repaid the loan. Once payment was received, Abraczinskas would release title back to McCann. Expecting McCann to tender payment and seeking to avoid any tax consequences, Abraczinskas — who did not want the farm in any event — did not immediately record the deed and instead accepted McCann's various explanations for the delay. 9 A few months later, in July 2000, McCann (posing as D. Dacques Sonner) telephoned McCormack and asked for a $200,000 loan to purchase an Arabian horse. Despite having already transferred to Abraczinskas the deed to the horse farm, McCann offered the farm as collateral for the loan. After a subsequent title search revealed that McCann had clear title (recall that Abraczinskas had not yet recorded), McCormack agreed to the loan and promptly recorded the mortgage. 10 Abraczinskas recorded his deed on August 31, 2000, having never received payment from McCann on the original loan. 11