Opinion ID: 396196
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: The Wire and Mail Fraud Counts

Text: Coven claims that: 51 The government did not introduce any evidence at trial linking Coven to the act alleged in count ten the transfer of funds (by wire) into the personal account of O'Connor. The government did not demonstrate that Coven promoted, participated in, or had any stake in this transfer, nor did it demonstrate that Coven even had knowledge of this patently personal transaction by O'Connor. 52 Appellant Coven's Brief at 49. Accordingly, he asserts, the wire fraud count should be dismissed as to him. 53 Coven's conclusion is incorrect. 54 To prove a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, the Government need only show that a defendant was one of the participants in a scheme to defraud, and that the mails were used in furtherance of that scheme. See, e. g., United States v. Cyphers, 556 F.2d 630, 632 (2d Cir. 1977); United States v. Finkelstein, 526 F.2d 517, 526-27 (2d Cir. 1975), cert. denied sub nom. Scardino v. United States, 425 U.S. 960, 96 S.Ct. 1742, 48 L.Ed.2d 205 (1976). Similarly, to prove a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, it need only be shown that a defendant was one of the participants in a fraudulent scheme which was furthered by the use of interstate transmission facilities. United States v. Houlihan, 332 F.2d 8, 13 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 828, 85 S.Ct. 56, 13 L.Ed.2d 37 (1964). 55 United States v. Corey, 566 F.2d 429, 430-31 n.2 (2d Cir. 1977). There was ample evidence in the record to support a finding that Coven was a participant in the overall scheme to defraud MHS, HP, receiver Glusband and the district court, and that the wire transfer of Euro-Swiss funds to O'Connor's personal account was in furtherance of that scheme. Coven was properly convicted of wire fraud. 56 In addition to Coven's specific claim that there was insufficient evidence to link him to the wire fraud, appellants contend generally that there was no evidence that the mailings and the wiring charged by the government were done other than in the usual course of business. Appellants assert, therefore, that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the mailings and the wiring were in furtherance of a scheme to defraud. 57 The evidence viewed, as it must be, in the light most favorable to the government, Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 469, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942), renders this claim ridiculous. There was abundant evidence that the mailings were used to open out-of-state bank accounts in the names of dummy corporations and to transfer Euro-Swiss assets into these and other accounts outside New York in an attempt to conceal monies from MHS, HP and the receiver, and to place them beyond the reach of New York State attachment. There was evidence establishing that the wire transfer was undertaken to remove some of the assets in one of the out-of-state accounts to O'Connor's personal account at Bache Halsey Stuart Shields, Inc. The mailings and wiring in this case were clearly central, not incidental, to the scheme to defraud. See, e. g., United States v. Braunig, 553 F.2d 777, 781-82 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 959, 97 S.Ct. 2686, 53 L.Ed.2d 277 (1977). 58