Opinion ID: 3010610
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Webster Avenue Loans. In June 199 1 Steve

Text: Houran lined up thirteen straw borrowers, chiefly employees of HCC or relatives, and persuaded them to apply for loans to buy parcels of land and build houses on them on Webster Avenue, Jersey City. The total amount of the loans was $2,420,000. A new entity, Webster Avenue Corporation, opened an account at BBV, and, as the apparent seller of the lots and builder of the houses, became the recipient of these funds. From this account between July 22 and August 15, 1991 Steve Houran transferred over $1,600,000 to Petra Construction Co., which deposited the checks at First Fidelity Bank, Union City, New Jersey. From this account, between August 5 and September 25, 1991, Tony Houran drew eight checks totaling $790,000 payable to HCC and one check of $100,000, dated August 5, 1991, payable to the trust account of Raymond E. Murphy, the Hourans' lawyer. The scheme to defraud is alleged to have run from June 1991 to the date of the indictment, October 3, 1995. Tony Houran's role in the fraud is summarized by the government in its response to the defendant's Rule 29 motion and in its brief on appeal as the movement of money. The government points to the checks drawn in August and September 1991 which helped hide the trail and diverted the money from the nominal borrowers to HCC 4 and to the personal needs of the Hourans. The government adds that it proved that Tony Houran was aware of the fraudulent nature of the Webster Avenue loans since he was present at the HCC office when the nominal borrowers signed the loan papers, and he was made aware of the infusion of money into the Petra account. Sufficient evidence was presented for the jury to find that he knowingly abetted the fraud on BBV.