Opinion ID: 657682
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Bank Fraud, Count 29

Text: 14 Mrs. Pittman argues that there was insufficient evidence of intent to defraud to sustain her conviction on one count of bank fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1344, because there was no evidence establishing that she knew Morgan's $7,150 check, which she deposited, and immediately drew funds upon, from San Diego Trust and Savings Bank, was 13 worthless. 15 The government produced evidence that Morgan and Mrs. Pittman routinely wrote worthless checks and sham promissory notes to their victims in the double your money, advance fee, telephone and lodging frauds. 14 Evidence was also presented that Morgan and Mrs. Pittman engaged in a small trial run of their bank fraud by submitting a worthless check for $675 to the bank in October 1989, two months before the major bank fraud on December 27, 1989. On December 27, 1989, Mrs. Pittman deposited Morgan's worthless $7,150 check. Mrs. Pittman withdrew substantially all that sum within the next seven days, wiring Morgan $2,150 on the same day, and when the check was returned unpaid, the bank lost substantially all of the $7,150. The record also shows that during a phone conversation with a bank official attempting to follow-up the bad check, Mrs. Pittman refused to provide her new address or telephone number. We are of opinion that this was sufficient evidence from which the jury could infer that Mrs. Pittman knew Morgan's check was worthless, that the immediate withdrawals were a part of a plan, and that she intentionally participated in a scheme to defraud a financial institution by the deposit and withdrawals. There is no significant difference between this case and Celesia, supra, n. 14. 16 D. Wire Fraud, Mail Fraud, Interstate Transportation of Money Taken by Fraud, Counts 2-9, 11-28 17 Mrs. Pittman also argues that there was insufficient evidence of criminal intent to support her convictions on 24 counts of wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, 1 count of mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1341, and 1 count of interstate transportation of money taken by fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 2314. She argues that the evidence at trial proved only guilt by association, and that while her association with Morgan was unfortunate, it was not criminal. To convict a defendant on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and interstate transportation of money taken by fraud, the government must prove fraudulent intent. 18 U.S.C.ss 1341, 1343, 2314. Fraudulent intent can be established by circumstantial evidence and by inferences deduced from facts. United States v. Ham, 998 F.2d 1247, 1254 (4th Cir. 1993). We find that there was evidence from which a jury could conclude that Mrs. Pittman was an active, knowing and intentional participant in the scheme to defraud these individuals. 18 Mrs. Pittman first contends that the evidence was insufficient to prove that she knew the money she caused to be transported interstate, see 18 U.S.C. § 2314, was taken by fraud and therefore her conviction on Count 8 should not stand. Mrs. Pittman was convicted under Count 8 of violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314 for knowingly and willfully causing money taken by fraud to be transported in interstate commerce in connection with a $15,000 check Janie Odom mailed by Federal Express from Texas to Morgan in Virginia. At trial, there was evidence that: (1) between May and October, 1989, Mrs. Pittman convinced her friend Odom to join an investment deal by sending a refundable check for $15,000; (2) that she induced Odom on November 1, 1989, to mail from Dallas, Texas, by Federal Express, a $15,000 cashier's check to Morgan in Richmond, Virginia to be held in escrow; and thereafter (3) that Mrs. Pittman collected $7,000 thereof by wire transfer Morgan made out of the escrow account the very next day, which she immediately withdrew in fifteen small transactions. We find that the jury had substantial evidence from which it could infer that Mrs. Pittman not only knew Odom's $15,000 had been taken by fraud, but intentionally joined in the common plan to defraud her as charged in count 8. 19 We are also of opinion that there is substantial evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, to sustain Mrs. Pittman's conviction on Count 6 of mail fraud, 18 U.S.C.s 1341. For conviction under the federal mail fraud statute specific intent to defraud must be proven. Ham, 998 F.2d at 1254. The government presented substantial evidence that Mrs. Pittman was involved with Morgan in a general scheme to defraud small businesses and individual investors, and specifically, that in April 1989 Mrs. Pittman convinced Julia Murray, agent for William and Jeanne Hollingsworth, to join in on a fraudulent double your money loan program by sending Murray an $8,000 promissory note in the U.S. mails, thereby inducing Murray to invest $4,000. Mrs. Pittman immediately wired half of Murray's $4,000 to Morgan. Neither defendant used the money to close loans and the money was not refunded upon non-closure as promised. We are of opinion that substantial evidence was presented from which a jury could infer that Mrs. Pittman acted with specific intent to defraud Murray and caused the U.S. mails to be used in furtherance of this scheme to defraud as charged in count 6. 20 Mrs. Pittman also argues that there was insufficient evidence to sustain her conviction on 24 counts of wire fraud, 28 U.S.C. § 1343. Counts 2-5, 7, 9, and 11-28 describe in detail the numerous loan or investment scams in which Morgan and Mrs. Pittman used interbank money wires; wire facsimiles of promissory notes, letters, or documents; or telephone calls to lure the victims into the fraudulent transaction, to obtain their up-front advance fees or collateral guarantees, and to avoid refunding the victims' money. At trial, the government put on witnesses testifying to these transactions and introducing into evidence copies or originals of the wire facsimiles of promissory notes, documents, and records of the interbank money wires and telephone calls. While Mrs. Pittman admits she was an active participant in these transactions, she denies any knowledge of their fraudulent nature and claims to be yet another victim of Morgan's deceit. Mrs. Pittman claims that any money she received over the two-year period, which was actually victims' money, was compensation for services rendered to Morgan and that her name was forged on the documents. 21 Testimony at trial established that Mrs. Pittman had experience in packaging loan deals. She had previously worked for IMPACT, a federally funded agency, as a financial analyst packaging loans for minority businesses. During her year and a half with IMPACT, Mrs. Pittman successfully packaged loans for amounts between $50,000 and $700,000. Almost all of the alleged transactions with the Hollingsworths, Janie Odom, Clarence Frater, James Frieson, and Price Bearden directly involved Mrs. Pittman and her name was on many of the documents. There was evidence that Mrs. Pittman lied to victims on numerous occasions, knowingly wrote bad checks and fraudulent promissory notes, misappropriated the allegedly refundable advance fees for her own use and not once closed a loan package or investment deal. The jury could easily infer from Mrs. Pittman's experience and the other evidence in the record that she was not innocently blind to Morgan's deceit during her two-year participation in the scheme in which not even a single loan or investment came to fruition. We are of opinion that there was substantial evidence from which the jury could conclude that Mrs. Pittman knew, and in fact intended, that the loans she packaged in concert with Morgan were a scheme to defraud individuals out of their money, and that she transmitted or caused to be transmitted by wire, facsimile or telephone communications in furtherance of this scheme. There is sufficient evidence of fraud to sustain convictions on Counts 2-5, 7, 9, and 11-28.