Opinion ID: 199005
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Identification of the Victim

Text: The district court determined that the bankruptcy trustee was the victim for purposes of § 3663A. The victim must be one who was harmed as a result of the commission of [the] offense. 18 U.S.C. § 3663A(a)(2). While the trustee may be a victim of bankruptcy fraud, that was not the charge against Paradis. His offense was laundering the proceeds of the fraud. There is no evidence that the trustee was harmed as a result of this offense. Its effect was to conceal the proceeds of the fraud and to divert those funds from the estate where they could have been available to pay creditors who had filed claims. But again there is no evidence of harm to creditors, i.e., no evidence of creditors who filed claims that went unpaid. Because there is no evidence of identifiable victims who suffered harm as a result of Paradis's money laundering, the restitution order must be vacated.