Court Opinion

ID: 9491629
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 14:19:01.775296+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:51.179260
License: Public Domain

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree with the opinion of Chief Judge Politz in United States v. Devoll, 39 F.3d 575, 579 (5th Cir.1994), that 18 U.S.C. § 1014 applies only to lending activities by the finan*1032cial institutions protected by the statute. Contrary to the implication in the majority opinion, Devoll does not stand alone and in opposition to the positions of several other circuits. Notably, each of the cases that has applied the statute has dealt with a situation involving the protected bank’s function of extending credit. See United States v. Yung Soo Yoo, 833 F.2d 488, 489 (3d Cir.1987) (defendant convicted of “making false statements to a federally insured bank in order to influence its action on a commitment”); United States v. Bonnette, 781 F.2d 357, 359 (4th Cir.1986) (crediting defendant’s account on basis of “sight draft” with auto title attached); United States v. Tucker, 773 F.2d 136, 139 (7th Cir.1985) (whether a letter of credit is within the scope of the statute); cf. United States v. Erskine, 588 F.2d 721, 722 (9th Cir.1978) (holding that the “elements of a section 1014 violation include these requisite mental states: knowledge of falsity, and the intent to influence action by the financial institution concerning a loan or one of the other transactions listed in the statute”). All of these cases are in harmony with the Supreme Court’s explicit determination that the statute was designed to provide “penalties for making false statements or reports in connection with loans or other similar transactions.” Williams v. United States, 458 U.S. 279, 289-90, 102 S.Ct. 3088, 73 L.Ed.2d 767 (1982) (quoting H.R.Rep. No. 91-1556 at 35 (1970), U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News at 5582).
The funds held by the bank in this case involved no extension of credit. Therefore, the statute is inapplicable, and the convictions based on this section ought to be reversed.
In all other respects, I join the judgment and opinion of the court.