Opinion ID: 345177
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dolwig.

Text: 16 The government's proof at trial showed that, among other things, Dolwig performed the following acts in relation to the Eurovest scheme: As trustee of the account into which the advance fees were deposited, he participated in setting up a fictitious escrow. There was no escrow, and Dolwig knew it. The account was simply a conduit to move money from the victims to Gorwitz. Dolwig reassured Paul Heck as to the substantiality of the Eurovest principals; he failed to inform other Eurovest clients after he knew of problems Paul Heck was having in securing his letter of credit; he appeared with appellant Kaplan in a hotel different from the one in which Kaplan had told Heck he would be, and Dolwig's wife aided Kaplan in eluding Heck. 17 Dolwig does not question the factual accuracy of the government's proof, but contends that it fails to establish the requisite intent on his part to join or participate in the conspiracy. Dolwig claims that he himself was a victim who was duped into lending his good name to the Eurovest enterprise. This was a question for the jury. Although the evidence against Dolwig is entirely circumstantial, it does not have to exclude every hypothesis but that of guilt. United States v. Nelson, supra. Once the existence of a conspiracy is shown, only slight evidence is needed to connect a defendant with it. United States v. Marotta, 518 F.2d 681, 684 (9th Cir. 1975); Fox v. United States, 381 F.2d 125, 129 (9th Cir. 1967). 18 The jury could infer from the evidence that Dolwig knowingly participated in the conspiracy. It was proved that he did nothing to stop the fraud or warn others after Heck had told him that the scheme probably was a total fraud.     (A) conspirator's intent to defraud may be inferred from the fact that he personally knew that the venture was operating deceitfully   . Phillips v. United States, 356 F.2d 297, 303 (9th Cir. 1965), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 952, 86 S.Ct. 1573, 16 L.Ed.2d 548 (1966). As we hold that the jury's decision had support in the evidence, we must affirm Dolwig's conviction of conspiracy in this case. 19