Opinion ID: 45022
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fraud (Counts 2 through 43)

Text: DeAngelis argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction on most of the remaining counts because the government failed to prove the existence of fraud, which is an element of each of the offenses challenged here. Under the wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, “[a] scheme to defraud requires proof of material representations, or the omission or concealment of material facts.” Hasson, 333 F.3d at 1270-71. The “scheme or artifice to defraud” language in the mail fraud and wire fraud statutes are construed identically. Id. at 1271 n.7. 7 Fraud is also an element of transportation of stolen property, 18 U.S.C. § 2314; and “[m]ail and wire fraud constitute ‘specified unlawful activity’ under the [money laundering] statutes.” Hasson, 333 F.3d at 1274. The evidence supports the charges that DeAngelis defrauded his investors. The investors testified that DeAngelis represented to them that he would use their money to make bridge loans, purchase pain clinics, finance real estate ventures, or buy shares in GIASI when it made its initial public offering. DeAngelis never used the investors’ money for these purposes. The investors’ funds were spent on clothing, automobiles, personal expenses of DeAngelis and his associates, and Ponzi payments to the investors. Only one payment was ever made to a pain clinic, and that check was dishonored. The director of the clinic testified that none of its funds came from GIASI or Velvet Hammer. DeAngelis produced financial statements that misrepresented the financial condition of his companies, and DeAngelis falsely represented himself as Greg Brown, both over the phone and in person. Another investor testified that he received false mortgage notes from DeAngelis as a security for his investment. Several investors testified that DeAngelis did not tell them that he was going to prison, where he could not conduct business, and they would not have invested with him if they had known 8 about his incarceration. Viewed in the light most favorable to the government, the evidence supports the charges that DeAngelis engaged in a scheme to defraud.