Opinion ID: 578193
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to List the Line of Credit

Text: 55 At trial, the government presented evidence--a resolution of First Finance dated February 13, 1987 (Government's Exhibit 3)--indicating that First Finance already had extended Haddock the $350,000 line of credit at the time he completed his financial statement on April 1, 1987. Haddock testified at trial that the line of credit did not exist on April 1, but that he had created Exhibit 3 after April 1 and had backdated the resolution. On appeal, Haddock no longer contends that the line of credit did not exist on April 1; instead, he now contends that failure to list a line of credit that had not yet been drawn upon is not a material, false statement as required by § 1014. 56 By returning a verdict of guilty on Count 2, the jury could have discredited Haddock's testimony that the line of credit was created after April 1, 1987 and was then backdated to February 13, 1987. The jury's perception of Haddock's testimony regarding the existence of the line of credit also could have influenced its determination of whether Haddock knowingly concealed the line of credit in order to obtain the $711,000 loan from Kaw Valley State Bank. In addition, based on evidence presented at trial regarding Haddock's position as president and chairman of the board of two different banks, the jury could have concluded that Haddock was aware that the existence of a $350,000 line of credit was germane to his creditworthiness. The form financial statement Haddock filled out clearly requested a complete disclosure of Haddock's financial position. We have reviewed the statement and conclude that the category entitled Contingent Liabilities--Other special debt is a point at which a reasonable jury could have concluded that Haddock should have listed an open line of credit that was material to his financial position. Under these circumstances, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, we conclude that a reasonable jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Haddock knew that the line of credit was relevant to his financial position and, therefore, that failure to disclose the line of credit was equivalent to a knowingly false statement.